Zenzile Miriam Makeba was born on March 4, 1932.
Nicknamed Mama Africa, she was a Grammy Award-winning South African singer and civil rights activist.
Because Miriam campaigned against the South African system of apartheid, the government of that time responded by revoking her passport in 1960 and her citizenship and right of return in 1963.
She returned home for the first time in 1990.
Miriam was, in the 1960s, one of the first artists from Africa to popularize African music around the world.
She is best known for the song “Pata Pata”, first recorded in 1957 and released in the US in 1967.
She recorded and toured with many popular artists, such as Harry Belafonte, Paul Simon, and her former husband Hugh Masekela.
Miriam died of a heart attack on November 9, 2008 after performing in a concert in Italy.
