I just learned of the death of Miriam Makeba, a Grammy Award Winning South African singer.

In the 50′s, she encountered Harry Belafonte, who helped her to fame in the United States. She released many famous hits, such as “Pata Pata” and ” Malaika”. She appeared in Paul Simon‘s Graceland tour, and also appeared in concert with Dizzy Gillespie in 1991.

Miriam Makeba was the symbol of resistance against apartheid along with Nelson Mandela, Desmond TuTu, Jacob Zuma, Steve Biko, Walter Sisulu, etc. She lived almost all her life in exile. She died in Castel Volturno, near Caserta, in Italy, on the evening of 9 November 2008 of a heart attack. She was 76.

She was a living treasure for the African continent. She was born during the period of colonization. She saw the whole continent get independence. She witnessed the hard period of apartheid and witnessed the end of that. She lived to see the first Black president of South Africa. As the Wolof of Senegal say, “An old person who dies is like a library caught in a fire.”

Please watch “Pata Pata” by Miriam Makeba: