Chimurenga (magazine)

*Chimurenga*
Editor	Ntone Edjabe
Categories	Literary magazine
First issue	April 2002
Country	South Africa
Based in	Cape Town
Language	English
Website	Chimurenga.co.za
ISSN	1817-0919

Chimurenga is a publication of arts, culture and politics from and about Africa and its diasporas, founded and edited by Ntone Edjabe. Both the magazine's name (Chimurenga is a Shona word that loosely translates as "liberation struggle")^[1] and the content capture the connection between African cultures and politics on the continent and beyond.

^
Y magazine: What's in the name Chimurenga?

Ntone Edjabe: Then, the Zimbabwean nationalist struggle and the music that fuelled it. Now, the struggle to stay awake as Cronin puts it. Somebody somewhere decided to assemble the aspirations of many of the world's sufferahs under "ah" sounding syllables: amandla; intifada; aluta; sankara; guevarra; zapatista; rasta…whateva you know…one is almost tempted to throw 'kabila' in there (laughs)... im saying 'chimurenga' toes that line. It also brings together the political and the cultural better than any slogan our struggles may have produced. When one says 'chimurenga', you could be reading from a Jonathan Moyo speech or talking about Thomas Mapfumo's music.

Y magazine: The rallying call "Who No Know Go Know" is apt & tight. Please break it down.

Ntone Edjabe: The Chief Priest (Fela) used to throw it down in mid-song, just before giving his version of the latest world news. It's a West African English translation of "if you don't know you better find out". In other words, ignorance is curable. One needs to take this with gloves - or a condom - 'cause this is not to say Chimurenga has medicinal pretensions. We all know prevention is best…if anything Chimurenga is a communal yard where we are free to exhibit our sick heads. Escaping the torpor of post-independence in order to do this is in itself therapeutic, considering the heavy dosage of painkillers that make up the current reading diet this side of the Limpopo. And from what I hear, the other side too....

[1] 
Y magazine: What's in the name Chimurenga?

Ntone Edjabe: Then, the Zimbabwean nationalist struggle and the music that fuelled it. Now, the struggle to stay awake as Cronin puts it. Somebody somewhere decided to assemble the aspirations of many of the world's sufferahs under "ah" sounding syllables: amandla; intifada; aluta; sankara; guevarra; zapatista; rasta…whateva you know…one is almost tempted to throw 'kabila' in there (laughs)... im saying 'chimurenga' toes that line. It also brings together the political and the cultural better than any slogan our struggles may have produced. When one says 'chimurenga', you could be reading from a Jonathan Moyo speech or talking about Thomas Mapfumo's music.

Y magazine: The rallying call "Who No Know Go Know" is apt & tight. Please break it down.

Ntone Edjabe: The Chief Priest (Fela) used to throw it down in mid-song, just before giving his version of the latest world news. It's a West African English translation of "if you don't know you better find out". In other words, ignorance is curable. One needs to take this with gloves - or a condom - 'cause this is not to say Chimurenga has medicinal pretensions. We all know prevention is best…if anything Chimurenga is a communal yard where we are free to exhibit our sick heads. Escaping the torpor of post-independence in order to do this is in itself therapeutic, considering the heavy dosage of painkillers that make up the current reading diet this side of the Limpopo. And from what I hear, the other side too....

[1]