Culture never stands still. What we see with youth today isn’t “loss” so much as remixing. Old practices become new forms.‎‎

What traditional practices carried, in most cultures, including here in Zimbabwe and across Africa, traditional practices were the operating system for society. ‎‎

Identity,  Totems, clan names, initiation rites told you who you were and where you fit. ‎

Values, Hunhu/Ubuntu, respect for elders, community over self-taught through stories, proverbs, nhimbe, and rituals.

‎‎Knowledge, farming calendars, herbal medicine, dispute resolution through, “Dare” all passed orally and by doing.‎‎

Art, Mbira, Jekunje, Jerusarema dance, beadwork, praise poetry, meaning was embedded in the form.‎

The goal was continuity. You did what your grandparents did because it worked for them.‎‎What is happening with youth today?‎Today’s youth live in 3 worlds at once, local, national, and global. That creates 4 big shifts:

‎1. From communal to individual expression. ‎   Traditional: Identity through clan, lineage, village.  ‎   Now: Identity through personal style, subculture, online presence. Think Zimdancehall, streetwear with Doek patterns, TikTok dances with mixed styles.

‎‎2. From oral to digital transmission.‎   Traditional: Elders at the fire, apprenticeships.  ‎   Now: YouTube tutorials for mbira, WhatsApp groups sharing proverbs, Instagram pages documenting totems. Knowledge is still passed just faster and wider.‎‎

3. From fixed roles to fluid roles.‎‎   Traditional: Clear age-grades, gender roles in ceremony.  ‎   Now: Youth reinterpret. Women play mbira publicly. Men braid hair. A, “Sangoma” might have a podcast. The core practice remains, but who does it shifts.‎‎

4. From local symbols to global mashups.‎  ‎   Traditional: Symbols meant one thing to one group.  ‎   Now: Ndebele patterns on sneakers in New York. Shona proverbs in Amapiano lyrics. Ancestral spirituality mixed with Christianity and anime aesthetics. ‎

So’ is diversity being lost or gained?‎‎‎

What gets weaker?‎‎

1. Deep language fluency many youth understand but don’t speak home languages fully‎.

2. Rituals tied to land harder when you grow up in Harare, London, or diaspora.

‎3. Taboos that don’t fit urban life,  communal farming norms, strict age hierarchies.

What gets stronger?‎‎

1. Hybrid diversity: New subcultures no ancestor could imagine. Zimdancehall itself is reggae + local language + township reality.

‎2. Chosen culture: Youth actively pick which traditions matter. They will skip, “Kugarira nhaka” but fight to learn their totem.

‎3. Global exposure: A kid in Harare knows about Indian Culture, Korean hanbok, and Yoruba gele and can put them in conversation with Shona culture.

Bottom line: Traditional practices were about keeping the group together through shared rules. Youth culture today is about keeping identity meaningful in a world with too many options.

‎‎Culture did not die. It got remixed.‎‎

Compiled by Bright Barwe‎