EP 7 Miriam Makeba - Mama Africa I Women And Resistance 🌍

In this conversation, Aya Fubara Eneli Esq. and Adesoji Iginla explores the life and legacy of Miriam Makeba, affectionately known as Mama Africa. 
The hosts discuss her early struggles, rise to fame, and significant contributions to music and activism against apartheid. 
They delve into her personal relationships, the impact of her work on cultural heritage, and her lasting influence on future generations. 
The discussion highlights her resilience, artistry, and the challenges she faced as a prominent figure in the fight for justice and equality.

Takeaways

*Miriam Makeba was a symbol of resistance against apartheid.
*Her music was deeply intertwined with her activism.
*She faced significant personal and professional challenges throughout her life.
*Makeba's legacy continues to inspire artists and activists today.
*She was a healer and a warrior, embodying strength and resilience.
*Her early life experiences shaped her worldview and activism.
*Makeba's relationships influenced her career and personal life.
*She was a pioneer for African artists on the global stage.
*Her contributions to music and culture are celebrated worldwide.
*Makeba's story is a testament to the power of art in social change.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Mama Africa
02:45 Miriam Makeba's Early Life and Struggles
05:15 The Rise of a Musical Icon
07:58 Activism and International Recognition
10:47 Personal Life and Relationships
13:29 Challenges in America and Activism
16:13 Legacy and Impact on African Culture
31:38 Miriam Makeba: A Voice for Freedom
35:24 The Impact of Apartheid on Music and Activism
38:05 Sophia Town: A Cultural Hub and Its Demise
44:48 Forced Removals and the Struggle for Identity
47:22 Miriam Makeba's Legacy and Continued Influence

Welcome  to Women and Resistance, a powerful podcast where we honour the courage, resilience, and revolutionary spirit of women across the globe. Hosted by Aya Fubara Eneli Esq and Adesoji Iginla...

You're listening to Women and Resistance with Aya Fubara Eneli Esq and Adesoji Iginla—where we honour the voices of women who have shaped history through courage and defiance...Now, back to the conversation.

That’s it for this episode of Women and Resistance. Thank you for joining us in amplifying the voices of women who challenge injustice and change the course of history. Be sure to subscribe, share, and continue the conversation. Together We Honour the past, act in the present, and shape the future. Until next time, stay inspired and stay in resistance!

Transcript

Adesoji Iginla (00:01.164)
Yes, greetings, greetings and welcome to another episode of Women and Resistance. And with me, as usual, is my sister, Aya Fubara in LA Squire.

Sister?

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (00:18.13)
Good evening. Good evening, brother. How are you and good evening everyone? Thank you guys so much for Watching for leaving comments for sharing for subscribing to the channel. Thank you so much

Adesoji Iginla (00:31.598)
Thank you. And in today's episode, we're looking at Mama Africa, Maria Makeba. So the question would be, when she stood on the stage during her last performance, she looked back and she smiled, walked off stage, and that was the last time we would see her.

What do you think she was looking back on when she looked back?

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (01:09.128)
So although I'm dressed in honor of her, she loved to wear, if you guys can see, let me change my angle a little bit. She loved to wear either strapless or tops or dresses that just had one shoulder showing, sometimes strapless and then a cloth draped over one shoulder. I'm not going to be speaking like her today.

Adesoji Iginla (01:17.976)
Thanks

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (01:36.584)
so when you ask that question, You know some of her musicians that they interviewed for the documentary on her life and actually you guys can find that documentary, on youtube for free on youtube It's listed as storyville queen of africa the miriam mckee by story but it's also on other platforms as mama africa and this came out in 2021

Adesoji Iginla (01:39.213)
Hmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (02:06.695)
They just said that you know, it was almost like she knew um You you know, it was appreciation. It was love Her granddaughter who was supposed to travel to Italy with her and at the last minute Her grandmother told her, you know don't come but at the same time said to her You know keep keep the legacy going, you know, take care of my legacy. Um

So maybe she had some sense that it was her time. I mean, she had already survived two bouts of cancer. So as a very, very young woman, before she was 20, she had already gone through breast cancer. And then she ended up also having a hysterectomy.

Adesoji Iginla (02:39.982)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (03:03.223)
Hmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (03:04.401)
when she was diagnosed with, I believe it was cervical cancer in the US and Halle Belafonte was actually instrumental in making sure that she got the medical care that she needed. so, when you look at her life, and we'll start at the beginning with just where she was born and all of that. And when you look at her life and all the things that she experienced and all the people she buried.

Of her father died when she was five or six years old. Her mother passed away and we'll parse through all of this shortly after she left South Africa and of course she was not allowed to come back and so she did not, she was not there to bury her mother. She buried a daughter, her only child.

Adesoji Iginla (03:34.464)
Was young. Yep. Yep.

Adesoji Iginla (03:56.875)
BONGEE

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (03:57.784)
She buried a grandchild because Bongi actually had a stillbirth and then died shortly after that. I think there was another grandchild that was buried as well that took eight something or whatever and they couldn't figure it out and the child died before the mother died and they're saying that the mother was never the same after that, the mother being Bongi.

Adesoji Iginla (04:04.482)
Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (04:12.449)
Yeah.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (04:28.807)
Then she lost family members in the Sharpeville Massacre, which we'll talk more about So, you know she she'd seen a lot and that's just the tip of the iceberg as we talk more we'll talk more about the details of her life, but Yeah So maybe she just knew that it was a time or maybe she was tired she she'd certain she certainly was a warrior as Much as she was a healer as well

Adesoji Iginla (04:33.804)
my cigar. She lost two on calls. Yeah. Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (04:48.099)
So.

Adesoji Iginla (04:56.0)
Yeah, she went out swinging as Dave will say. Because the concept she went to perform at was for Roberto Salvinio, who himself had written about the mafia and was in hiding. And so it was like a hack back to the time she was not allowed to return to South Africa.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (05:01.231)
Yes, yes, she did.

Adesoji Iginla (05:21.952)
and she basically had to keep the names of the likes of Roboso Buque, Nelson Mandela, Winnie Mandela alive whilst she was outside. But then that also came at a cost. So the cost is...

