By Staff Reporter
The United States of America has long been seen as a land of opportunity—a place where dreams in various fields can become reality.
Whether that belief holds for everyone is a matter of debate. However, what is undeniable is that many Zimbabweans who have migrated to the U.S. are breaking barriers and achieving remarkable success across diverse sectors.
From leading in boardrooms and driving innovation in Silicon Valley, to topping music charts and making their mark in award-winning films, the Zimbabwean story in the U.S. continues to inspire.
NewZimbabwe.com takes a closer look at some of the Zimbabweans making waves in the United States.
James Manyika
Manyika is the senior vice president of research, technology and society at Google and co-chair of the UN Secretary-General’s high-level advisory body on AI. Manyika has been working in the Silicon Valley in the United States of America for more than 20 years. He has, over the years, emerged as one of the brilliant minds in technology to have ever emerged from Zimbabwe.
Danai Gurira
Gurira is renowned for her work as an actress and playwright. She has featured on a number of projects, which include The Walking Dead, Black Panther and Michonne. It is her fearless role as Okoye on Black Panther, a Marvel Cinematic project that Gurira is widely remembered for. Gurira effortlessly brought the Warrior character to life, defying the stereotypes that African women have been subjected to. Despite being a household name in the United States, Gurira has been ploughing her experiences home through Almasi Collaborative Arts, which has been training actors and playwrights.
Jacque Mgido
Mgido is one of the few entrepreneurs who invested in cosmetics when the business was a nonentity in Zimbabwe. Mgido is a make-up artist based in the United States of America. Mgido, the owner of Vault Cosmetics and Vault Academy Make-up School. She has worked with a number of Hollywood stars such as Snoop Dog, R&B singer John Legend, actor and singer Jamie Foxx and Sylvester Stallone in award-winning projects propping them with her cosmetic touch.
Tongai Chirisa
Chirisa rose to prominence on local soapie Studio 263 playing the character of detective Trevor Davies. Since then Chirisa has not looked back and has found himself rubbing shoulders with elite acting stars in the United States. He has transformed himself into a Hollywood star. Chirisa recently featured on the Assasin’s Creed Shadows. Chirisa has also appeared on NCIS Los Angeles, Robinson Crusoe, AMC horror Mayfair Witches and horror movie Antebellum.
Annatoria
Blessing Annatoria Chitapa was born in Zimbabwe but was raised in England. Annatoria moved from England to the United States of America where she has been pursuing her musical career. Despite growing up singing in church, Annatoria got a breakthrough when she won the Voice UK in 2020. Recently, she performed at Sarah Jakes Roberts’ Woman Evolve Conference.
Tanyaradzwa Muzinda
Muzinda is a 21-year-old motorcross sensation. Muzinda started her career at a tender age of five and won different races. Muzinda left Zimbabwe with her family in 2019 and has competed in major motocross events in the United States. Away from the tracks, Muzinda has also used her voice to speak out against societal ills like corruption and drug abuse which have become rampant in Zimbabwe. Muzinda has been using her influence on the tracks to make a positive impact on vulnerable children by paying for their tuition fees.
Brian Soko
Soko is a Grammy Award-winning artist and producer based in the United States. Soko has worked with numerous elite artists in the mould of Beyonce, Jay Z, Casper Nyovest and KO with his Midas touch on projects such as Drunk in Love by the former.
Thandiwe Newton
Newton was born to a Zimbabwean mother in Britain. Newton, an award-winning actress, claims close ties to the Liberaton war Hero Herbet Chitepo, who was a family friend. Newton has gone on to carve her heroine status by featuring on ythe Line of Duty Mission Impossible, Star Wars Story and Tyler Perry’s Good Deeds movies.
Themba Gorimbo
Gorimbo is a mixed martial artist making a name for himself in the UFC. Known for his resilience and inspiring journey from rural Zimbabwe to the global MMA stage, Gorimbo has become a symbol of determination and perseverance. Outside the octagon, he has captured hearts with his humility and philanthropy, most notably after revealing he had just $7 to his name before winning a crucial fight, a story which grabbed Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s attention.
Dumisani ‘Draze’ Maraire
Maraire comes from the musical royalty. He is the son of the late Abraham Dumisani Maraire, who was a master performer who specialised in Mbira. Maraire Junior is the younger brother of Chiwoniso Maraire. Known in the music circles as Draze, Maraire has proved that Mbira rhythm flows in his blood. He has fused the Mbira instrument with the Hip-Hop sound.
Zivanai Masango
Masango is arguably the unsung hero of Zimbabwean music, having assisted several local artists. Masngo worked with a number of artists – the late Jackie Madondo, Ivy Kombo, Fungisai Mashavave, Vuyo Mokoena and Thembinkosi. Masango was also part of Thomas Mapfumo’s The Blacks Unlimited. From 2012 to 2015, Masango was part of Oliver Mtukudzi’s Black Spirits. Using the experience of working with the music legends, Masango is on his own musical path in the United States. Amid COVID-19, Msango brought to life yester-year’s classics on his YouTube channel. Masango boasts of three albums: Pachedu (2005), Dut-Storm (2007) and It’s Time (2014).
Julian King
Julian Kanombirira is a Zimbabwean musician based in the United States. Julian King has refused to allow distance to distract his talent from blowing in his country of birth. Julian King rose to prominence with his song Rwendo which was released in 2021. Since then, Julian King has not looked back, releasing hits such as One by One and Oxygen among others.
Bevan Makaka
Bevan Makaka is an entrepreneur who is based in the United States. He is the founder of Xcelerate Enterprises, which has a subsidiary, Xcelerate Entertainment, majoring in event planning in the United States.
Sibongile Mlambo
Mlambo is a renowned actress with Zimbabwean heritage. She relocated to the United States in 2005 to pursue her studies. Mlambo has starred on Netflix projects such as Lost in Space, Starz, among others. Mlambo has won the European Cinematography Awards for Best Experimental Film for “Afrika is a Country”.
Tinashe Kachingwe
Kachingwe is a multi-platinum-certified R&B singer, dancer, songwriter and actress. Known as Tinashe, Kachingwe was born in the United States to Zimbabwean father Michael Kachingwe and an American mother. She made acting appearances on Cora Unashamed, The Polar Express and Two and a Half Men. On the music scene, Tinashe hogged the limelight with the song On featuring Schoolboy Q and has gone on to work with music giants such as Chris Brown.
