“I am not a prisoner of history. In the world through which I travel, I am endlessly creating myself.”
― Frantz Fanon, Black Skin, White Masks
Monsignor Brown with pupils at Embakwe mission school for Coloured children. Jesuit Archives, Harare, courtesy of Rob Burrett.
View full project here.
The quote by Frantz Fanon speaks powerfully to a central conflict of post-colonial, multi-racial identity: the tension between an individual's agency in defining themselves and the historical or social labels imposed by society.
In Southern Africa, the weight of history remains heavy. One of the most enduring legacies of colonialism are the racial categories that continue to be perpetuated. In Zimbabwe, formerly the British colony of Rhodesia, society was segregated into 'White', 'Coloured', 'Asian', and 'African', straining social relations while reinforcing White superiority.
The term 'Coloured' broadly encompasses individuals of mixed European, Asian, Khoisan and Bantu ancestry, who historically occupied an intermediate position in the racial hierarchy. Zimbabwe is home to the second largest Coloured community in Anglophone Africa, after South Africa. Bulawayo, its second-largest city, is widely regarded as its cultural heartland.
This multimedia project invites senior members of today’s fragmented Coloured community in Bulawayo to share personal reflections that illuminate a collective (hi)story often left untold. We are challenged to confront, understand, and re-imagine: what does it mean to embrace the complexity and fluidity of one's identity—to belong nowhere, yet to multiple worlds at once?
To talk about Coloured people is to confront a multi-facetted reality. The violent dispossession and segregation of the colonial encounter. The anti-miscegenation laws that left mixed-race children in liminal spaces, burdened with shame. The intimate relationships, love letters hidden away by a system unwilling to acknowledge their truths. The intra-community dynamics and tensions.
Can we learn something from the bearers of memory—our elders—acknowledge our complex past, and perhaps, as Fanon advocates, reclaim our stories and ourselves?
Despite his prejudice against interracial unions, Diana’s Scottish father had 32 children with his African wives. She recalls, “We felt unwanted by the Africans, and unwanted by the Whites, who were ashamed of us.”
Orphaned early, Patrick grappled with identity and belonging, feeling disconnected from society and his roots. The absence of family left a void that shaped his withdrawn nature. Despite these hardships, he nurtured a curiosity for self-growth, finding solace in learning, art, and introspection.
"I was blessed, though I was a plastic bag, that blew from one thorn tree to another."
"In many ways I’m still a child as I have so many more things to learn. I've tried to expand my way of thinking. I admire art, and read books. There’s something in a man that's meant to grow and change."
Mama passed away before her story could be told, in her own words.
Maud proudly displays a newspaper clipping of her grandmother—a descendant of Matabele King Lobengula. As a teenager, she asked her aunt, “What does my mother look like?” Her aunt pointed to the mirror: “Look there.” For years, Maud searched the faces of White women in town.
Petey was born as the fourth of thirteen children in a family of South African descent. Growing up, his life was shaped by segregation. He recalls, “We are not White enough. We are not Black enough. Coloureds are just in between—like a sandwich.”
After primary school, Cynthia trained as a teacher in South Africa, as Rhodesia lacked secondary education for Coloureds. She returned home to teach, becoming a pillar of her community. In 1964, she moved to Zambia, where for the first time, she taught in a mixed school and experienced freedoms denied in Rhodesia.
Edna recalls a story passed down by her Gogo about the Ndebele people's resistance during colonial invasion. As the White settlers pushed them into the swampy Matopos Hills, they fled while singing a powerful refrain: “The white man is running after us, I am going to die! But he must know that this will be my country.”
"Our grandfather was one of the few White men who stayed with his Coloured children to the end. He would often say there is going to come a time when the whole world will be mixed–everyone will be 'half-breeds'."
James left home at thirteen, joining the railways and later the Rhodesian army during the Zimbabwe War of Liberation. Known for his rebellious nature and strength, he earned the nickname "King Rat," symbolizing both resourcefulness and a tough reputation. After the war, he became a successful private investigator, famed for never losing a case.
View full project here.