Like we normally say, people start, these people we're looking at were ordinary people who did extraordinary things. So how would you describe her extraordinary lifestyle? I won't say lifestyle.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (05:56.134)
Well, let me let me start with just you know, you know her from the very beginning. my goodness. What a life so, She was named actually if you google this on youtube There's an interview of hers where she starts off with saying her names

Adesoji Iginla (06:01.059)
Mm-hmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (06:16.199)
It goes on for like a minute plus all these names that she had which obviously had meaning I'm not even gonna try that so The basic names that she had was Enzalé Miriam Makaiba Whom we you know now know as mama Africa She was born on March 4th in 1932 Not that long ago because my mother-in-law

Was born in 1932 I was thinking about that is I was some Going over my notes. She was born in Prospect Township in Johannesburg in South Africa. She was of the co-sah and Although I should go co-sah and Swazi heritage She was raised in a segregated in the segregated townships of South Africa. That's how it was then

Adesoji Iginla (06:58.092)
Yeah. Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (07:07.074)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (07:07.629)
Underapathied so this wasn't something she was reading about this was something that she lived and so her father was actually a teacher and Her mother was a domestic so when we mean a domestic she basically went and cleaned white people's homes, okay? But to make extra money her mother also brewed beer local beer

and there's a song they go to huh kumbo to kumbo so there was a song they sang during fastac 77 yeah kumbo ba to i work hard every day to brew my beer kumbo ba to okay so anyway so what these

Adesoji Iginla (07:40.278)
Uncombo 2. Uncombo 2.

Yeah, by Yvonne Shaka Shaka. Yeah.

You

Adesoji Iginla (07:53.89)
P? What?

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (08:01.255)
colonizers had done in South Africa, which by the way, they did in almost every other African nation, is they basically banned the indigenous people from making their own alcohol, thereby creating a market for imported alcohol, which by the way, is still what is consumed at major parties and all of that across the African continent.

Adesoji Iginla (08:12.117)
local.

Adesoji Iginla (08:25.838)
Yep.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (08:28.087)
And so you could actually go to jail For making your own natural your own local alcohol your own local beer. So her mother was Exactly so her mother made beer and sold beer and The colonizers sent their soldiers After her and at the time that they arrested her mother

Adesoji Iginla (08:38.712)
Sort of like the prohibition in the United States.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (08:58.051)
And I believe her mother's name was Christine if I'm not mistaken Mariam mckeba was 18 days old I Can just imagine probably on her mother's hip or tied on her mother's back That's that's what I did when I had to work when my kids were really little I just put them on my back and tied them up and they were happy and I was happy and we were all free to do what we needed to do

Adesoji Iginla (09:03.064)
yeah, Christine, Christine, yeah, and she was.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (09:28.007)
And so when they arrested her mother, they arrested her too. I mean, not in the sense that she was handcuffed or anything, but she went to jail with her mother at 18 months and served out a six month jail term. So if any of you, whether you've been a mother, whether you've been a father, whether you've had a nephew or a niece or a younger brother, whatever, sister, if you can imagine,

a mother being sent off to jail for what? Like what was her crime? And taking an 18 month, 18 day old, which she was probably breastfeeding. And that child is now sentenced to jail as well for six months. So that's how her life started. And then at some point her family moved to Sophia town. That's where she was raised as a little girl.

course, like I said, her father passed away when she was very young. Sophia town was kind of like Harlem in the United States, jazz and you know, that's the music center. If you will, there's a lot of art and, and, just the heartbeat of a, of a nation, if you will, taking place. of course it was politically turbulent at the time, but, Mary Ann McKay, but it's love for music was nurtured by her mother.

Adesoji Iginla (10:30.808)
Yeah.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (10:52.881)
who would teach her songs in their language. Songs of healing actually, because her mother was what we call a sangoma.

Asangoma is a healer and Miriam Makeba was also a healer and Listening to her granddaughter. It appears that she too is as well and her Daughter was as well Bongi So Sonny Bongi Bongi actually co-wrote or wrote quite a few of Miriam Makeba's hits, but unfortunately we'll get to that what happened with her

Adesoji Iginla (11:26.872)
gave us song. Yeah.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (11:32.41)
So her love for music was nurtured within family and in this area. Her brother played the piano and when her brother realized that she could sing, he would actually teach her songs in English and she didn't even know what she was singing. But they were very much influenced by the American music scene. So they were playing jazz and she's singing a tisket, a tasket, you know, all of that and not really even knowing what the words were.

Adesoji Iginla (11:45.761)
We're seeing it, yeah.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (12:00.807)
She sang in her school choir and began performing at an early age in church and at local community events. Her career, so to speak, began with...

She started with the Manhattan Brothers and she said when she realized she could get paid to sing it was amazing. Like what? You can actually do this. You know, coming from a mother who is trying to make ends meet and scrubbing floors for white people who can't stand you and so on and so forth. And so in the 1950s she joined the Manhattan Brothers. She also played with, I believe the Cuban Brothers as well.

Adesoji Iginla (12:21.742)
What?

Adesoji Iginla (12:27.265)
Mmm.

Adesoji Iginla (12:41.9)
and the Skylux.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (12:43.119)
Yes, and then eventually they formed the Skylarks and they say that the Skylarks was actually, it's a girl group and they were inspired by all the girl groups in the United States. Yes, and the men just would, including Hugh Masikela who became her husband, some of you may know him, he's a famed jazz musician.

Adesoji Iginla (12:54.626)
The Supremes, the...

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (13:07.111)
and he wrote her song, so wait till blues and i'll go through the lyrics of that later if we have time But he said, you know the skylarks and and miriam makeba They were just like the most beautiful woman in all of south africa Everybody wanted to be like them how they dressed how they carried themselves He said they wore these really high heels and again if you watch the documentary There's a part where she's singing a song and they're a row of men

Adesoji Iginla (13:20.33)
Mania.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (13:36.264)
And they're just like mesmerized like like they were seeing an angel really it was it was not not like Lecturers or anything in their gaze, but just like all yeah, just all just the purity of her voice. It is important I think to note that Sophia town was raised it was destroyed by

Adesoji Iginla (13:37.09)
Does.

Adesoji Iginla (13:46.698)
Yeah, but it's like, wow. Yeah,

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (14:05.413)
these apartheid colonizers in 1955. They wanted it for themselves. Yes, they definitely did not like what was going on in that area, just the cultural vibrancy and all of that. And so they came after them and they eventually were able to level the town and relocate the thousands and thousands of indigenous Africans who dwelled there.

Adesoji Iginla (14:12.216)
Sounds familiar?

Adesoji Iginla (14:26.261)
Level Detail

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (14:35.335)
So South Africa's history is, well, latter history is one of extreme violence, constant trauma. Can you imagine, you know, starting your life out in a prison and then every day just being harassed by these people who will not let you be on your own land?

Adesoji Iginla (14:54.796)
Yes, yeah, yeah.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (15:00.185)
And so while she was performing, there was a gentleman who came from the United States, if you want to call him a gentleman. And he was recording scenes of this vibrant culture in Sophia town. And he was creating this documentary. He was able to smuggle some of his scenes out of the country. And Maryam Makeba actually sang two songs on

Adesoji Iginla (15:27.17)
the on the documentary. Yeah.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (15:27.323)
you know, yes, on those recordings. And it was an anti-apathetic documentary called Comeback Africa. And it was featured at all of these film festivals and she was actually invited to come to go to Venice for the film screening at the Venice Film Festival.

