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Nov

10

Miriam Makeba, RIP


The truth is, I loved hearing her name being spoken as much as I enjoyed hearing the music of Miriam Makeba, which was a staple in my home in the 1960s and 70s when I was a child. Along with Pete Seger, The Mamas and The Papas, Melanie, The Weavers, Joan Baez, Donovan, Herb Alpert and Bob Dylan, Miriam Makeba was in serious vinyl rotation.

She was just a joy to see and listen to.

From Bloomberg:

Miriam Makeba, a South African Grammy-winning recording artist, died of a heart attack last night at the age of 76 after giving a concert in Italy.

Makeba “collapsed as she was leaving the stage,” South African Minister of Foreign Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma said in an e-mailed statement today. Makeba had been performing at the Vastel Volturno in the province of Caserta, 35 kilometers (22 miles) northwest of the city of Naples.

…

Makeba, known as Mama Afrika, lived in exile for more than thirty years after her passport was revoked when she tried to return to South Africa in 1960 to attend her mother’s funeral after touring. She was outspoken in her criticism of apartheid during her exile.

She won a Grammy in 1966 for a folk-music album she recorded with Harry Belafonte. Her marriage to Stokely Carmichael, a Trinidadian black power activist, stirred controversy. She and Carmichael moved to Guinea. Makeba later represented the country at the United Nations.

I was born in 1962, so Makeba is mostly a figure I remember on album covers and a voice that wafted through our house.  But Carmichael and Belafonte and all these names were clues to me then as they are now that my parents were very interested in the civil rights movement and the political events of those years.

Probably much the way Barack Obama was eight years old when Bill Ayers did his thing.  Hmm, I’ve been told I’m not progressive enough – but maybe I’m really a radical and never knew it.  Oh those crazy associations that ruin our lives at such young ages. Vessels Sarcasm Alert Scale: 9*

Two-fer:

Miriam Makeba review and video done to The Click Song:

Paul Simon and Makeba singing together:

*This sarcasm scale has been on hiatus for much of the election cycle so here’s a reminder: it originated after I made a tongue in cheek suggestion that Ohio lefties forward to the conservative blog, Eye on the Statehouse, all the statehouse waste we observed, as opposed to letting the purveyors of Eye on the Statehouse control the agenda of what they believe is waste. A well-respected and much loved Ohio lefty blogger, Eric Vessels, thought I was off my rocker, until I explained that it was reverse psychology and that I knew exactly who was involved. Eric suggested that, since people take me so seriously most of the time, I need to alert people to when I’m being sarcastic. Thus was born the Vessels Sarcasm Alert Scale. Much thanks and love always to Eric.

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By Jill Miller Zimon at 9:43 am November 10th, 2008 in Music, Politics, RIP, Women 

Comments

5 Responses to “Miriam Makeba, RIP”

  1. 1 lovebabz on November 10th, 2008 11:16 am

    Ahh sweet sweet Miriam Makeba. I heard her and Hugh Masekela in concert manny years ago.

    What a treasure.

  2. 2 Jill Miller Zimon on November 10th, 2008 11:18 am

    I’d put money on my home in West Haven where I grew up in the 60s and early 70s as being the only one for blocks and blocks that played her music! :)

  3. 3 BRM on November 10th, 2008 1:30 pm

    We are so sad. I remember when Miriam Makeba was first introduced by Harry Belafonte who was by the way heartstoppingly handsome. They were both powerful, insistent and haunting voices for change. Miriam Makeba’s music and voice along with Hugh Masekela and others helped to propel the changes that took places.

    I spoke to several under 30′s today at the gym about her and it made me even more sad when they looked blank at the mention of her name. I suppose it is good in a way that their messages about freedom in South Africa no longer need to resonate so passionately. But still, I wish the younger generation had heard of her.

  4. 4 Thulani on November 11th, 2008 7:09 am

    Oh what a lady. Jazz just saw a legend in her. she has touch a lot of people that she came into contact with. i wish what sipho hot stix mabuse said this morning about them eracting a monument could come true so that the next generation will know of this icon. lala ngoxolo ntombazana ka makeba

  5. 5 Jill Miller Zimon on November 11th, 2008 8:09 am

    Thulani – thanks for reading and commenting. She’s a joyful presence, in person or in recording.

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