Miriam Makeba

Miriam Makeba was a South African singer and civil rights activist. One of the greatest female vocalists ever, Miriam won a Grammy in 1966. Over the course of her career she spoke and sang against the South African apartheid, eventually loosing her citizenship and her right to return home in 1963. However, over the course of her life Miriam had honorary citizenship in 10 different countries, was married to Black Panther Stokely Carmichael and later South African musician Hugh Masekala, sang for JFK, served as Guinea's official delegate to the United Nations, introduced African music and style to the world, and won numorous awards for her work against apartheid. In 1990 she returned home to South Africa to celebrate the release of Nelson Mandela and the end of apartheid.