At that place. I mean people were just in awe of her. They praised her voice her talent all of that, you know an international star was born so to speak and so they now arranged for her to go to in the night the United States she needed to show that she had work and so She worked at some a place called the village Yes, I think I think that's what it was called and

Adesoji Iginla (16:10.966)
That's where.

Adesoji Iginla (16:15.886)
Mm-hmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (16:21.959)
While she was performing, Harry Belafonte came to see her and also invited a lot of other big names, Marlon Brando and...

Adesoji Iginla (16:31.766)
Sydney Poitiers.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (16:34.019)
Sydney Poitier and all of that and once he heard her sing that was it he was taken and he basically just like whisked her away from the people that she was working with and Began to work with her set up a tour, you know so that she could go out and sing and she was saying how you know initially starting that the musicians didn't really know the music and and so they They had to work through things and just each week gradually add on to their repertoire

if you will. Of course, some of her compadres, if you will, who were back in South Africa had hoped that now that she had gotten onto the stage that she would be able to bring them along. That didn't happen. We don't know exactly why, but you know, sometimes it's just not up to you, the artist, to make those kinds of demands. So her breakthrough came with the song Patapata.

Adesoji Iginla (17:16.974)
to yeah yeah yeah

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (17:31.624)
1957 and she said she actually doesn't like that song because it has no meaning But it's the song that people loved and it was the song that was the song that introduced me to Maryam Akiba because When they had festax 1977 in Nigeria, I was six years old and I remember

Adesoji Iginla (17:36.182)
Yeah, Touch, touch.

Adesoji Iginla (17:49.876)
Seven.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (17:55.068)
the South Africans dancing and doing that. It was kind of like for Americans, would kind of be like stepping. It was very powerful. And I remember that song and it just sticks with you. And no, I'm not going to sing it. You can go Google it and listen to Pata Pata. Yeah, maybe you want to sing it, Ade Saajid. But that was 1957 and that was her signature hit basically.

Adesoji Iginla (17:59.31)
It was powerful.

Adesoji Iginla (18:13.152)
No, no, no, I won't even try.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (18:21.583)
She also gained recognition with the song that they call the click song, which is a traditional Kosa wedding song that showcased the Kosa click sounds. She also has these other songs, like I was practicing these songs, but man, I was like, I'm not even gonna try and do it. The one where she's doing the breathing and she's like.

Adesoji Iginla (18:38.048)
There is also.

Adesoji Iginla (18:43.327)
breathing yeah

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (18:45.221)
But she's doing it according to the beat and it's amazing. You got to they feature some of it in the documentary, but then you can find it elsewhere as well. But amazing voice, amazing talent. So she comes to Venice. So the South African government didn't realize, I guess, that she had left the country. But once she was out and she got all this recognition and it was one anti-apathetic film.

They basically revoked, she was trying to come back to South Africa and they revoked, they canceled her passport. In the meantime, she had also sent for her daughter, Bongi, her only child. And Bongi had been taken care of by her mother, Christina. So Bongi left in 1959 as well to come be with her mother. And Christina transitioned in 1960.

Adesoji Iginla (19:20.654)
phosphate. Yeah.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (19:43.816)
And unfortunately, like we said earlier, Miriam was not able to go and bury her mother, which as you can imagine was absolutely heartbreaking. I don't think even for her at that time, she thought it would take as long as it did for her to eventually get back home. 30, 31, almost 32 years before she finally went back home. In the meantime, some of her siblings passed away, know, just a lot of heartbreak.

Adesoji Iginla (19:52.878)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (19:57.422)
30 years.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (20:14.899)
We know that in 1963 she testified before the United Nations Again, there are videos of her test of her testimony if you will um And what is so amazing about Miriam McKibba? One of the reasons why I was not even going to try to do her voice or whatever even though I am absolutely feeling her spirit here

Adesoji Iginla (20:22.498)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (20:41.543)
She had such a soft tone. I mean you're listening to Mirama Kiba You just you just want to love her. You just want to hug her It's just and even when she was saying I mean again go watch her interviews even when she was speaking truth to power Even when she was talking about the atrocities even when she was You know evoking this emotion for people to move to make a difference There was a softness to her

And she had this beautiful smile, really nice high cheek bones, great teeth, all of that. very just natural, you know, no offense sisters, you know, with all the tarantula eyelashes we have, okay, I've kind of shown my bias. But this woman for a long time, it was just a short haircut. And at one point, then she did the braids with the beads and stuff. That's why I put some on. She did a lot of head scarves.

But very much representing her African culture. So at one point when she was about to go on tour, Harry bella font a sent her to a Hair stylist right cuz he had helped with you know getting her outfits and things like that because she really didn't have much when she came So he sent her to a hairstylist and I think they must have like pressed and straightened out her hair and everything. Yes

Adesoji Iginla (21:52.691)
a hairdresser in Harlem. my god.

Adesoji Iginla (22:05.39)
pulled, stretched.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (22:08.079)
And she said she came back, she looked in the mirror and she said, what did they do to me? And she immediately put water on her hair. So any of you know black women or if you are a black woman who deals with your natural hair, you know, the shrinkage is real, right? And so she said she put that water back on her hair. And when she got dressed and, you know, came out for the tour for the performance, Harry Belafonte is like, what did you do to your hair?

Adesoji Iginla (22:33.612)
Even though it's like, what happened?

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (22:35.911)
And she's like, what did you people try to do to my hair? you crazy? So very much a woman who had a deep sense of who she was and a pride in who she was, unapologetically who she was. Of course, we know by the time she left South Africa, got married and had her

Adesoji Iginla (22:51.182)
Mm.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (23:05.063)
first baby I think when she was 17 if I'm not mistaken and so by so by the time she was 20 she had been married had breast cancer had a baby and was divorced because that first husband was very abusive to her and that first husband was James Koubay goodbye James goodbye

Adesoji Iginla (23:10.03)
17. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (23:24.609)
Wurst.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (23:35.24)
They got married in 1949, so she was 17 when she got married. And so, you know, that marriage didn't work. And then she married Sonny Pillay, who happened to be of Indian descent, Southeast Asian Indian descent.

Adesoji Iginla (23:53.568)
Asia.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (23:54.76)
And that marriage only lasted a year. So they were only married in 1959. That was it. It says married in 1959, divorced in 1959. So when I say sis knew who she was and she was taking no prisoners, just taking no prisoners. Of course, she did play with Hugh Masekela in South Africa before she came out to the US.

