Miriam Makeba was a South African singer and civil rights activist.
In the 1960s, she was the first artiste from Africa to popularize African music around the world.
In 1956, Miriam Makeba produced “Pata Pata.” The song is covered by Jamaican Millicent Todd, better known as Patsy.
She recorded it for Sonia Pottinger in 1967 as “Pata Pata Rocksteady.” Patsy also recorded “The Retreat Song,” or Jikele Maweni, another Miriam Makeba song that is sung in the Xhosa language.
In 1959, Makeba’s singing appearance in the documentary film Come Back, Africa attracted the interest of Jamaican singer Harry Belafonte. The film tells the story of Zachariah, a black South-African man living under the rule of the nation’s oppressive apartheid government. Belafonte took her under his wings. He assisted her in leaving England and mentored her through a successful career in the USA.
Continue this article at Jamaica Blogs.