Memory Gumbo is a mother, an “ordinary woman”, living in Harare, Zimbabwe. Tsitsi Dangarembga is an internationally recognized writer and filmmaker, living in Harare as well. Both agree on at least one thing: That “No to loitering,” sold to the public as a ‘crackdown’ on sex workers, has nothing to do with sex workers. In […]
Tendai Maraire: “I remember when Zimbabwe gained independence. My mother had a big party at the house in Seattle — with all her friends, Zimbabwean and American. My uncle, who fought in the guerrilla war against the white Rhodesian state, flew in weeks later. She started celebrating every year and even would get together with […]
Zimbabwe is a paradox. A country riddled with contradictions. While the often unpalatable and sometimes hair-raising stories are making news, the stories of everyday people of Zimbabwe are less reported, if not altogether the country’s best kept secret. “Generally, Africa seems to be portrayed in a negative light,” says Gerald Mugwenhi, better known as Synik, […]
It’s not hard to see why Rumbi Katedza’s first feature has been described as a Zimbabwean ‘Sex and the City’. Four high-flying twenty-something women spend a good chunk of the movie hanging out in trendy Harare bars talking sex, dating, and marriage. There’s kissing, laughing, gossiping and some great outfits. Luckily, unlike the HBO series, there’s no annoying voiceover offering throwaway insights every five scenes.
Jamaican-American singer Sean Kingston (of ‘Beautiful Girl’ fame) was in Zimbabwe last week. Reviews are rather mixed. I hope he spared the audience his rendition of “No Woman, No Cry”: –Tom Devriendt
As 42 opposition activists were facing treason charges in Zimbabwe for watching video footage of the Egyptian democracy protests, the Financial Times sent Alec Russell, its comment and analysis editor, down to Harare to interview Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwe’s Prime Minister. Tsvangirai’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change is serving together in a Government of National Unity […]
