Zimbabwean Lives Matter Explained

Zimbabwean Lives Matter is a Zimbabwean protest movement modeled after the American Black Lives Matter campaign. The protest movement is directed towards the Zimbabwean government of incumbent Emmerson Mnangagwa who took over through a 2017 bloodless coup from Robert Mugabe.

Celebrities who have endorsed the cause

Celebrities who have expressed support for the protest include former Botswana President Ian Khama,[1] Ice Cube, Lecrae and actresses Thandiwe Newton, Beyoncé Knowles[2] and Pearl Thusi.[3] Tsitsi Dangarembga, retired South African Rugby player of Zimbabwean origin Tendai Mtawarira and Thomas Mapfumo were some of the Zimbabweans who also expressed support.[4] The protest movement had more than 700,000 tweets as of August 2020.[5]

Organizers

Like the Black Lives Matter protest movement, the Zimbabwean Lives Matter protest movement does not have a central organizer as most of the activists have been protesting through their microblogging Twitter accounts. A repository of Zimbabwean Lives Matter materials has been created.[6]

Notes and References

  1. News: 7 August 2020. Former Botswana President Ian Khama stands in solidarity with Zimbabweans. Gambakwe . 23 August 2020.
  2. Web site: My thoughts and prayers remain with our Nigerian brothers and sisters fighting to end SARS.. live . https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211027/https://www.beyonce.com/article/nigeria-thoughts-and-prayers/. 2021-10-27. October 31, 2020. Beyoncé.
  3. News: Harding . Andrew . Rappers and actors push Zimbabwe hashtag viral . 23 August 2020 . BBC . BBC . 4 August 2020.
  4. News: Ndhlovu . Ray . Zimbabwe Protesters Draw Inspiration From Black Lives Matter . 23 August 2020 . Bloomberg . Bloomberg . 4 August 2020.
  5. News: Ndhlovu . Ray . Zimbabwean Lives Matter movement grows with support from big names . 23 August 2020 . Business Day . Business day . 4 August 2020.
  6. Web site: Zimbabwean Lives Matter Archives. 2020-11-24. zimbabwean-lives-matter.org. en-US.