How can it rain When the coloniser drinks out of the skull of our foremother Still stained from when her blood vessels popped when they hung her How can it rain When processions for their ancestors last days And all we have is a curio hoisted so high up we can’t touch it And a bad painting on the root of all evil Gone as soon as it came She’s about to be forgotten again We’ve used her image and likeness for gain Yet we have neglected to be custodians of her remains Tell me How can it rain When she is in a dark closet or on a floor somewhere In a box or a sack Bound up by the same ropes Her tormentors used to murder her They aren’t even sure if it’s really her Too many human remains in their custody What wicked form of necromancy Demands the plunder of so many ancestors You can’t even catalogue them No tag or label Or are there so many Victims of this “great” dynasty That searching through the rubble Would take a literal eternity No wonder the oceans are on fire And the land is trying to swallow us whole Can’t you see? They are just trying to find a way back home They will crush mountains Wreak the same violence That led to their death Make barren the sky And banish the rain How can it rain? When there are no graves No marks or names When a dark horseman of the night Is a world heritage sight And a rightful king Lays fallen in between the cracks and crevices Un tended, with barely any witness Are all our ancestors dirty little secrets? Are they a stain on your precious white linen? How can it rain When the violence transcends death When the afterlife offers no rest When your children forget your face Because your killers plundered your grave
Nehanda Charwe Nyakasikana also known as Mbuya Nehanda (c. 1840–1898) was a svikiro, or spirit medium of the Zezuru Shona people. She was a medium of Nehanda, a female Shona mhondoro (a powerful and respected ancestral spirit).[1] As one of the spiritual leaders of the Shona, she was one of the leaders of a revolt, the Chimurenga, against the British South Africa Company‘s colonisation of Zimbabwe led by Cecil John Rhodes in 1889.[2] She was a Hera of the HwataShava Mufakose Dynasty. She and her ally who some historians claim was her husband(not husband), Sekuru Kaguvi were eventually captured and executed by the Company on charges of murder.[3] She has been commemorated by Zimbabweans through the building of statues in her name, street names, hospitals, songs, novels, and poems.[4] The legacy of the medium continued to be linked to the theme of resistance, particularly the guerrilla war that began in 1972. Her name became of increasing importance to the nationalist movements in Zimbabwe.[5]
via Wikipedia.
In 2011 the Harare City Council felled the tree on which she and Sekuru Kaguvi had been hung by mistake. Her remains are believed to be in the possession of the British Museum, which is on record claiming that they cannot confirm whether her skull is among the 20000 human remains in their possession. In 2021 the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe introduced a $50zwl note with Nehanda’s likeness, not long after a statue in her honour was erected in Harare, the capital city of Zimbabwe. There were mixed reactions to both these acts of commemoration from the Zimbabwean public.
– Nehanda Radio.
King Mzilikazi’s grave 
Cecil Rhodes’ grave.
In 2018 she became the only person to have won a NAMA twice in the Spoken Word Poetry category. She released her first poetry video, “Sarah Baartman” that year.
When not stringing words together Tinashe practices as a Medical Laboratory Scientist in her home town, Bulawayo, where she is based.
- Nehanda – #Tinashe - October 3, 2022
- Heartbreak Hotel – #Tinashe - March 15, 2022
- There is no Such Thing as Love – #Tinashe - February 23, 2021
