On June 9, 2001, Thomas Mapfumo was bestowed an honorary doctorate of music from Ohio University at their commencement ceremony in Athens, Ohio.

Mapfumo, Zimbabwe's most revered star, was honored not only for his musical accomplishments of the last three decades but also for his role in African society as a freedom fighter and social activist.

The founder of Chimurenga music (Chimurenga means struggle in his native Shona tongue), Mapfumo is known today throughout the world as "The Lion of Zimbabwe". His music is built on the sound of the traditional instrument of the the Shona people, the mbira, commonly known in this country as the thumb piano.

His band, "The Blacks Unlimited," combine the polyrhythms of mbira music with Afropop sensibility and politically charged lyrics. His political struggle began in the 70's during the war of liberation against what was then the government of Rhodesia.

When independence finally came in 1980, Mapfumo's Blacks Unlimited performed at the ceremony along with the artist who greatly influenced Mapfumo's work, Bob Marley.

Despite black majority rule and the inauguration of Robert Mugabe over two decades ago, Thomas Mapfumo's struggle continues today as he speaks out against the current regime's corruption and for the rights of his people.

Mark Hellenberg spoke with Thomas Mapfumo in Studio B of Ohio University Public Radio after the commencement ceremonies.