Adesoji Iginla (24:05.294)
Is that.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (24:14.727)
And they eventually got married in 1962. Oh, no, sorry, 1964. But that marriage did not last. They divorced in 1966, but stayed best of friends. As a matter of fact, he helped take care of her daughter. He wrote songs for her. When he needed something, she was there for him and vice versa. So that that relationship went on for the rest of her life. And as he says it, he's like,

Adesoji Iginla (24:19.128)
But that didn't last.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (24:43.673)
we were really more like brother and sister. So it wasn't acrimonious or anything like that. They kept that relationship. So she testified twice before the United Nations, one in 1963 and again in 1964. Of course, at this time, for sure, South Africa was not gonna let her back because at this point she had become a global symbol of the anti-apathite struggle.

Adesoji Iginla (24:45.422)
The sister, yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (24:55.937)
of nations.

Adesoji Iginla (25:09.208)
that.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (25:11.063)
And so she had found refuge in the United States and initially, quote unquote, America embraced her. But you know America is finicky and we embrace you as long as you are doing what we want you to do and it's on our terms. So like we said, she worked with notable figures like Harry Belafonte. I believe she was the first African to get a Grammy and it was for her.

Adesoji Iginla (25:14.926)
States.

Adesoji Iginla (25:37.688)
Grammy.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (25:39.866)
recording with Harry Belafonte. And she earned that Grammy in 1966, sharing the best folk recording award with Belafonte for their album, and evening with Belafonte slash Maqeba. The album contains politically charged songs about South Africa's oppression. So at this point, she's definitely persona non grata. Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (26:04.29)
Me pass na non grata, yeah?

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (26:06.777)
Yes, and she continued in her activism. Her next husband is someone that I think many of us would know, Stokely Carmichael, who eventually was known as Kwame Ture. And it was a really interesting story that he tells about meeting her. So he first met her when he was a student.

Adesoji Iginla (26:13.71)
Mmm

Adesoji Iginla (26:18.946)
Michael.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (26:34.799)
And Harry Belafonte was, I guess, maybe mentoring them because you guys know Harry Belafonte was very active in the civil rights movement. And Halle Belafonte said, well, you know, there's this event, concert's happening, you know, like you guys to come and so on and so forth. And Kwame Ture said initially he was like, no, not interested. You know, I want to go. And then Harry Belafonte said, well, Miriam Akeba is going to be there.

Adesoji Iginla (27:01.507)
video.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (27:02.439)
And at that point it was like, yeah, I want to be there. want to be on the front row and all of that stuff because he'd actually heard her music. And again, you have to go and see pictures of this woman. She's ethereal. was just effortlessly gorgeous. Absolutely stunning. And again, like I said, there was this tonation of hers. There was this energy that was truly very soothing, healing.

Adesoji Iginla (27:16.174)
You

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (27:31.772)
I can't even imagine her yelling at anybody. It would be the kind of like, baby, stop doing that. What is wrong with hair? You know, hair, because you know, South Africans don't say her like we do. And so it's like, I can't even imagine her yell. That's how, ooh, I just love her. You guys got to go watch the documentary. Watch, watch all the things about her. Get immersed in her music if you don't already know her music. And so.

Adesoji Iginla (27:53.624)
documentary.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (28:02.181)
Stokely Carmichael Kwame Ture, whom I actually met. I met Kwame Ture when I was a youngster at Ohio State University. I would say I was his bodyguard. Let's just leave it at that. But at any rate, he was smitten with her, right? And so they had a chance to meet again, but this time it was in Guinea.

because Stokely Carmichael is, when he changed his name to Kwame Ture, Ture is actually from Sekul Ture, and Kwame is from Kwame Nkrumah. And so he had a chance and he met her again in...

Adesoji Iginla (28:35.52)
Yeah. Yeah.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (28:43.267)
In guinea and at this time he's a known name as well, you know, so they're both known names And so when he you know introduced himself she was like, it's a pleasure to meet you and he's like no we've met before and he said he was so crushed that she had no recollection of the first time that they met I guess he wasn't as impressive as he thought but he in his mind was like I want her I want to marry her

and Stokely shot his shot because he's nine years younger than she is or was and they eventually got married. They got married in 1968 and you got to go see their wedding pictures. Absolutely beautiful. But here comes America and its ugliness.

Adesoji Iginla (29:11.298)
the younger.

Adesoji Iginla (29:23.584)
Yeah, yeah, beautiful.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (29:30.231)
So she was feted all across the United States, selling out tours, of that, you know, concerts, all of that kind of thing. And the day after she got married, they just started counseling. And you know what? I'm going to call a thing a thing. I am all for working with people who want to work with me for our common humanity, for our liberation.

Adesoji Iginla (29:41.662)
The phone went silent.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (29:55.686)
And we often talk about white supremacy in general, but at some point there does have to be a conversation about the role Jewish Americans have played, not just sometimes in assisting with our liberation like the founding of the NAACP, and we give full credit for that, but also the role that they've played in oppressing black people.

Adesoji Iginla (29:59.022)
Mm.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (30:25.125)
African Americans, Africans across the globe. I mean, we need to tell all the stories. We need to really have the full picture. And at that point, and some may argue even till today, Jewish Americans were very much in control of the music scene. And they canceled her.

tour and her different concerts because they said they cannot feed.

a person who is against them. In other words, because she was married to Kwame Ture, and Kwame Ture was very vocal, and he spoke out, and some people considered him an anti-Semite because he was just speaking truth to power. You're married to him, we're canceling. All of a sudden, we're not playing your music, we're not this, we're not that. And I think it's also a lesson for us, you know, African people as we talk about our liberation. And here in the United States, we have a number of boycotts going on like this week where

Adesoji Iginla (31:06.702)
anti-Zionist.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (31:28.169)
supposed to be boycotting Amazon, is do we have the courage of our convictions? Do we have the courage to follow through and say, if you don't respect us, if you don't treat us right, we don't spend our money with you because other people do this. And rightly or wrongly so, American Jews felt like Kwame Ture was an enemy.

Adesoji Iginla (31:36.782)
Hmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (31:57.23)
And so since she was married to him, they canceled her, not just in the US, they put pressure on areas like France and so on and so forth. And all of a sudden she just could not make money.

Adesoji Iginla (32:12.002)
The shoe is dried up.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (32:16.047)
in this place in the way that she did before. So it's like, you know, we can just talk about, you know, they canceled a tour. No, but what you're trying to do is bring a person to their knees. If you know this is their source of livelihood and you cut it off, what are you trying to accomplish? It's like, we are going to bend you to our will.

