8:00 pm - 9:30 pm at the LLC Performance Hall

This unique event will feature discussion and performance by Thomas Mapfumo, the creator and popularizer of Chimurenga music, which incorporates native Zimbabwean musical traditions and the Shona language (a native dialect of Zimbabwe). The political lyrics of Chimurenga (“struggle” in Shona) supported the growing revolution against the white ruling colonial regime of Rhodesia in the 1970s. In 1979 the government banned his song and album titled “Hokoyo!” (Watch Out!) and incarcerated Mapfumo in a prison camp without charges. Popular demonstrations protesting his imprisonment and the illicit playing of Chimurenga forced the regime to release Mapfumo and free elections in 1980 ushered in a new government celebrated by a concert hosted by Mapfumo and Bob Marley. Mapfumo’s continued criticism of the Mugabe government led to his self exile in Oregon in the late 1990s. Mapfumo and his band tour internationally and advocates for freedom and justice in Zimbabwe. Listen to samples from Mapfumo’s discography at Calabash Music: http://mp3.mondomix.com/thomas_mapfumo YouTube also has numerous videos.

Presented by Oregon Think Tank, Honors College, University Library