December 6, 2017 The Skanner Page 7
Arts & Entertainment
By Andrew Selsky
Associated Press
EUGENE, Ore. — As
Zimbabweans celebrat-
ed the ouster of dictator
Robert Mugabe, they
danced on the streets to
previously banned pro-
test songs by one of the
country’s most famous
musicians — a man jailed
by the country’s former
white rulers and hound-
ed by the black govern-
ment that succeeded
them.
The musician, Thomas
Mapfumo, watched the
euphoria from exile in
the U.S. But he’s not re-
joicing — because Mug-
abe’s political party and
his cronies still run the
country.
“I think there’s noth-
ing to celebrate about,”
Mapfumo said this week
in an interview with The
Associated Press in the
college town of Eugene,
Oregon where he has
lived since 2004. “It’s still
the old train that we’re
riding but they’ve got a
different driver now.”
When Mugabe re-
signed on Nov. 21 under
military pressure, end-
ing his iron-fisted rule
of 37 years, Mapfumo’s
“
It’s still the
old train
that we’re
riding but
they’ve got
a differ-
ent driver
now
songs blasted from car
speakers to the crowds
partying on the streets.
For years, his music had
been banned from public
airwaves and was played
in secret by Zimbabwe-
ans.
With Mugabe’s party,
ZANU-PF, still in power,
there’s no sign Zimba-
bwe will overcome its
long history of repres-
sion and political cor-
ruption, Mapfumo said.
Former Vice President
Emmerson Mnangagwa,
now the party head, was
sworn in as president on
Nov. 24. Nicknamed The
Crocodile, he is accused
of helping direct the
slaughter of thousands
of people in ethnic mas-
sacres in the 1980s.
“The root cause of our
problems is ZANU-PF.
There are still people
who still believe in those
bad policies,” Mapfumo
said, citing in particular
the takeover of white-
owned farms — many of
which went to Mugabe’s
allies — that led to the
collapse of Zimbabwe’s
agricultural production.
Zimbabweans are elec-
trified about the possibil-
ity of Mapfumo return-
ing home to perform
with his band, The Blacks
Unlimited, for the first
time since 2004, when
‘Billboards’ cont’d from pg 6
Look for Frances
McDormand to land
another Oscar nom-
ination for a superb
performance where
she convincingly con-
veys the profound dis-
tress of a grief-strick-
en mother desperate
for answers.
Frances McDormand and Woody Harrelson go toe to toe in ‘Three
Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’
loughby (Woody Har-
relson) in 20-foot-high,
block letters why he
hasn’t yet made an arrest.
Unfortunately, the ploy
backfires. Yes, it embar-
rasses the chief. How-
ever, it also generates
public sympathy for him,
given how everybody in
the tight-knit community
knows he’s been battling
pancreatic cancer.
Undeterred in her
quest for justice, Mil-
dred subsequently pre-
vails upon Willoughby’s
dimwitted deputy (Sam
Rockwell) to pick up
the ball. But Dixon’s a
revenge-minded racist
who’d rather hassle than
help the mom in mourn-
ing while arresting Af-
rican American citizens
for minor infractions of
the law.
Written and direct-
ed by Oscar-winner
Martin McDonagh (for
“Six Shooter”), Three
Billboards
outside
Ebbing, Missouri is a
thought-provoking so-
cial satire which paints
a chilling, yet plausible,
portrait of just what it
might be like to fight an
entrenched patriarchy
comfortable with a sta-
tus quo favoring White
males.
Excellent HHHH
Rated R for violence,
sexual references,
ethnic slurs and per-
vasive profanity
Running Time: 115
min.
To see the trailer vis-
it: TheSkanner.com.
he left the country with
band members and rela-
tives.
“I thought we will nev-
er see him play here
again, but now I am
very hopeful he will re-
turn home for a show of
our lives,” said Shupai
Muchingami, a fan in Ha-
rare, Zimbabwe’s capital.
Mapfumo, known as
the Lion of Zimbabwe,
confirmed to AP that his
manager is trying to ar-
range a gig in the south-
ern African country.
His upbeat music,
featuring the tradition-
al mbira thumb piano
and an electric guitar
tweaked to sound like
an mbira, often carried
lyrics of rebellion in the
Shona language and in
English. He called the
musical style he invent-
ed “chimurenga,” which
means “struggle” in Sho-
na.
During the guerrilla
war against the white
racist regime when the
country was named Rho-
desia, Mapfumo sang
lyrics like “Mothers,
send your sons to war”
in support of the strug-
gle. After Zimbabwe
achieved independence,
he performed in a 1980
celebration concert that
also featured Bob Mar-
ley.
But several years later,
Mapfumo became dis-
enchanted with the gov-
ernment as Mugabe and
his ministers enriched
themselves while Zim-
babweans became more
destitute.
His most politically
charged
anti-Mugabe
JEREMY HOGAN/THE HERALD-TIMES VIA AP, FILE
African Music Star in Exile Awaits Real Change for Zimbabwe
In this April 6, 2011, file photo, Thomas Mapfumo, of Zimbabwe,
performs with members of his band at the Wells-Metz Theatre at
Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind. Mapfumo, As Zimbabweans
celebrated the ouster of dictator Robert Mugabe, they danced on the
streets to previously banned protest songs by one of the country’s
most famous musicians, Mapfumo, a man jailed by the country’s
former white rulers and hounded by the black government that
succeeded them. Mapfumo has been in exile from his country in
Eugene, Ore., since 2004 and has watched the euphoria over Mugabe’s
downfall with skepticism.
songs included “Masoja
neMapurisa” (“Soldiers
and Police”), “Pidigori
waenda” (“The Man is
Gone”), “Vanoita seva-
nokudai” (“They Pretend
to Love You”) and “Cor-
ruption .”
“When I see something
wrong I have to point it
out,” Mapfumo said. “I
can’t stand by and look
when these things are
happening to my peo-
ple. That’s not what we
fought for. We fought in
the struggle because we
wanted to be a free na-
tion. We were fighting
for democracy, for free-
dom of speech, freedom
of movement.”
Zimbabwe, he said,
might need a mass revolt
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