Like A Veld Fire

The word is spreading. Like a veld fire in October. We’ve blazed venues all across the East Coast of the US over the last one and a half weeks. The Spread The Word Tour has seen me, Chabvondoka and Outspoken hitting concerts from Massachusetts to Connecticut. We’ve been using the riot of spoken word and live music to spread the word about the ongoing struggle for social justice in Zimbabwe.

We need new forms of solidarity in this stage of our struggle. Our American comrades need to understand our need to resist Zimbabwe’s illegitimate foreign debt and to struggle against a wholesale of our resources to the highest foreign bidder. We need to maintain the spotlight on Zimbabwe as we push for a new people-driven constitution and real social and economic rights for the people at the grassroots. It is upon us to make sure the ‘inclusive’ government doesn’t become part of the extended WaBenzi clan on the continent. As Outspoken said at a recent Hip Hop Festival at Tufts University “We still have unjust laws such as the Public Order and Security Act which force more than 5 people to apply for police clearance for a political meeting.”

We’ve carried this message of hope and resilience, of humour and alternatives, from the Trinity International Hip Hop Festival to Tufts Hip Hop Festival for Social Change, from Wellesley College to Needham, Massachussetts. Through music we’re showing the alternative view of Africa and of Zimbabwe. Through the word we’re spitting a picture of Africa that is not what they portray on the corporate media. We joke in shows that we have lions for pets and Africa is just a lot of hunger and dirt. And then we hit them with the most conscious, radical rhythms and lyrics. High school kids have called our shows ‘life changing’, college students have said we’re the best band they’ve ever seen, hip hop heads have called our music ‘ill and energetic’… And the word will keep spreadin’. New York, DC and New Jersey here comes the spoken word revolution!

For more info on the Spread the Word Tour see www.comradefatso.com