The Other Half of the African Sky: Women’s Struggles in Zimbabwe

Origins at eHistory

Late in 2009, President Barack Obama awarded the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award to the organization Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA). While the economic and political crisis of the Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe has drawn attention from around the world, the award served as a reminder that women in Zimbabwe have not only been suffering the burdens of economic meltdown but working in a variety of ways to bring political change to the country. While many people had probably never heard of WOZA when President Obama honored them, this month Brandy Thomas examines the rich history of female activism in Zimbabwe and argues that any solution to Zimbabwe's collapsing economic and political system must take groups like WOZA into account.