Miriam Makeba passed away yesterday.
She spent a huge part of her early professional career living and performing in New York City (before a combination of government abuse and the music business’ fickleness about her political connections–she was married to Stokely Carmichael at the time–led her to relocate to Guinea in West Africa. When I heared the news of her passing, I was reminded of this evocative introduction by Milton Bracker, a New York Times art critic, written in 1960:
In an era of hyperbole, Miriam Makeba is — positively — the only entertainer now in New York who can project the weird tongue-smackings of her native Xhosa language into night club songs; who also sing’s in English and Yiddish, and who wondered at first why American Negroes didn’t speak to her in Zulu.
It was sad to see her falling on the stage immediately after closing the show and thanking the crowd.
Throughout the performance, as well as during the visit to the Fernandes’ Centre for Immigrants earlier in the morning, she had a sweet smile on her face. One could see it was twisted in pain though.
Still she didn’t disappoint the brothers and sisters who were attending the show, along with a small group of locals.
And she was given the last heartfelt round of applause.
For me, as an italian national who’s lived in South Africa for the past three years, it’s emotionally very hard to witness this death.
She was here to give her support to Roberto Saviano, an italian young writer who lives under police protection because of death threat by local mobsters.
Despite the fact that they never met and she’s very ill, Makeba was on that stage to sing words of peace, against racism and mafia in this Country.
As Saviano himself wrote on the national newspaper after being informed of her death: “one never knows where and when one’s heart is going to stop. Makeba’s heart stopped in the – so called – italian Soweto. She died while trying to break down another township by the only sound of her powerful voice.”
Full article here (in italian, sorry):
http://www.repubblica.it/2008/11/sezioni/spettacoli_e_cultura/makeba-muore/saviano-commento/saviano-commento.html