The Spirit of Chimurenga

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When this photograph was taken, I was 13 and already active in politics through a youth organization. I participated in a protest that closed the elementary and high schools in the African townships of Harare and Highfields for six months. At the time, every principal was white, and we demanded that our schools be led by Black principals.

The outfit also reminds me of Harare, the vibrant, close-knit township where I grew up. It was an epicenter of the liberation movement, where everyone knew one another.

On Sundays, we dressed up and gathered at the community center for Teen Time, where we listened to music and danced.

In 1971, I left Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) for Tanzania to join the Chimurenga, or liberation war led by Ambuya Nehanda, we used to call “Grandmother.” She was publicly executed by British colonial authorities.

From Tanzania, I traveled to Ghana to complete high school. In 1976, I journeyed through Vancouver, Canada, before arriving in San Francisco.

Today, the photograph carries an even deeper meaning to me. Only a few of us from that generation are still alive. Many of my friends died during the liberation war or later in the AIDS epidemic.

Photo caption if needed.

Israel Chimeya • Age 74 • Petaluma Resident

Israel Chideya (74) was born to Shadreck and Ester on January 1, 1954, the youngest of ten children. At the time, Zimbabwe was known as Rhodesia and remained under British colonial rule. Israel’s commitment to social justice, human rights, and especially women’s rights was deeply influenced by his mother, the powerful presence who held their large family together.