Top 5 Most Striking Quotes from Miriam Makeba

20 January 2026

She is known for her political engagement and her songs. Between these two spheres, here are some of the striking quotes of Miriam Makeba (1932–2008).

Top 5 Most Striking Quotes from Miriam Makeba — “Why is our music called ‘world music’? I think people are trying to be polite. What they really mean is that it’s third-world music, just as they used to call us ‘underdeveloped countries’ and now call us ‘developing countries.’”

citations de Miriam Makeba — “The victor writes history, they came, they conquered, and they wrote. You cannot expect those who invaded us to write the truth about us.”

Miriam Makeba — “I am not a political singer. I do not know what that word means. People think I voluntarily chose to tell the world what was happening in South Africa. No! I was only singing about my life, and in South Africa one always sings about what happens to us, especially what hurts us.”

citations de Miriam Makeba — “The British often talk about [Shaka Zulu] as the ‘Black Napoleon,’ but I say Napoleon was a white Shaka.”

On her boycott by American institutions after marrying the pro-Black activist Stokely Carmichael in the 1960s:
“My concerts were canceled left and right. Talking about Apartheid in South Africa did not bother them, but talking about American Apartheid did.”

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