Belafonte’s first
visit to Kenya,
In his own words from
his book.
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As the images of the funeral (of
John F. Kennedy) reverberated in all our minds and a new president inherited
the challenge of passing the Civil Rights Bill, I flew to Africa for a celebration
full of joy and promise: Independence Day for Kenya. With me, I brought Miriam
and several musicians, though not Millard Thomas, who sadly had died of cancer.
Miriam and I were received like visiting royalty. We sat in the reviewing stand
as tribe after tribe paraded. On one side of us was Jomo Kenyatta, the
country’s first prime minister who vowed that tribal rivalries would be buried
and forgotten in the new republic. On the other was Prince Philip, representing
the British Crown. At some point, the British flag was lowered and the Kenyan
flag was hoisted up to take its place. Carefully, the British flag was folded
and handed over to Prince Philip, who put it on his lap. I was within earshot
of him as he turned to an aide: “You know, I never really appreciated the
vastness of the British Empire until I started receiving all those flags.”
After the ceremony came the
concert, in a vast amphitheatre, to which we walked with all the tribes. There
among were very proud and very tall Masai warriors who were simply transfixed
with Miriam Makeba. After greeting us with much flattery, one of them started
talking and gesturing toward Miriam and then to me. Finally, a translator
stepped in. “He would like to know,” the translator said, “if you would be good
enough to sell Miriam to him for ten head of cattle.”
I declined the kind offer as
gently as I could and managed to refrain from teasing Miriam until we’d moved
on. But that moment in its own way, showed just how deeply rooted tribal
customs were in the new democracy. Independence in Africa as Sekou Toure and
other new leaders were finding was hard to achieve but even harder to manage.
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