The Role of Culture in Anti-Zimbabwe Propaganda

One of the biggest challenges African people have worldwide, is making our political and cultural expression synonymous. The general sentiment is that bridging this gap is the key to our uniting every sector of our community, throughout our history we have seen the necessity to resolve this matter has revealed itself again and again. The 60’s generation remembers the Godfather of Soul James Brown singing "say it loud I’m black and I’m proud", but distancing himself from the slogan "burn baby burn" which became the battle cry of the militant forces supporting the urban rebellions that took place in direct response to the assassination Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The late Genius of Soul Ray Charles gained national headlines for refusing to play before a segregated audience in the state of Georgia in the 60's but went to South Africa at the height of the anti- apartheid struggle and performed at Sun City in the 80's. We have also seen the benefits of artists who understand the value of merging our cultural and political voices, when the late Nina Simone was asked if her song to be young gifted and black would offend whites, she responded the purpose of the song was not to offend them it simply ignores them. The sister showed in song you overcome mental enslavement by discussing your existence independent of your former colonial and slave masters. This issue also deals with how cultural workers who embrace political challenges are remembered both inside and outside our community. The poet Maya Angelou gained international recognition for her poem she recited at Bill Clinton's inauguration celebration, but is revered by her people for the work she did helping build a support and solidarity network for the government of Ghana's first President Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah in the late 50's and 60's,is it more beneficial for future generations to remember her as Clinton's favorite poet or Nkrumah's comrade in arms?


In their efforts to isolate and demonize the Government of Zimbabwe and its President Comrade Robert Gabriel Mugabe, the Blair and Bush administrations have had the luxury of knowing that some of our artists are providing them additional ammunition. Even though this is true their most dependable intelligence agents would have imagined in their wildest dreams, one of these artists would be the son of the late revolutionary artist Robert Nesta Marley. The youngest son of our fallen comrade Damian "Jr Gong Marley" released his album Welcome to Jamrock last summer, the 11th track is a song entitled Road to Zion with a special guest appearance by none other than one of Hip Hop's biggest stars Nas,the rapstar whose birth name is Nasir Jones opens the song by saying President Mugabe is holding guns on the people of Zimbabwe and doing things that will make the pope seem godly. I accept the challenge of dealing with this confusion not by attacking our young brothers for the purpose of shock value, but exposing things that will reveal to all those who read this article that our cultural and political armies must rally around Zimbabwe wherever we are in the world. Mr. Jones showed the potential of becoming a hip hop icon from his first album Illmatic which debuted in 1994,some of us remember his guest appearances on the single Live at the Barbeque on the 1991 Main Source album or heard him on Chubb Rock's 1993 single back to the grill again single knew he was something special. One of the major social trends that artists who made albums in this era, displayed was the desire to openly identify with Italian mafia figures of the 1920's and 30's or key members of international drug cartels. Mr. Jones himself adopted the stage moniker Nas Escobar in tribute to Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar, however unlike most of his counterparts in the hip hop industry Mr. Jones showed growth and maturity and began to embrace freedom fighters in our liberation struggle, this cost him many of his loyal followers and many thought this change of heart would lead to his artistic demise, Mr. Jones showed no signs of panic and his music became more and more political with each album. On his 2001 album stillmatic he appeared to arrive full circle with songs like World Peace and My Country which he dedicated to Dr. King, Malcolm X, Patrice Lumumba and Che Guevera. This album along with an album that debuted in record stores the same exact day entitled live and unplugged by another very influential hip hop artist named Jay-Z who had a t-shirt with Che's picture on it are what caused many young people influenced by western popular culture to embrace Che as a symbol of defiance. Mr. Marley should take the opportunity to visit the museum in Jamaica dedicated to his father and look at the entire wall that highlights his visit to and his undying support for Zimbabwe. Mr Marley attacking Zimbabwe is the equivalent of Dr. King's children denouncing his condemnation of the war on Vietnam and telling George Bush we endorse the war on terrorism, or children of Yasser Arafat fighting with the Zionist Israelis.

Mr. Marley and Mr Jones either decided to criticize President Mugabe on song for one of two reasons, either the record label said it would boost their record sales or they truly believe the were doing the right thing based on the information at their disposal. I am an optimist who has confidence in our people so I will say it is the latter scenario mentioned above. I sincerely believe the attack on President Mugabe on this single, cannot be put in the same category as the statement made by Hip Hop artist Curtis "50 cent" Jackson when he felt that President George Bush did everything he could do concerning Hurricane katrina that it was just god's plan, Mr Jackson's corporate backers were the masterminds behind that rhetoric. The one universal fact about humans hardly anyone disagrees with is we are all products of our exposure, Mr. Jones has a residence in Atlanta which has a large Zimbabwean community, maybe he was approached by members of the Movement for Democratic Change, President Mugabe's main political opposition. Mr. Marley could have been approached by Amnesty International while in the UK where he has a large following not just because of his father but his own individual talent, he could have been in a hotel room watching BBC's studio 7 which is set up to generate international pressure on President Mugabe and ZANU-PF hoping it will result in the President stepping down before 2008. If Mr.Jones and Mr.Marley were born in Zimbabwe, they would be called born frees which is a name used to describe the youth in Zimbabwe who were either born after independence or were small children when the struggle for independence was taking place. This shows the challenge that President Mugabe openly admits his government and party have, in terms of waging a war for the minds and hearts of the born free generation stretches far beyond his country it is a struggle of Pan African and International proportions.

