By Emily Schafer

1. ​Mapfumo performs at a music festival with the theme “Africa Calling” in the UK in 2005. Events such as this one occurred after he moved to the United States to avoid further danger from the Zimbabwe government. Mapfumo continues to use his music today to speak out about the problems in Zimbabwe. 

2. ​Mapfumo’s album Corruption was one of the most politically aggressive works of his musical career, speaking out against the government leaders of Zimbabwe in 1989. He was particularly disillusioned with the president Mugabe. The album cover alone expresses obvious disapproval of their leadership by highlighting instances of corruption and violence. 

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3. ​This picture from 1980 depicts Mugabe leading the black nationalist guerrilla fighters from the Zimbabwean African Liberation Army during the revolution against Rhodesia. The guerilla style warfare wreaked havoc on the nation, eventually forcing the white Prime Minister to concede to a new governmental structure. Mapfumo was a strong supporter of the Rhodesia Bush War, but later became critical of Mugabe’s corrupt rule over Zimbabwe. 

4. ​Protests against the Zimbabwe president, Mugabe, continue on into 2017 before his removal from office. Many people, like Mapfumo, were horrified by Mugabe’s autocratic, oppressive rule over the country. In November of 2017, Mugabe’s former vice president Mnangagwa was sworn into office after a coup d’état. 

5.  The mbira is a traditional African musical instrument made of a wooden resonator and metal tines, sometimes referred to as a thumb piano. This idiophone is of particular cultural importance to the Shona ethnic group of Zimbabwe. The melodies of the mbira are echoed in the works of Mapfumo through an electrical guitar, making his songs extremely accessible to the people of Zimbabwe. 

6. Mapfumo’s work during the years before Mugabe’s presidency was revolutionary even simply for his use of the traditional Shona language instead of English. Mapfumo always played in a band with other African artists to produce his music, as shown from this concert in Zimbabwe in the 1970s. ​

References
“A Year of Protests: Togo, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Cameroon Etc.” Africa News
Eyre, Banning. “Mhoze Chikowero: A Historian's Take on Thomas Mapfumo and Robert Mugabe.” Afropop Worldwide, 7 Feb. 2013, 
Mnyanda, Sibusiso. “The Mbira: A Story of Appropriation and Dilution.” Noted.Man, 18 Apr. 2017
 “Thomas Mapfumo, Zimbabwe's Cultural Advocate In Exile.” National Public Radio, 28 May 2015
Turino, Thomas. “Thomas Mapfumo 1: The War Years.” Afropop Worldwide, 7 May 2015
 “Zimbabwe: A Visual Anthology.” Stratfor Worldview, 20 Nov. 2017