But we are often so magnanimous and so, let God take care of it that we never use our power in the same way. And we're sharing the stories of these women, not because we have nothing else to do. This is actually a lot of reading every week. But because they're lessons to be learned. And if we learn those lessons, then we apply those lessons. And we may see

Adesoji Iginla (32:34.829)
Mm.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (33:03.693)
us advancing a lot more, lot quicker in terms of our liberation. And so they eventually had to flee the United States of America. In fact, and I have his book, Ready for Liberation somewhere here, but you guys may know of his book Black Power as well. But basically, Stokely Carmichael Kwame Ture knew that if he stayed in the United States, they were probably going to kill him.

you know and so secular said come on come on home come on home and he invited them back to guinea and he gave them sanctuary and he protected them and i wonder in 2025 if we have any african leaders

Adesoji Iginla (33:35.958)
Off I live. Yeah.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (33:56.114)
who would be so courageous as to do the same, to basically say, to hell with you, the United States, to hell with you, Israel, to hell with you, South Africa, we are taking our sister in. We're taking our brother in. Or if they would bow to the pressures of these imperialists.

So she kept speaking, she kept using her music to spread the word. She was much beloved by all of the Pan-Africanist leaders. I'm saying Chokwe Lumumba, but that's not the name that I want. Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Julius Nyere of Tanzania.

Adesoji Iginla (34:33.134)
Quameon Chroma, Partism Lumumba

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (34:41.383)
Secretary of course, she named her daughter, named her son after Lumumba. So her daughter ended up having two living children. One is named Lumumba and the second one is named after...

Miriam makeba, it's her south african name zenzile and zenzile and lumumba are still alive and they were featured in that documentary. jomo, I mentioned jomo kenyatta already leopold zengar. buanyi of ivory coast all of these leaders loved her. We should also say that initially you want to talk about mayer for a second what happened with her and goda

Adesoji Iginla (35:11.277)
magic.

Adesoji Iginla (35:19.788)
for wine.

Adesoji Iginla (35:30.33)
yeah, Goldaemaya, the Prime Minister of the... then she was a friend and then she became the Prime Minister of Israel and once she got married to Kwame Turei, cut off completely. Yeah, buddy, buddy.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (35:44.796)
mean, they were good friends. Well, let me put that in quotes. Because even in my life, like I, if I'm the dot in the middle, I have concentric circles and some friends might be right close and then there'll be others that are eight circles out, but we'll just call everybody friends. But yeah, she cut her off just like that.

Adesoji Iginla (36:04.736)
Just look. And then she was, I mean, she was popular to the point where Haile Selassie asked her to perform at the inaugural meeting of the Organization of African Unity, May 25, 1963. And she was one of a few that did. She was also the face of the Black Panther within the Algerian circle. was a time when the Black Panthers were based in Orges, you know.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (36:33.627)
Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (36:34.312)
it was known as Black OJS. And so she did play her role in terms of helping to garner the Pan-African movement. And her husband at the time, Kwame Ture, was a stalwart with regards to that aspect of it.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (36:51.919)
And are you speaking about the Algiers, the same group, the same freedom fighters that Ayikwama had hoped to join? He had hoped to be a revolutionary with them and they did not accept him.

Adesoji Iginla (37:01.832)
Yes, yes, yes. And then the like, you're way too smart to be a revolutionary. There is something about you. must be a plant or something. And then he go write your books, man. Go write your books. So there is one part I wanted to you when you mentioned her soft-spokenness with regards to how she was able to articulate the pain, but without being too

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (37:12.007)
Go write your books.

Adesoji Iginla (37:31.278)
I won't say it's not forceful, but saying it in such a voice that you can hear it. I just want to read a part of the speech she gave on June 16, 1963, when she addressed the United Nations Special Committee on the policies of apartheid. And my note says, well, in a quiet voice, like you said, she said, some 5,000 people have in recent months been put behind prison bars.

Amongst those who have been jailed and detained are so many of our prominent leaders, which include Chief AJ Lutuli, Robert Sobukwe, Nelson Mandela, Mrs. Lillian Ngoghye, and only last week Mr. Walter Sesulu. These people must be released at once. I am certain nobody can liberate his people when he is in a prison cell or a concentration camp. My country has been turned by the henchmen.

Vigvod, which was the government of the apartheid at the time, into a huge prison. I feel certain that the time has come for the whole of humanity to shout, halt, and to act with firmness to stop these crazy rulers from dragging our country into a horrible disaster.

So when you say stuff like that on an international stage with the world listening

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (38:59.335)
whole world listening at the United Nations.

Adesoji Iginla (39:01.472)
are the United Nations. So when you do that, it's more than likely that you're going to become an enemy of the state, which is what she became.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (39:12.027)
Well, she was already an enemy. Just from that documentary, yes. Yes. Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (39:14.1)
No, no, I mean, I'm saying, Father cemented, yeah, Father cemented her status with them in light of the fact that she, like she said, fighting for their humanity. You go into a place, you arrived in a place in 1652, and you begin to turn that place into a concentration camp. Because when you move people off the land,

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (39:23.537)
Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (39:43.532)
with the...

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (39:43.559)
and open air concentration camp. Where else have we seen that recently?

Adesoji Iginla (39:49.356)
Gaza. You know? And so when you see all of this history playing back, the only reason why we're not able to connect the dots again is because we need to do much more reading. Because once you read, you see patterns. And then you're able to sometimes stop them in the even before they bud. But because we're running Helter Skelter,

the truths are right be you know they're right around us so with maria mckeever she not only used her voice her music in fact all of our music she starts with an introduction into what apartheid is all about so in spite of the fact that she is only in inverted commas a musician she still use the time allotted to her

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (40:37.531)
Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (40:49.354)
in the pursuit of the respect of humanity. So

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (40:53.797)
Yeah. And I think her experience in Sophie Towne, well, listen, her experience from birth, her experience from her earliest, before she could even remember anything, I think shaped her for this resistance. Because unlike some of us who feel like if we play nice, somehow we will be spared. She lived and saw that

Adesoji Iginla (41:11.502)
Mmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (41:23.139)
There was no peace with these people. It was just violence.

