Miriam Makeba, The Accidental Activist

“Miriam Makeba, the South African singer known as ‘Mother Africa,’ was celebrated as much for her unwitting activism against apartheid as for her lilting and dramatic voice… [But she maintained that] ‘I am not a political singer. I don’t know what the word means. People think I consciously decided to tell the world what was happening in South Africa. No! I was singing about my life.'”