Seminar on the history of a Zanzibari counter-revolutionary radio station based in northern Mozambique and supported by Portugal. With James R. Brennan.

Clandestine radio and counter-revolution in East Africa:

the short history of Sauti Huru ya Unguja na Pemba (“Free Voice of Zanzibar and Pemba”), 1973-1974

James R. Brennan (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)

This presentation examines the history of a Zanzibari counter-revolutionary radio station based in northern Mozambique and supported by Portugal in the final months of the War in Africa. Based on sources from Portugal and private papers of Zanzibari exiles, this paper makes an argument about the importance of clandestine radio to the wider diplomatic history of Africa’s decolonization.

About the speaker:
James R. Brennan is Associate Professor of History at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. He is author of the book Taifa: Making Nation and Race in Urban Tanzania, and is currently finishing up multiple projects on the histories of intelligence and political opposition in Tanzania and Mozambique.