Their words
“I kept my culture. I kept the music of my roots. Through my music I became this voice and image of Africa and the people without even realising.”
Source: Makeba: The Miriam Makeba Story (2004)
Context In this memoir written with Nomsa Mwamuka, years after her return from three decades of exile, she looks back on how her music came to stand for Africa abroad.
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More words from Miriam Makeba
“I look at an ant and see myself: a native South African, endowed with a strength much greater than my size…”
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“My country has been turned by the Verwoerd Government into a huge prison.”
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“I have not the slightest doubt that these arms will be used against the African women and children.”
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“I ask you and all the leaders of the world: Would you act differently? Would you keep silent and do nothing if you were in our place?”
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“I am not a politician, but I am a South African who feels and who knows where I come from… I merely sing the truth.”
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More words from Culture & Ideas
“Emotion is African, as reason is Hellenic.”
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“With my music I create a change. I see it. So really I am using my music as a weapon.”
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“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.”
Desmond Tutu South Africa♥ 0
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