Breaking the Cycle

This chapter details the events that lead Mapfumo to move his family out of Zimbabwe. It draws on the author’s firsthand accounts during the six-month period he lived in Zimbabwe (described in the Preamble). The author meets former Rhodesian president Ian Smith. Smith professes no knowledge or memory of Mapfumo. Meanwhile, Mapfumo is performing relentlessly, drawing huge, devoted crowds, hungry for the unique emotional release only his music can offer. Amid ever more aggressive government tactics to quell dissent, the author stresses Mapfumo’s courage in continuing to protest. For most Zimbabwean artists, the notion of criticizing leaders of the liberation struggle still feels dangerous. But Mapfumo is undeterred, insisting that his loyalty is, and has always been, to the people, not to any party or leader.