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What does it take to be courageous?  

Freedom and democracy activist Evan Mawarire will answer this question as he examines what drove him to stand up to the brutal dictatorship of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe. Over a period of four years, Pastor Evan Mawarire was arrested eight times, tortured, and faced 80 years in a maximum-security prison for organizing citizen protests that defied the dictatorship. Yet, against seemingly insurmountable challenges, he fought—and continues to fight—for the ideals of freedom, democracy, and human rights.  

In this public talk, Mawarire will not only reveal what led him to speak up in the face of danger but will also discuss how anyone can—and must—find their own courage to effect personal and societal change. Join Perry World House to learn about Mawarire’s journey as a democracy activist and to hear his advice on how to find the bravery needed to engender change. 

Speaker

Evan Mawarire is a Zimbabwean clergyman who founded the #ThisFlag citizens’ movement to challenge corruption, injustice, and poverty in Zimbabwe. For his work, Mawarire was imprisoned, tortured, and charged with treason, facing eighty years in prison. He has addressed audiences at the Atlantic Council, Yale University, Harvard University, the Oxford Union, the Oslo Freedom Forum and the Geneva Summit for Human Rights & Democracy. He was named one of Foreign Policy’s “100 Global Thinkers” of 2016, and as Daily Maverick’s 2016 “African Person of the Year.” Mawarire is a nominee of the 2017 Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression awards and the 2018 Per Anger Prize for democracy actors. He was a 2018 fellow of Stanford University’s Centre for Democracy Development and the Rule of Law; a 2020 Yale World Fellow; and a 2022 Reagan-Fascell Fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy. Currently, he is the Director of Frontlines of Freedom Democracy Dissident’s Network at the Renew Democracy Initiative, an organization focused on defending democracy in America and the world.