Full Name
Date of Birth
1932
Place of Birth
Date of Death
2008
Place of Death
Information not available
Education
Information not available
Spouses Names
Information not available
Children Names
Information not available
Parents Names
Information not available
Known Affiliates Names
Harry Belafonte, Stokely Carmichael
Affiliated Organizations’ Names
Cuban Brothers, Manhattan Brothers, The Skylarks
Miriam Makeba, also known as “Mama Africa”, was an iconic singer and an anti-apartheid activist. She was one of the most influential figures in the history of African popular music. Born in Johannesburg in 1932, Makeba absorbed the different musical genres of her surroundings, including African American jazz, gospel music, and the musical traditions of her Xhosa and Swazi family. She started singing professionally with the Cuban Brothers and later joined the Manhattan Brothers and the all-female group The Skylarks. Makeba participated in the musical King Kong, before making her major break outside of South Africa through her cameo appearance in the film Come Back, Africa, which documented the life of black people under the apartheid regime. Leaving South Africa to participate in screenings of the film, Makeba arrived in New York and began a prolific career, which resulted in several albums, television appearances, and a Grammy award for her album with her manager and mentor at that time, Harry Belafonte. Her position against the apartheid regime was manifested in her protest songs, supplemented by her political commentary, as well as in her public appearances, most notably in front of the UN Special Committee on Apartheid[4].
Citations: [1] https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/98e36bcbd0c770d3ca2194eabe1e9a8a66e74bba [2] https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/90ef07363321dbb2b0ad0e5c43beda4478811361 [3] https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/ea4b5b294405101c1bbc08da2f6891d1915703c7 [4] https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/648f0f7295305f3ae4a44974dbafaff9169e1938 [5] https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/9ecbc8aeceb08d7a25bdeb9269aa044daa8a183d [6] https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/55f2c062b5885ff40e6234b97a7453b7ec8606b1 [7] https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/c2e158cc61375aa8010b125de4f0e0f474895c86 [8] https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/24be760d27081e433d07374b32359fe2dfbb2988