Miriam Makeba

“It was the apartheid government that made me a political singer. I was just singing about my life, and in South Africa we always had a song for everything.”

“I'm not a political singer. I'm a singer who sings about my life and my people.”

“I look at an ant and I see myself: a native South African, endowed by nature with a strength much greater than my size so I might cope with the weight of a racism that crushes my spirit.”

“Age is wisdom, if one has lived one's life properly. It is experience and knowledge.”

“Girls are the future mothers of our society, and it is important that we focus on their well-being.”

“I kept my culture. I kept the music of my roots. Through my music, I became this voice and image of Africa and the people without even realising.”

“The conqueror writes history, they came, they conquered and they write. You don't expect the people who came to invade us to tell the truth about us.”

“I don't sing politics. I merely sing the truth.”

“When I am on stage, I am a free woman.”

“You've got to find a way of saying it without saying it.”

“My life, my career, has been a long journey. I've been a very fortunate person.”

“In my homeland of South Africa, we are trying to look forward now.”