The Live of a Hero Part 3...


……… Soon after the Sharpeville massacre in 1960, Makeba learned that her mother had died, when she tried to return home for the funeral, she found that her South Africa passport had been cancelled. Two of Makeba’s family members were killed in the massacre. The incident left her concerned about her family, many of whom were still in South Africa including her only daughter Bongi Makeba.  After the Sharpeville killing, Makeba felt a responsibility to help as she had been able to leave the country whiles others had not. From this point, she became an increasingly outspoken critic of apartheid and a white-minority government.
In 1962, Makeba and Belafonte sang at the birthday party of the then US President John F. Kennedy at Madison Square Garden. Makeba’s music was also popular in Europe and she travelled all around to perform. She visited Kenya in that same year in support of their Independence from the British and raised funds for its Independence leader Jomo Kenyatta. Later that year she testified before the United Nations Special Committee against Apartheid about the effect of the system, asking for economic sanction against South Africa’s National Party government. She requested that an arms embargo against South Africa, on the basis that weapons sold to the government would likely be used against black women and children. As a result of this, her music was banned in South Africa. Makeba became a stateless person, but she was soon issued passports by Algeria, Guinea, Belgium and Ghana. In her life, she held nine (9) passports and was granted honorary citizenship in ten (10) countries.
Makeba was also associated with the movement against colonialism, with the civil rights and black power movements in the US, and with the Pan Africa movement. She called for unity between black people of African descent across the world.
In 1964, Makeba released her second studio album for RCA, The World of Miriam Makeba, the album peaked at number eighty-six (86) on the Billboard 200. Later that year she was taught the song “Malaika” by a Kenyan student while backstage at a performance in San Francisco, the song later became a staple of her performances……. 

Comments

  1. Miss Lawudi18 April 2018 at 01:10

    It is so sad our leaders of today are so hungry to be in power for their own selfish interest.

    ReplyDelete

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