BY WINSTONE ANTONIO
SOME creatives say they will not be pressured to speak about the government’s human rights violations and violence against citizens through social movements such as the #Zimbabweanlivesmatter, arguing that they have always been amplifying the voice of the citizens.
There has been an outburst on social media platforms as local artistes have been accused of sitting on their laurels when even international celebrities have joined the #Zimbabweanlivesmatter bandwagon.
A number of international artistes, including Morgan Heritage, Ice Cube, Tinashe and South Africans AKA, Benjamin Dube and Casper Nyovest, are among a myriad of celebrities who took to microblogging site Twitter to voice their concern over the situation in Zimbabwe.
AKA and Casper Nyovest even challenged local artistes to be on the forefront of speaking against the violations of human rights in Zimbabwe.
Savanna Trust and theatre director Daniel Maphosa said many Zimbabwean artistes are heroes of the struggle for democracy and human rights that are never acknowledged when things seem stable.
“As artistes, we have always been at the forefront of speaking out against injustices in Zimbabwe since the early 1980s. We spoke against Gukurahundi, against ESAP [Economic Structural Adjustment Programme], against abductions, against corruption, against poor service delivery, against the coup and we continue to speak against the injustices perpetrated against the people of Zimbabwe,” Maphosa said.
He said the fight for a better Zimbabwe needs everyone, but some artistes in the quest through their crafts have been labelled as regime change agents by some who are today asking the same artistes to speak out.
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“Unfortunately, most of us were called regime change agents by some who are today asking the same artistes to speak out. Maybe it is important not to generalise that artistes are not speaking out, but to encourage many more to come out and be counted that is if they are conscious enough to understand their role,” he said.
“It’s all our responsibility as citizens to unequivocally let the politicians know that #Zimbabweanlivesmatter.”
Afro-fusion band Mokoomba’s manager Marcus Gora shared the same sentiments, saying artistes are not silent, adding that they are and will always be different in what they stand for first as artistes and second as citizens.
“Artistes are the first to hold up a mirror to our society so we can see ourselves and decide if we want to change. Our audience may have not been paying enough attention and our industry gatekeepers have been leading them to enjoy cheap thrills like Munotidako [from singer Jacob Moyana] and that too has to change, people must be exposed to more,” he said.
“Also our audience has not been tolerant to different views among artistes, so Leonard Zhakata and Andy Brown are two great artistes on different sides of the coin whose careers where sabotaged for ‘picking a side’ and this makes other artistes reticent to freely express themselves and risk polarising and losing their support and livelihoods. Tuku is a national hero because he did not do his politics the way that both sides tried to force him to, he chose the people, all people.”
Gora said the most unfortunate thing is that artistes are never invited to the table to discuss, plan, create, decide and strategise as they are seen as people who lack sofistication and education.
“The only role and contribution seen fit by the leaders is to parrot already formed slogans and hashtags; to be megaphones only, at the back of a truck doing a roadshow or a ‘commissioned’ project, or to just ‘retweet’ to their fans. Attempts to pressure or shame artistes, faking their accounts does not induce artistes to become allies,” he said.
“Artistes are not naive. To assume that artistes are afraid or not conscious also misses the point that in some cases they don’t agree with the strategy, or the tactics or do not know the end game or sometimes simply do not see the direct benefit. Activism operates in a different way in this country, let’s have honest conversations and we can find middle ground.”
Gora believes hashtags are nothing, but public relations stances which are nothing if not followed by commitment to practical action towards a genuine cause.
“Expressing yourself for or speaking out against something is an individual calling which is organic not generic, hence you cannot expect artistes to speak out on everything every time. In our Zimbabwean context, other artistes prefer to stay quietly in their corner until that corner is attacked and that motivates them to realise that no one is safe,” he said.
United States-based and award-winning actor as well as human rights defender Silvanos “Bhanditi” Mudzvova said it was worrisome that people were forcing artistes to do hash tags, not social relevant art, adding that Zimbabweans think music is the only art form.
“People are actually not demanding that artistes produce work that is relevant to our social, political and economic lives, but they are demanding things that are beyond artistes for them to do hash tags and that is not the duty of the artistes. The duty of the artistes is to create art that speaks to the people, art that has got relevance, art that is actually moving with the times that we are in, art that deals with the crisis, art that offers hope, art that offers solutions,” Mudzvova said.
He said it was not an artiste’s duty to be forced to do hash tags, but if they are to do it, it’s supposed to be something that they have to do willingly.
“Hash tags are not art. If you look at the same crew fronting hash tags, where were there when Leonard Zhakata was put in the cold from 2002? Zhakata was at the forefront doing things that they are demanding now 18 years later. They failed to support Zhakata who became the case study for a lot of artistes, an example of how one can actually lose revenue. Zhakata becomes a symbol of what will happen to artistes if they want to go the other side,” he said.
“In fact, it’s not only Leonard Zhakata, but a number of artistes, even this young dancehall artiste from Mabvuku, Platinum Prince who was assaulted after singing about Grace Mugabe and the military, where is he now? Nobody is concerned about him, but why are we trying to push the artistes that are there not doing it, but those who have done it we are not protecting them. Or we don’t want to hear about them or they have even forgotten about them?”
Arts promoter and critic Plot Mhako believes it is up to the artiste to decide on whether they want to participate in the hash tags or not.
“Whichever way an artiste decides, there will be consequences. Silence can be interpreted as being complicit and talking can also be taken with a pinch of salt by some who do not agree with the campaign,” Mhako said.
“I personally feel that the best way to respond is to speak, but speaking through your art or own words without the feeling of being coerced. The issues at hand affect everyone including people who consume the artiste’s art and products so that brings a moral obligation on the part of the artiste.”
