Jackson Kaujeua

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Jackson Kaujeua (1953-) is a famous namibian musician, composer and gospel singer. He sings in various Namibian languages and English. He was born a member of the Herero ethnic group[1] in !Huns, a village near Keetmanshoop. Later, he broke off an education as a priest at the mission school of Otjimbingwe after he came in touch with the songs of gospels singers like Mahalia Jackson, whose human rights-related lyrics inspired him.[2] In 1973 he started studying music at the "Dorkay Art & Music college for talented Non-Whites" in South Africa. However, he was soon expulsed from the country for anti-apartheid activism. After a short time in Botswana, the SWAPO-resistance movement (with which he still associates himself today[3][4]) helped him to move to Great Britain, where he soon became the lead singer of the group Black Diamond. International success followed with songs like "Winds of Change".[2] Having lived as a teacher in an Angolan refugee camp for a short time in 1979, he returned to Namibia only after independance in 1990, where he celebrated great successes with his music, especially with "!Gnubu !Nubus" (Damara: short and round).[2] He is still one of the best-known Namibian musicians today.[5]

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