Our young brothers could have told by politically naive staff members that the internationally well known Zimbabwean artist Thomas Mapfumo wanted a minute of their time, another important dynamic our enemies depend on is using artists who are citizens of the country whose political direction they seek to control to attack their own governments. Mr. Mapfumo launches his attacks on President Mugabe from the comforts of the United States where he lives with his children, if Mr.Mapfumo was still defending the integrity of his country's government not only would he not be allowed to live in the US, he probably would be on the same travel ban list President Mugabe is that denies him the right to travel to the US or UK to respond to the attacks of Blair and Bush. Mr Mapfumo is no different than the Cuban artists the late Celia Cruz and Arturo Sandoval who decided Yankee dollars in their pockets were more important than supporting the Cuban Revolution whose love for the arts as a weapon for promoting solidarity, sisterhood and brotherhood is no secret to people all over the planet. Mr. Mapfumo has two unique talents, first as a musician but also the ability to politically reinvent himself in the late 70's he was pro-Muzerewa, in the 80's pro ZANU-PF and now pro MDC. The late Minister of Information and Publicity Ambassador Tichaona Jokonya said all traitors are expendable.

Mr. Marley and Mr. Jones could have bumped into South African trumpet player Hugh Masekela who on his last album called President Mugabe a despot that needs to step down, according to one of the founding members of the Zimbabwe Support Committee in Chicago Rashieda Weaver, Masekela between songs at a concert last year raised the question how could a dictator like Mugabe have grass roots support committees in the US and South Africa have nothing. Mr. Masekela can't even convince all the members of his biological family to join his anti Mugabe ZANU-PF crusade, his sister Comrade Barbara Masekela is currently the South African Ambassador to the United States, at the end of last year she organized a farewell reception for than the outgoing Zimbabwe Ambassador to the US Dr. Simbi Mubako. Ambassador Masekela said she had to inform the State Department officials whom she interacts with in a diplomatic capacity,that her country's stance on Zimbabwe would not change and she would appreciate them giving her the courtesy of discussing South African Affairs and not badgering her about the affairs of Zimbabwe. Ambassador Masekela closed by saying the peoples of Zimbabwe and South Africa were one people with one voice in the same struggle. We must understand artists everywhere depend a lot on individual expression and creative freedom, this means in a capitalist dominated world their space is more important to many of them than our collective upliftment as a people. Because of their orientation they feel their right to voice their opinions takes precedence over the damage spreading confusion and misinformation can do to the minds of the masses.

I am sure both Mr. Marley and Mr.Jones are both supporters of the call for reparations, they must both have an understanding that land reclamation factors into the equation. We would love them to listen to any of President Mugabe's speeches in the 21stcentury so they can understand the international significance of the Land Reform program and Zimbabwe. They will see why Africans in the US and the UK are denied the opportunity of hearing this bold warrior live in person. In the 1990's when Malcolm X was introduced to what mainstream media labeled Generation X, the Democratic Party's machine in our community seeked to counter this by telling us embrace Dr. King instead or go down the wrong path. They underestimated our political savvy and were in absolute shock when we told them, the forces who have both of these men’s blood on their filthy hands, can never tell us who to embrace and reject. It is not by coincidence that those external to our community are vilifying President Mugabe and at the same time presenting Nelson Mandela almost as though he was the reincarnation of Jesus Christ himself. There is a new book being written called the “meaning of Mandela” with lectures from Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka and Academicians Henry Louis Gates and his Ivy League colleague Cornel West. The same colonialist and imperialist forces who put both of these comrades in prison President Mugabe for 11 years and Madiba Mandela for 27 are now telling Africans worldwide we have a choice, their racist attitudes are the reason they keep overlooking our political intelligence and this is what will lead to their demise sooner or later. In Southern Africa we understand our voices of resistance very clearly Madiba Mandela is the voice of compassion and peace, and President Mugabe is our voice of fire and brimstones, every multi-faceted struggle needs both.

Our young brothers must understand that the struggle against Apartheid in South Africa was magnified at the expense of downplaying the anti-colonialist struggles in the rest of the frontline states, this is why African youth in the United States of the UK know hardly anything about the struggles in Zimbabwe, Namibia, Angola and Mozambique and the Historical figures and liberation movements who won these victories after many drops of blood. They must come to Zimbabwe and see for themselves what is happening, they will understand why the people of Zimbabwe call President Mugabe a beacon for all of Africa. They will see why when the President visits Malawi, Namibia or South Africa he receives a heroes welcome without fail, they will see why the country Condolezza Rice calls an outpost of tyranny has Africa's highest literacy rate. They will see the eternal words of Malcolm X who said land is the basis of independence is alive and well in Zimbabwe.

In conclusion Mr. Jones and Mr. Marley must ask themselves How can the countries who lie about Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine, Haiti, Cuba and Venezuela are telling the truth about Zimbabwe? I guess its what alcoholics call a moment of clarity or what religious/spiritual forces call divine intervention, The cultural and political armies in the African community are divided because of lack of communication and understanding about each others value to the struggle. I heard brother Talib Kweli a true soldier in the cultural army say on a documentary pop and politics that many in our community, look to the artists to identify what groups and issues they should embrace, I hope he's wrong because just like there is a cultural underground there is a political underground which is isolated that like the cultural forces won't revert to cheap gimmicks and opportunist tendencies to gain the attention and support of our people. It is counter productive to debate which arm of our collective resistance is more important. We will bridge this gap by fighting together hand in hand dealing with issues based on our comprehension of their importance let us recommend defending the sovergnity of Africa's most courageous leader and government President Robert Mugabe and the People's Democratic Republic of Zimbabwe.