Miriam Makeba, Mamma Africa, was born in 1932 in South Africa. As a young girl, she was often asked to sing at weddings and people were dazzled by her talent. She first came to the attention of the public as a featured vocalist with the Manhattan Brothers in 1954 and then recorded with her all-woman group the Skylarks. In 1959 she took over the female lead in the jazz musical “King Kong”, a story about the life of a boxer. This musical was a hit in South Africa and played in the West End of London in 1961. In the same year she appeared in an anti-Apartheid film "Come Back Africa". Makeba went to the Venice Film Festival to receive an award for the movie that took her voice around the world. She decided not to return home. Her South African passport was revoked. Makeba released Pata Pata, the Click song and Mailka in the USA and received the Grammy Award for Best Folk Recording together with Harry Belafonte for An Evening with Belafonte & Makeba. After marrying Black Power activist, Stokely Carmichael, Makeba was boycotted in the USA and moved to  N. Africa. From there Makeba continued touring and recording, appeared twice as ambassador extraordinary in front of the United Nations, speaking out against apartheid. she was featured on Paul Simon’s Graceland Tour, including a very emotional concert in Harare, a few miles from the South African border. This tour opened doors again for Miriam Makeba. She celebrated her triumphant return to the great concert halls of the world, and the greatest prize for her – she was able to go home in 1990.
After a lifetime of recording, winning awards, making TV specials and movies – Mriam Makeba, an unstoppable great-grandmother of  72,  who has weathered many storms in her life, including  31 years in exile, several car accidents, a plane crash and even cancer;  Mamma Africa died on 10 November 2008 of a heart attack in the early hours of the morning after a performance near the southern Italian town of Caserta.
Godspeed, Mamma.

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Necklace: 60x40mm Oval South African Rhodachrosite pendant with six 8x6mm ovals set in Sterling Silver, large chunks and chip beads, ceramic hand-made and hand-painted genuine African beads, Silvertone accents and fancy toggle closure. Length 18". Drop 3". SOLD
Earrings: South African Rhodachrosite chunks and rounds. Drop 2". Silvertone French Wires. SOLD	Bracelet: South African Rhodachrosite chunks, tubes, and rounds. Ceramic hand-made and hand-painted genuine African beads, Silvertone accents and fancy toggle closure. Length 8". SOLD
Buy entire set. Includes necklace, earrings, and bracelet. SOLD

Bedazzled In Jewels
Marsha Gaines
Cape Coral, FL 33993
(239) 458-1947

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