Makeba

Miriam Makeba Foundation

 

We often listen to the music of Miriam Makeba, but a recent long article on the Daily Kos brought forth memories for me of when I first became aware of her sixty years ago. The article includes a short biography from South Africa History Online, and links to many of Makeba's songs. Listening to the Swahili song, Malaika, brought forth a particularly emotional response from me because of the way it reminded me of her extraordinary voice, strength and courage.

I grew up in the Pacific Northwest. In those years the area had no overt evidence of racism -- no signs proclaiming separate public facility access. The racism was largely hidden from sight in housing contracts and unspoken assumptions. I don't recall any people of color then in the vast expanse of tract homes where we lived outside of Bellevue. I did have a Filipino friend and a Black friend in high school.  If it were not for the children of those two families Bellevue High School would have been totally segregated.

I recall as a child having strong feelings about any kind of unfairness or injustice.  However, the lack of any real contact with clear racist expression kept my level of awareness at an abstract level for a long time.  Makeba's appearance on the world stage gave a sense of reality and urgency to the issue. The problems of inequality and racism are clearly still with us, but Makeba's songs continue to bolster the resolve to overcome.