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Miriam Makeba photo by Tom Beetz –

Top 10 Interesting Facts about Miriam Makeba

Miriam Makeba was born Zenzile Miriam Makeba on 4 March 1932. She was nicknamed Mama Afrika. She was born in the black township of Prospect, near Johannesburg. Her Swazi mother, Christina Makeba, was a Sangoma/ a traditional healer, and also a traditional worker. Her father, Caswell Makeba was a teacher.

Caswell Makeba died when Miriam was six years old. Miriam was a South African singer, songwriter, actress, and civil rights, activist. She was associated with musical genres like Afropop, jazz, and world music. Let’s go through the top ten fascinating facts about Miriam Makeba.

1. She had a tormenting childhood

Miriam Makeba photo by Reprise Records –

Her father died at the age of six. His job as a teacher was the main source of income for the family. Makeba was forced to find employment as a child, she worked as a nanny. This was child labor, but since South Africa was a developing country then the law must have been loose.

Miriam was married at 17. In South Africa, couples must be at least 18 years old to get married and minors should have parental consent to the marriage. Miriam was married into an abusive marriage. She gave birth to her only child in 1950.

2. Zenzile is a metaphorical name

Zenzile Miriam Makeba photo by Paul Weinberg –

Christina Makeba was warned that any future pregnancy could be fatal. Neither the infant Miriam nor her mother seemed to survive after the hard labor and delivery. Miriam’s grandmother who accompanied Christina in the delivery room muttered “uzenzile”, a Xhosa word that means “you brought this on yourself”.

While Christina was recovering from the injuries from her hard labor, she was inspired to give her daughter the name “Zenzile”, Zenzile Miriam Makeba.

3. Makeba was influenced by her family’s musical tastes

Makeba was born into a family that was positive about music. Her mother used to play several traditional instruments, and her elder brother collected several records, including those of Duke Ellington, and Ella Fitzgerald, and also taught Makeba songs. Her father played the piano.

4. Zenzile began her professional music career with the Cuban Brothers

Miriam Makeba photo by Anefo –

The Cuban Brothers is a South African all-male close harmony group. Makeba sang covers of popular American songs. Close harmony is when a chord’s notes are arranged within a narrow range, usually with more than an octave between the top and bottom lines.

5. The Manhattan Brothers helped Makeba to realize her dreams

After the age of 21, Makeba quit the Cuban Brothers and joined the Manhattan Brothers, a jazz group that sang a mixture of South African songs and pieces from popular African-American groups. Jazz actually, rose from the mullato population.

The mullet population is a result of intermarriage between Americans and Africans hence the name Black Americans or Afro-AmericanAfro-Americans. Makeba started traveling with the Manhattan Brothers. It was the Manhattan brothers who helped Makeba to record her first hit, “Laku Tshoni Ilanga”

6. The Sharpeville massacre was a misfortune in her life

Sharpeville Massacre Graves photo by Andrew Hall –

The Sharpeville massacre happened on 21 March 1960. Makeba learned that her mother had died. Two of the members of her family were killed in the massacre. When she tried to return to South Africa, her South African passport had been canceled.

The incident was truly hurtful because she was not allowed to mourn the death of her loved ones with respect. Makeba was worried about the remaining family members. Her daughter was also in South Africa. Her daughter, Bonjour later joined Miriam in the Us in August 1960.

7. She was once a stateless person

Miriam Makeba photo by Roland Godfroy –

A stateless person is a person who is not considered a national by any state under the operation of its law. The reason why Makeba was banned in South Africa her home country was that she requested an arms embargo by United Nations Special Committee against Apartheid.

She did not want weapons to be sold to the South African government which was South Africa’s National Party. She gave a reason that the arms would likely be used against black women and children. She also asked for economic sanctions against South Africa’s National Party government. Her music was banned and she became stateless.

8. She performed on OAU of 1963 in Addis Ababa

Makeba’s reception at the airport photo by 诇讬讗讜专讛 住诇讜爪拽讬 (讗讜专讬) –

Soon after her testimony against the apartheid government of South Africa, Haile Selassie was invited to sing at the inauguration of the Organisation of African Unity. To be exclusive, she was the only performer invited to the event.

9. Marrying Carmichael brought great tension to her music career

Makeba married Carmichael in 1968. For this reason, her popularity in the US declined severely. Conservatives regarded her as a militant and an extremist. This bad image alienated much of her fanbase. Most of her performances were canceled and her coverage in the press declined.

She was trying to portray her marriage as political. The US government took interest in her activities but white Americans stopped supporting her. Extreme monitoring was done on her. Secret microphones and intelligence were thorough on her.

When the couple traveled to the Bahamas, the US government denied her a Visa and the two were forced to move to Guinea. Her husband Carmichael changed his name to Kwame Toure and they lived in Guinnea for 15 years.

10. Pata Pata was her farewell song

Miriam Makeba’s plaque passage photo by Cahtls –

It was on 9 November when Makeba died of a heart attack. Makeba fell ill during a concert in Castel Volturno, near Caserta, Italy. The concert had been organized to support the writer Roberto Saviano in his stand against the Camorra, a criminal organization active in the Campania region.

She suffered a heart attack after singing her hit song “Pata Pata” She was taken to the Pinate Grand clinic, where doctors were unable to save her.

Testifying against South Africa’s apartheid government was not the only activist, not the only human deed she ever did for her people. Her music was also part of the activism. She said, ” In our struggle, songs are not simply entertainment for. They are the way to communicate. Surely, she gained an international reputation as a human activist.