And so just a little bit of background on Sophia town because I feel like as we talk about Miriam McKeva We need to talk about the love the love she had for South African and just enriching our understanding our history of it which should be really important to us as Some people some Africans in the diaspora as starting to expatriate back to to South Africa, but in a way that Is a little harmful

to the indigenous people in Cape Town in particular where it's like they're creating their own enclaves and keeping the native people out. And so it's just another form of gentrification, if you will, even though this one has a black face. But Sophia Town, also known as Soft Town or Kofifi, which actually that name Sophia Town was named after a colonizer's wife, was a vibrant cultural and

intellectual hub in Johannesburg, South Africa. It was a unique township because it was one of the few urban areas where Black South Africans could own land, making it a center for resistance, creativity, and political activism. Of course, jazz. Jazz was huge. And there's always something about jazz and having it, you know, having it having to be underground. And so,

Adesoji Iginla (42:36.376)
Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (42:41.336)
Sounds like Harlem.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (42:51.737)
There in the documentary you will hear some of the surviving members of the Skylarks who are talking about how white people would come in to watch them perform and then would want to take them to their homes for parties. But you couldn't be seen by.

the white officers, police officers. And so these women, these black women dressed to the nines would have to, you know, like hide themselves in the car and be covered up until they got to their location. And then they would have to, you know, all the curtains are drawn and the music isn't played too loud. But every once in a while, someone would report and say, we think we saw, you know, bantus, you know, over in this place. Cause you know, that's what they call them. We'll go watch Cry Freedom, Steve Biko. And

Adesoji Iginla (43:28.834)
the board,

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (43:43.328)
once they hear the commotion, what they would do is they would quickly put on aprons as though they were servants. And so when the white police officers would come in, the same people they were just partying with would say, no, they're who? They're just servants. They're just here to serve us at our party. And so if you can just imagine living that life and the humiliation of it all.

Adesoji Iginla (43:49.996)
Mm.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (44:07.247)
You know just always be it being in your face that you are not human enough. You are not equal. So anyway, The government saw this place as a threat and in 1955 they demolished pretty much the whole place Rebuilding it as a whites only suburb named triumph t-r-i-o-m-f imagine that

Um, so initially it was established, um in the early 20th century on land originally that was part of the waterfall farm And it shouldn't say that because it was land owned by black people and then it was seized from them in 1897 property speculator. Herman tobyanski purchased 237 acres purchased from whom? You know, like you gotta question all of this stuff and name the township after his wife sophia

Adesoji Iginla (44:45.806)
Exactly.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (45:04.199)
And as I said, unlike many other black townships, which were strictly controlled by the government, this area was like a freehold area. So there were black people, colored people, Indian and Chinese. And for those of you in America who are saying, how are black and colored different? There was a difference. Adesu, do you want to talk about what that difference was?

Adesoji Iginla (45:21.134)
Mmm

Adesoji Iginla (45:25.774)
So colored was essentially what you consider your mixed, because miscegenation, the mixing of the races was against, was a crime, which is why the title of Trevor Noah's book is titled Born a Crime. Because you were not supposed to be seen with, the races were not supposed to mix.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (45:43.471)
And in that book, yeah, sorry, go, please go ahead.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (45:53.936)
And he talks about, Trevor Noah talks about how his black South African mother in public had to act like she was his nanny. Because if she claimed him as a son, then it's gonna be, wait a second, so you must have slept with a white man. And then she would be in trouble. So if you can just imagine that, yes, that book, Born a Crime. And there are two versions of that book. One is for young adults, so it's like a little simpler to read. And then there's an adult version. So check that out as well.

Adesoji Iginla (46:18.818)
Yeah, yeah.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (46:23.367)
So and that also explains how Mary and makeba was able to then marry Pele because he was he was Indian so there were a lot of mixed races in that in that area if you will So by the 1940s this area that Sophia town had grown into a bustling neighborhood of nearly I want you to remember this number 54

Adesoji Iginla (46:35.118)
Yeah.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (46:52.113)
thousand Black residents, along with smaller numbers of colored Indian and Chinese families. There was poverty, there was overcrowding, but there was also this rich cultural and intellectual life. And so writers like Kan Temba came from there, Bloc Modisani, Eskia Mfafile, Don Materi, and Lewis Nkosi, all chronicled life in Sophia Town.

Musicians like Todd Machikazekiza and Nat Nakasa also helped to shape the jazz scene. And then of course, political activists like Nelson Mandela and Ruth First made it a center for the anti-apathied movement. And of course, this whole time, the colonizers as seeding.

Adesoji Iginla (47:37.751)
again. Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (47:44.118)
Hahaha

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (47:45.352)
So Sophia Town's location, close to a white working class neighborhood, made it a target for the apartheid government, which saw it as a slum that needed to be cleared. Where else do you hear this? So now in Washington, DC, they're trying to move people out and make sure we don't have any homeless people, but no, cut all the services. So where are you gonna move these people to? The rise of the National Party in 1948 accelerated these efforts to.

Adesoji Iginla (48:01.378)
gentrify.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (48:14.481)
basically get rid of this slum right where these people were free and moving around and They the natives resettlement act in 1954 gave the government the legal authority and When we say legal as an attorney myself, we should just know that these are just words Because these laws are not coming down from God human beings remember it was once legal to own people here in the United States where I am

Adesoji Iginla (48:29.89)
look exactly

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (48:44.143)
But anyway, the natives resettlement act natives resettlement act just think about it all It's that you're acknowledging they own the place. They are the natives. This place is native to them, right? but gave the government legal authority and Then listen to the next part to forcibly remove black South Africans

Adesoji Iginla (48:56.942)
Mm.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (49:07.833)
And what is the clown, the felon in chief trying to do right now? Pretty much get legal authority to do whatever. Of course, the residents resisted fiercely. If you go on the internet, you'll see signs where they had, we won't move. Leaders like Nelson Mandela, Helen Joseph, and Father Trevor Huddleston played key roles in the resistance, but the government just went right ahead. And on November, February, sorry, on.

February 9th, 1955, 2,000 heavily armed police officers carrying rifles in traditional clubs arrived to start beating and forcibly remove black families. It took them eight years. So think of it. Eight years of terror. Eight years of terror for the government to systematically displace.

Adesoji Iginla (49:53.006)
ATF.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (50:02.855)
thousands of residents over 54,000 black families were sent to metal lands in Soweto. Colored residents were moved to El Dorado Park, Westbury and New Gizik. Indians were relocated to La Nasia and Chinese residents were moved to Central Johannesburg because we cannot have you all unified.

Adesoji Iginla (50:25.486)
Mmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (50:26.693)
We cannot have you all come together and understand that we are your common enemy. We've got to keep you scattered, give one group a little bit more rights than the other, and keep you all at loggerheads. After the forced removals and demolition, the area was rebuilt by the government. As I said, triumph, Afrikaans for triumph, to serve as a suburb for poor white Afrikaners, the same ones that...

the felon in chief is now going to give visas and citizenship and all of that to come to the United States of America. But let's get back to our sister. We never got away from her, but it's just having an understanding of what she take, yes, know, the soil from which she grew. And so you see her performing across...

Adesoji Iginla (51:02.926)
US citizenship too.

