Miriam makeba biography history books
Makeba - The Miriam Makeba Story (Hardcover)
As the first complete autobiography of Miriam Makeba, Makeba celebrates the life of this remarkable talent and global icon of music, style and history. This beautiful hardcover coffee-table book chronicles Makeba's entire life - from her early days growing up on the Rand and performing with the Manhattan Brothers to her departure from South Africa. It also details Miriam's life in America and friendship with Harry Belafonte, her performance for President John F. Kennedy alongside Marilyn Monroe, her marriage to Stokely Carmichael, and her life in Conakry, Guinea. Finally we read about her stay in Europe, the release of Nelson Mandela, Miriam's homecoming and her ultimate decision to stay and make a life in this country. Full colour and black and white photographs of Miriam touring and performing, of her fashions and political colleagues, bring this book to life. An index, glossary, discography and complete list of original compositions round off this most fascinating and comprehensive work.
Makeba: My Story by Miriam Makeba with James Hall
‘The concert stage: This is one place where I am most at home, where there is no exile’
It is no surprise that this book has found itself on my May Nonfiction reading list. I grew up in a home where Miriam Makeba was played every other day, so I have known her music for a long time. However, I only started understanding and appreciating her music as an adult. So much has been written about Makeba, from being called the ‘click girl,’ ‘mama Africa’ to being exiled from South Africa even before she had started voicing her opinions about apartheid and dealing with the demands of fame. Yet there is an undeniable power in one telling their own story. Zenzile Miriam Makeba was born on the 4th of March 1932 in her mother’s house. Nomkomndelo Christina was taken to jail with Makeba when she was just six months old, a prelude to all the times she would spend in jails later in her life. Hope, determination and song, the three things Makeba said she would have until the day she died are the foundation of her story.
The nineteen chapters in this book are evidence of this hope, determination and song in her life. Two things that strike me about Makeba are her love and purpose. Makeba loved her mother and losing her shook her world, she loved her daughter Bongi and losing her only child sent her down a path that was disastrous. Makeba loved her family, forgiving her sister Mizpah who had an affair with her first husband and reuniting with her brother who she had not seen in over sixteen years reminded her that there was never a day that went by without a yearning to do right by her family. Makeba loved to sing and whenever she went on that stage she just set it on fire. The one thing that never let her down! She also treasured her friendships with different people who held a special part in her heart, Harry Belafonte, Nina Simone, Caiphus Semenya and Letta M’bulu. Oh the love that she had for Letta was beautiful
Makeba: The Miriam Makeba Story
A lavishly illustrated coffee table book. Chronicles Makeba's life from her early days growing up on the Rand and performing with the Manhattan Brothers to her departure from South Africa. It details her life in America and friendship with Harry Belafonte, her performance for President John F Kennedy alongside Marilyn Monroe, her marriage to Stokely Carmichael and her time in Conakry, Guinea, before moving to Europe, her homecoming and her ultimate decision to remain in South Africa. Black and white and colour photographs of Miriam touring and performing, of her fashions and political colleagues, bring this book to life. An index, glossary, discography and complete list of original compositions round off a comprehensive work.
Miriam Makeba
South African singer and activist (1932–2008)
Zenzile Miriam Makeba (mə-KAY-bə,Xhosa:[máˈkʼêːɓà̤]; 4 March 1932 – 9 November 2008), nicknamed Mama Africa, was a South African singer, songwriter, actress, and civil rights activist. Associated with musical genres including Afropop, jazz, and world music, she was an advocate against apartheid and white-minority government in South Africa.
Born in Johannesburg to Swazi and Xhosa parents, Makeba was forced to find employment as a child after the death of her father. She had a brief and allegedly abusive first marriage at the age of 17, gave birth to her only child in 1950, and survived breast cancer. Her vocal talent had been recognized when she was a child, and she began singing professionally in the 1950s, with the Cuban Brothers, the Manhattan Brothers, and an all-woman group, the Skylarks, performing a mixture of jazz, traditional African melodies, and Western popular music. In 1959, Makeba had a brief role in the anti-apartheid film Come Back, Africa, which brought her international attention, and led to her performing in Venice, London, and New York City. In London, she met the American singer Harry Belafonte, who became a mentor and colleague. She moved to New York City, where she became immediately popular, and recorded her first solo album in 1960. Her attempt to return to South Africa that year for her mother's funeral was prevented by the country's government.
Makeba's career flourished in the United States, and she released several albums and songs, her most popular being "Pata Pata" (1967). Along with Belafonte, she received a Grammy Award for Best Folk Recording for their 1965 album An Evening with Belafonte/Makeba. She testified against the South African government at the United Nations and became involved in the civil rights movement. She married Stokely Carmichael, a leader of the Black Panther Party, in 1968, and consequently l