image courtesy of flickr
Birth Name:
Mathangi Arulpragasam
Birth Place:
Hounslow, London, England
Date of Birth:
17 July 1977
Ethnicity:
Tamil Sri Lankan
The UK singer/visual artist was born to Tamil parents from the northern Sri Lankan Province of Jaffna. The singer came to prominence through music file sharing over the internet in 2004.
Her father is a member of the insurgent Tamil Tigers. She also had a cousin who died while fighting as a Tamil Tiger. MIA has strong political views and voices them in her lyrics.
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M.I.A._(artist)
http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/mia/articles/story/6982504/mias_rebel_yell
Celebrities sharing similar heritage:
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She has conviction and I admire that. The world was her stage and she made a statement, good for her. The world needs more people like this women.
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first* Sorry..typo!
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Well first you hve to understand the indian culture…MIA is a black indian …most indians are dark aka brown/blck ( however they don’t want to use the word blck) that’s why the upper class bleach their skin…N u only see the lighter or whiter ones on TV or MOVIES…Its funny becuz I dated indian men dark much darker thn myself but they wouldn’t call themselves blck but would call me blck instead they would call themselves brown…rllly N I’m 8 shades ligther thn them… (It makes me wonder shld I stop calling myself blck)
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@flower, indians are generally not black, and Mia is not even Indian he’s Sri Lankan!!! Indians are usually in various shades of brown, with minorities with white or black skin. Indians from the north like Punjab are rarely black or dark brown, usually light brown, and the whole world refers to Indians as Asian or brown people. They can’t be black, even the really dark ones because their facial and body structure generally is different, Indians actually fit into the caucasian category along with Middle Easterners and Europeans.
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Marko the majority of Indians are of a darker hue. They are one of the first steps out of Africa. There are Afo-Indians….ppl who still have a very clear and distinctive tie to Africa…there are also “Indians” who have been out of Africa for thousands of years and still look African. You are right she is Sri Lankan…but the same thing applies to them. >>ever hear of the Sri Lankan kaffir people? Regardless of features (because every feature Indians have can be found in Africa as well), many Indians have a problem as the rest of the world with placing worth in their distance from their beautiful indigenous selves …..aka >>try to look as European as possible and put their own beauty and roots on the back shelf. Google: Kallar, Siddi, Jawara,Dongria Kondh, adivasi people and more>> learn.
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no such thing as “African features” dumbass
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Most of her songs seem politicaly motivated,especially her Born Free video (now banned in the US).
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Talk about freedom of speech.
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