Adesoji Iginla (51:15.114)
of where she comes from.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (51:25.767)
Africa in particular eventually Europe as well Belgium in particular took her in she did have a home in Belgium. That's where She lived really at the time of her death and as they so do you said she was still fighting up until her death on November 9 2008 where at the age of 76 she literally had just performed and As you heard earlier, she looked back

Adesoji Iginla (51:51.95)
Hmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (51:55.948)
her musicians smiled, walked off the stage, barely got off the stage and collapsed. They said she had a heart attack and she transitioned. I do want to share the lyrics of Soweto Blues if that's okay. All right. Deep breaths.

Adesoji Iginla (52:14.604)
Yeah, go ahead. Go ahead.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (52:22.541)
I to say this before I read this. You know, there's a lot of music coming out of South Africa right now. And I think some of you may know one of the more popular musicians from South Africa at this time is Tyler. And I have to tell you, being immersed in Maryam Makeba's life in music and then occasionally going online and seeing

Make me sweat.

Adesoji Iginla (52:52.302)
Make me water. Yeah.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (52:57.081)
Listen, I've been young I get it but Miriam mckibba was young too at one point and it's just like yes Sandra There are so many parallels in the US and in in the continent

Adesoji Iginla (53:01.336)
But no. No.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (53:14.417)
But again, people come out of their experiences, right? And so perhaps she's coming out of one of her experiences and whatever she feels it is that she needs to do. No, I'm not shading anybody. She's young, she's as young as my daughters. So, you know, they're still growing. I was growing at that age. However, not but, however, I do think that those of us who are a little older have a responsibility to speak truth, to...

You know tap and say hey reconsider or think about this Definitely when you talk about marion mckever. She was sensual. There's no question about it I mean when she did that dance and she would swirl her hips and turn all around on pata pata I mean she was all woman. Okay, no question about it, but it wasn't Like the main thing it wasn't i'm selling myself sexually, okay

Adesoji Iginla (54:04.462)
It wasn't the mainstay. Yeah.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (54:09.711)
Let me get off my soapbox. Let me read the Soweto blues. I'm going to try and read it.

in mama Africa's just soft, beautiful, soothing tone. And probably gonna fail miserably at it, okay. Soweto Blues by Hugh Massichella.

The children got a letter from the master. It said, nomo kosa soto nomo zulu.

refusing to comply, they sent an answer.

That's when the policemen came to the rescue.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (54:59.149)
Children, we're Bullets dying.

The mothers screaming and crying. The fathers were working in the cities. The evening news brought out all the publicity. Just a little atrocity deep in the city. Soweto Blues. Soweto Blues.

There was a full moon on the golden city. Looking at the door was the man without pity, accusing everyone of conspiracy, tightening the curfew, charging people with walking.

Yes, the border is where he was awaiting, waiting for the children, frightened and running. A handful got away, but all the others hurried their chain without any publicity.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (56:22.819)
It's Beware, for word. Just a little atrocity deep in the city. Soweto Blues.

Where were the men when the children were throwing stones? When the children were being shot? Where were you?

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (57:03.547)
That question, and this was written by a man.

brings to mind my community today in Killeen, Texas, where on Monday two days ago, a 13-year-old girl stabbed a 14-year-old girl to death.

I have now had an opportunity to talk with both families.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (57:36.923)
This issue was completely avoidable.

I asked, where was our community? Why didn't we protect these children from themselves? And now reading Soweto Blues, I'm asking, where were the men? When our girls were fighting each other, when our young boys were brandishing Glocks, where are our men? What will Mama Africa say today?

Her legacy endures. She has received numerous honorary doctorates from various schools. She's received many awards. She has championed many humanitarian causes. In all of the areas that she's lived, people talk about how she would feed.

anyone who came to our house, how she would feed musicians, how she would pay for education for the young people in the area. And with her foundation, the Maryam Makaiba Foundation, that work continues today.

I was gonna try and sing one song. I don't know that idea. But when she visited Tanzania, when Julius Nyerere invited her to Tanzania, she heard a song called Malaika. Julius Nyerere absolutely loved Miriam Makeba because she sang so many of our songs, so many of her songs in her native language.

Adesoji Iginla (59:10.872)
I like it.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (59:24.219)
and she quickly learned Malaika, learned to sing it in Swahili. She was multilingual and actually she was a polyglot and she went on to sing this song and I will take a stab at the very beginning part of it.

only because of what it also she sang all kinds of music there's one song that i absolutely loved as a little girl where is your love that you're hiding gotta go listen to that as well

But Malaika is basically a song of a young man singing to a woman and he's calling her his angel, Malaika Angel. And he's saying, I would love to marry you, but I don't have money. I don't have the resources. And even in that song, as gentle and as beautiful as the melody is and as the words sound, especially when you don't know what it means, it also speaks to what's even affecting our community today, this lack of identity.

when young men no longer have the resources to get married, when young men and women no longer come together in marriage to build families, when people are being scattered, this loss of identity is something that plagues us not just here in the US or in the diaspora, but also on the continent. And so let's try. Mama Africa, you're going have to help me here.

Malayka, Naku Penda Malayka.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (01:01:11.665)
Malayka, Naku Penda Malayka, Ningukuo Maliewe

Ningo

You gotta go hear her sing it because it's so beautiful But that is just a little bit about our beautiful mama Africa who even today is inspiring us There are many books that you can get on Miriam Makeba I for the life of me could not find my copy of her book

Adesoji Iginla (01:02:00.204)
my story.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (01:02:00.296)
But I had been studying her for a while, so I was able to go to my notes. But it's called My Kaba, My Story. It was published in 1988. It's an autobiography co-written with James Hall, chronicling her life from childhood and apathied South Africa to her global music career, political exile, and activism. There are books about her, Myra Mykaba, The Myra Mykaba Story, published in 2001.

Adesoji Iginla (01:02:06.316)
A story.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (01:02:27.367)
Mary on my cable mother Africa by silly Kumalo a tribute to her legacy and influence and if you listen to people artists like Angelique P Joe she would tell you this with the mirror makeba was a huge influence um Who was the other lady? was just talking to you about Frazi? Brenda Farsi, um, even though she went a different route very much so

Adesoji Iginla (01:02:45.742)
Brenda Fassi.

Adesoji Iginla (01:02:55.094)
Yvonne Shaka Shaka.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (01:02:55.491)
And so you also have.

Adesoji Iginla (01:02:58.731)
Yvonne Shaka Shaka.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (01:03:00.103)
Yes, yes, yes, yes, all of them. Soweto Blues, which covers jazz, popular music and politics in South Africa by Gwen Ansell describes her contributions. African Music Power in Being in Colonial Zimbabwe mentions Makeba's impact on African music and resistance movements.

to make a world safe for revolution. Cubans in Angola also discusses her role in African liberation movements. And I think what you see with her, Billie Holiday, and you'll see that with some of the other artists we'll cover, is they did not see themselves as, I'm an artist, I'm a celebrity, that you guys do your thing over there. I think, was it...

