Miriam Makeba An International Singing Star And Activist

Miriam Makeba, the South African singer, who helped to bring the plight of dark-skinned Afrikans living under the apartheid system to the attention of the world, died earlier this week.

Makeba was a music sensation in the United States and other countries of the world. Unfortunately, at the time the government of South Africa did not value her gift as the treasure the rest of the world appreciated. The Pretoria government banned her music and she was exiled from her native land.

In 1960 the South African government refused to allow Makeba to come home. For 31 years she lived away from Johannesburg where she will be laid to rest. It was in 1990following Nelson Madela's release from life imprisonment when he asked Miriam Makeba to come home. She did saying, "I never understood why I couldn't come home. I never committed any crime."

Here she sings a duet with Paul Simon, his composition from the Graceland album. "Under African Skies".



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