Creativity Quote by Miriam Makeba

Makeba’s sentence lands like a weary backstage aside that suddenly turns accusatory: Africa is “troubled” not by fate, not by some intrinsic flaw, but because trouble is manufactured. The key move is her vague but loaded “those who must always cause confusion.” She doesn’t need to name names; the power is in the recognition. Listeners who know the history supply the cast: colonial administrations that drew borders for extraction, Cold War patrons bankrolling coups, multinational firms greasing elites, postcolonial strongmen selling stability while hollowing out states. “Confusion” is the tactic of choice because it keeps responsibility diffuse. When everything feels chaotic, theft looks like unfortunate collateral damage instead of policy.

The line also does something subtle with ownership. “So that we do not keep these natural resources” frames resources as already belonging to “we” - an African “we,” but also a people’s “we,” not just governments. Makeba is insisting on custody, not discovery: the continent doesn’t need saving so much as it needs its hands untied.

Context matters because Makeba wasn’t a neutral commentator; she was exiled by apartheid South Africa and spent decades using global stages to translate Southern African politics into moral clarity. Coming from a musician, the phrasing is blunt and rhythmic, almost chant-like: troubled continent / cause confusion / do not keep. It’s protest lyrics without melody, built to travel across borders the way her voice did. The intent isn’t to romanticize Africa’s wealth, but to indict the systems that turn it into a curse, then blame Africans for the bruises.