Miriam Makeba
Miriam Makeba
Zenzile Miriam Makeba, nicknamed Mama Africa, was a South African singer and civil rights activist...
NationalitySouth African
ProfessionWorld Music Singer
Date of Birth4 March 1932
CityJohannesburg, South Africa
orchestra
I was so scared. Such a big orchestra
cannot change goes laws
Which goes to show you, you can make all the laws you want, but you cannot change people's ways. If you must change them, you have to understand that it will take a long time.
affair greedy honor invaders land love nurture ours powerful rich saw
Ours was a marriage, a love affair -- the land would nurture us, and we would honor the land. But the land was too rich and too good. The powerful and greedy invaders saw this at once.
america died holiday missed passed year
The one I missed is Billie Holiday because she died the year before I arrived. I was in America in 1959 and she had passed away before that.
angeles asked band cd contribute group los orleans played ready recently sang songs
I sang in Los Angeles recently and a band that had managed to get out of New Orleans played there. They asked me for one or to songs for a CD being recorded. My group and I said yes, we were ready to contribute in that way, the only way we have.
ant cope crushes greater might native nature racism size south strength weight
I look at an ant and l see myself: a native South African, endowed by nature with a strength much greater than my size so I might cope with the weight of a racism that crushes my spirit.
age life lived
Age iswisdom, if one has lived one's life properly.
song new-york land
In New York I heard A Piece of Ground, written by a white South African, Jeremy Taylor. I modified it a little and sang it myself. That song is very special to me because it deals with the land question in southern Africa. We were dispossessed of our land,
girl home boys
There are a lot of homes for boys, but very few for girls, that is why I chose to do for girls.
artist ministry culture
Well there is a lot of work here for younger and older musicians now. Our Ministry of Culture has now really embarked on changing things for artists, and it is getting much better. We just have to organize ourselves as artists, and then things will be better.
country grateful years
In those years, when I came to the States, people were always asking me why I didn't sing anymore. I'd tell them, 'I sing all around the world-Asia, Africa, Europe-but if you don't sing in the US, then you haven't really made it.' That's why I'll always be grateful to Paul Simon. He allowed me to bring my music back to my friends in this country.
teacher advice trying
[Belafonte] was a good teacher and looked after me. He said, 'You have such great talent, you must try not to be a tornado - be like a submarine. It was good advice when I found myself speaking at the UN Committee Against Apartheid and then the UN General Assembly.
brother player white
When I was young, I never bought records because my brother Joseph played saxophone and had a record player. I loved listening to his records: The Dorsey Brothers, Duke Ellington, all the big American jazz bands, and vocalists like Ella Fitzgerald, Ernestine Anderson, and Kitty White, a singer from the US who was a friend of Nina Simone. Nobody in America seems to know about her, but she was quite popular in South Africa.
reflection careers albums
I titled the album Reflections because I am reflecting on my music career.