| Mtukudzi pays homage to Makeba |
| Thursday, 13 November 2008 03:33 |
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My wife Daisy and myself…Tuku Music and Pakare Paye Arts Centre…join the family of Miriam Makeba, the nation of South Africa and the whole wide world in mourning the passing on of a distinguished personality and empress of song – Mama Africa. We learnt with a deep sense of grief the loss of this extraordinary woman while she toured Europe performing far from home. It is heartening learning that it was her wish to sing until the last day of her life. At this dark hour we wish God would give strength to her surviving family, grandchildren Nelson Lumumba Lee and Zenzi Monique Lee, great-grandchildren Lindelani, Ayanda and Kwame. Mama Africa, even at the age of 76, was amazingly extraordinary. She lived many rigorous lives all at once and without exhaustion too - artist, mother, gogo, mentor, freedom fighter, humanitarian worker and champion and symbol of ubuntu and black pride. We grieve and regret the loss of Mama Africa. But at the same time we celebrate a worthwhile life lived well to the end. Stately and imposing and charming, with that raw African beauty and a soul that touched all of us in different ways, different places and different generations, Mama Africa used music as an instrument to fight apartheid at the cost of being uprooted from home into exile where she continued singing freedom songs, oiling the people’s struggle. A freedom fighter! She used the power of her distinctive rallentando, yet vivacious style of music, to heal the broken hearts with love songs. An artist! A mother and granny, and true to her name, Mama Africa interacted with women of all races across the world raising issues affecting and disadvantaging children and mothers and championing the general development and causes of women. A mother and mentor indeed! She, too, symbolized the spirit of ubuntu and black pride in her social activism to the last day. Those memories of such a great woman, who is remembered too for her big heart, will certainly live on. I shared a strong passion for film with Mama Africa - as seen in her role in the widely acclaimed early 1990s movie Sarafina about political injustices under apartheid and Come Back Africa including the musical King Kong. A woman of many talents and callings who - at one time - also served the South African nation as a Member of Parliament. Now Mama’s legacy should never be measured by her celebrity recognition in public life but by how her music, wisdom and humanitarian work, including that as Ambassador of Goodwill, touched the people of the world. May her soul rest in eternal peace. – Oliver Mtukudzi. – tukumusic.com |
