Yes, the United States economy is floundering.

Then again, it’s going great compared to what’s happening in Zimbabwe.

As the saying goes, things are tough all over. Touring the world, Chiwoniso Maraire has found the topical messages in her songs have meaning everywhere.

“The things I sing about are universal,” said the singer, who performs tonight at the Museum of Fine Arts. “They’re issues that affect people all over the world because of the economic situation right now.”

This is something Chiwoniso (who uses only her first name professionally) has seen firsthand in both Africa and the United States.

Born and raised by her Zimbabwean parents in Olympia, Wash. - they moved to the U.S. so her father could pursue his education at the University of Washington - Chiwoniso now lives full time in Zimbabwe’s capital city, Harare.

She grew up listening to the music of her parents’ homeland, and also absorbed everything from James Brown to the Rolling Stones. While her songs are based around the sound of her mbira, the African thumb piano, her take on Zimbabwean music is decidedly contemporary - and funky.

It’s also uncompromising. Her album on Vermont-based Cumbancha Records, 2008’s “Rebel Woman,” covers real-life issues in its English and Shona language lyrics, including the title track about the role of women in Zimbabwe’s war for independence. Whether singing about children’s rights or the struggles of the working man, Chiwoniso’s words are pointed. But she is mindful of one thing.

“I don’t get personal,” she said. “I’m very precise about that with my music. I’m not going to sing about ministers or about a president. I sing about social issues, things that effect people on a day-to-day basis.

“Yes, there was a time I was arrested and there were times when pressure was put on me. But when I went to the relevant authorities, they were very clear that there was nothing I was doing wrong. There was no slander in what I was saying. I wasn’t attacking people personally.

“So yes, I did have some pressure on me in Zimbabwe, but it’s never been anything I couldn’t handle.”

Nor is Chiwoniso shy about correcting what she feels are misperceptions about Africa, and Zimbabwe in particular.

“It’s a sad thing that African countries are classified in certain ways,” she said. “There are a lot of people in Zimbabwe who have a good life, myself included. Like anywhere in the world, you have to work hard. Zimbabwe is no different than anywhere else.

“Being a child of both cultures, I tend to see a lot of the similarities between people. It’s very easy to say that in Africa people are constantly suffering. Yes, there are people who are suffering, but this is something that’s happening all over the world.

“I don’t leave America and go back to Zimbabwe and say, ‘Thank you, God, that I have the opportunity to go to America.’ My brain doesn’t work that way. I see suffering everywhere. It doesn’t matter where you go in the world. It’s just that in some places it’s not that obvious.”

Source: Boston Herald