Lil Wayne or something that was like I don't know what these people are good. He's not black black lives matter I did that that has nothing to do with me, which is ridiculous these artists saw themselves as part and parcel of the struggle and They use their platforms to advance that struggle. I should also say this. Mama Africa

Again, this amazing woman just totally in charge of her life. She did divorce Kwame Ture because can you believe that brother had the nerve to cheat on her? Are you serious right now? You are going to chase her all of that. You get her.

And who knows, there could be more to the story. Certainly because she had a hysterectomy, she couldn't have kids because we know that Kwame Ture later married another African sister. They have two children. She was a physician and his sons are still alive. I believe she's still alive. So they got divorced in 1978. They were married for 10 years. And then she, in 1980, she did marry a Ghanaian airline executive, Begyot Ba, who at

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (01:05:05.595)
the time of the documentary was still alive and kicking and he talks about just even the further trauma that she experienced when Seku Turei, you wanna talk about that part, Adesuji, as we wrap up? When he was overthrown and the new government came in, yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (01:05:19.5)
when circuitry read it on?

yeah, yeah, yeah. When he was overthrown and the people who took over power decided to come after her and started harassing her. So she had to flee Guinea thinking she was in Africa. Surely no harm should come to her. But alas, in the imperialists, you know, once they get the main target, any underlings in her case, she was considered an underling will become, will become cannon fodder.

So she had to escape Guinea and the fact that the gentleman in Ghana had already been overthrown, there was literally no place for her to go on the continent. That she had to, you know, seek asylum in Belgium, which is where she spent the last of her days.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (01:06:14.777)
And we do know that after Nelson Mandela became president, he did invite her back. He personally invited her back. She did come back. She expresses some shock, definitely feeling like the landscape had changed in terms of African leadership. And there wasn't that notion of Pan-Africanism the way it had been with some of the other leaders.

Adesoji Iginla (01:06:42.029)
Mm-hmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (01:06:44.171)
So she was saddened by that. Of course, she came back to finally visit her mother's grave. Two of her siblings had also transitioned during the time that she'd been away. Of course, she lost her daughter who died at age 35 right after childbirth in Guinea. She'd also buried, so she buried that stillborn child and then she buried another child, another grandchild from her daughter.

Adesoji Iginla (01:07:10.24)
I thought, yeah.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (01:07:13.799)
So yeah, just just a lot that went on with her but You go and watch her music watch her videos You cannot see that trauma and pain in how she carried herself Necessarily like not broken. She was very much

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (01:07:36.794)
Very much a healer is what I would say very much in tune with herself and her power and very much aware that she would not be broken no matter what and so today we just give all kudos if you will maybe I shouldn't use that word no we give all honor to zenzile miriam makeba who showed us what womanhood

what being a healer, what being an artist, what being an activist, what being a revolutionary should look like. And the more we study these women, the more...

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (01:08:18.693)
I'm inclined to snicker when some of us call ourselves revolutionaries, because we haven't even earned the R in revolutionary. You know, we're still looking for our soft lives. We are not here for the smoke. We really aren't. But hopefully, as we continue to study these women, their energy will strengthen our spines and allow us to know that

Adesoji Iginla (01:08:45.292)
I mean...

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (01:08:48.515)
Even when it seems like you've lost it all, you haven't if you have yourself, if you stay connected to your ancestors.

Adesoji Iginla (01:08:57.302)
And also another thing to mention is the fact that they don't have any cape. They were just being themselves. And the actions was just is what we're talking about right now from Lorraine Hansberry, Billie Holiday, Mama Kuti, Queen of the Maroons and to Miriam Akeba. What did they do? They just were there.

And when the time came for them to stand or speak up, they did. That was it. That was it.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (01:09:33.625)
They did and they so they weathered the storm of racism and they also weathered the storms of sexism You know, I was gonna bring that up Brothers get it together y'all get it together. Come on now

Adesoji Iginla (01:09:42.798)
I know, I know, I know. I know, I mean, you, the thing is, when we're doing the, you know, the research, we found out that brother Kwame Ture had strayed. it was a gut punch, but hey, you know, can you imagine? all, you know, so yeah. But again,

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (01:10:02.119)
Like, come on, brother. Yes, yes.

Adesoji Iginla (01:10:10.816)
We've come to the end of another one. You want to tell us who we'll be talking about next week?

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (01:10:16.729)
an absolute powerhouse. As a matter of fact, hold up.

Adesoji Iginla (01:10:21.633)
you

Adesoji Iginla (01:10:25.454)
You

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (01:10:26.405)
This is when I was first introduced to her is when I went to the opening of the book launch for this in Columbus, Ohio. September Clark. Look at that figure. Look at her. Like who are you talking? Who are you talking to? This is the original. Do you know who I am? You know, you know what this picture reminds me of? There's a picture of John Henry Clark.

Adesoji Iginla (01:10:37.368)
September clock.

Adesoji Iginla (01:10:41.644)
Dipping tot.

Adesoji Iginla (01:10:50.144)
yeah.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (01:10:54.907)
where he's kind of like looking away with his hand on his chin and that way to like, yes.

Adesoji Iginla (01:11:01.078)
Yeah, 17 o'clock.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (01:11:02.691)
I only debate my equals, all others I teach. But September Clark is who we're going to cover next week. you are absolutely, if you don't know anything about her, you know very little about her. Phenomenal.

Adesoji Iginla (01:11:05.291)
I teach.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (01:11:18.289)
Powerhouse she should be known in the same way that we know Fanny Lou Hamer and even more actually She should be better known than Martin Luther King and mouth and Kwame Ture and yes. No, no, no She actually had some beef with Kwame Ture Yeah. Yeah, she was like, yeah Little peep squeak. You need to go sit down

Adesoji Iginla (01:11:19.437)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (01:11:28.852)
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!

Adesoji Iginla (01:11:34.632)
I know, I know, I know, but...

Adesoji Iginla (01:11:39.854)
Okay.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (01:11:46.929)
Sandra says I'm encouraging strength into each week. These women were phenomenal. They survived and overcame so much. Yes, they did. And we will too because we are their daughters and you are their sons. Yes. But thank you all for joining again. Please like share all the things.

Adesoji Iginla (01:11:52.494)
Yes, they did.

Adesoji Iginla (01:11:57.634)
Thank you.

Yes. Thank you. Thank you for coming through. again, leave comments. Leave comments. We do answer comments. thank you all for coming through. And next week, September clock. hopefully no. But we'll be doing September. No. OK. So thank you all for coming through. And from Sister Aya.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (01:12:21.34)
No singing.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (01:12:32.177)
Thank you all.

Adesoji Iginla (01:12:34.094)
I'm from myself until next time. Good night and God bless.