Malaika
The angels are singing.
When I was young, my aunt said that I had a spiritual mother. This spiritual mother could nurture me wherever I went, her name was Miriam Makeba. I had heard of the name before but I was not familiar with the person's history. I wondered why Makeba would be my spiritual mother given that I knew so little about her. It was an odd statement to me. I did not understand what a spiritual mother was or why I needed one. I accepted my aunt's statement as is and carried on.
At that time, I assumed that Makeba was dead since she was referred to as being spiritual. Makeba lived until 2008. It was in 2008 when I found out that my spiritual mother had been a living person for 14 years of my life.
I was never told the history of Makeba. I did not care much for history lessons at that age. I understood that Makeba was a great spirit like Patrice Lumumba, Thomas Sankara or Duala Manga Bell. I just accepted that she was called "Mama Africa".
Eventually, I figured out that Miriam Makeba, my spiritual mother, was the same woman that sang the angelic song "Malaika".
If angels could sing, what song would they sing? what would it sound like?
To the spirit of nurture, and
with love and joy, we love and enjoy "Malaika".