Chimeranga Songs of Zimbabwe

FW-ASCH-7RR-0772

LETTER TO MA; CDR copy-"Chimeranga Songs of Zimbabwe." It was produced by Betty Rogers, "a radio producer and media consultant in various projects in Africa." The tape is accompanied by a letter from Ms. Rogers proposing a Folkways album along the lines of the tape. The chimeranga (also "chimurenga") songs are the revolutionary songs of the Zimbabwe freedom fighters, which were "used as powerful weapons in the seven-year struggle for Black Indiepndence from the the Rhodesian government of Ian Smith." Zimbabwe achieved independence in 1980, and the tape was produced sometime during the two years Ms. Rogers was in Africa prior to the date of her letter of June 30, 1983. The tape contains a mix of singing, interviews of participants in the conflict (often describing the role of the songs), and narration. The singers and persons interviewed aren't identified.