Pastor starts #ThisFlag Social Media Campaign

A pastor in Zimbabwe recently posted a video on Facebook that started a social media campaign of flag selfies and hashtags. On April 20th, Evan Mawarire posted a video of himself wearing the Zimbabwe flag around his neck telling Zimbabweans, “This flag, every day that it flies, is begging for you to get involved, is begging for you to say something, is begging for you to cry out.” His message reached many citizens who have been extremely frustrated with the corruption and poverty in their country. Mawarire started being referred as “Captain Zimbabwe” with memes that labeled him as the charismatic Christian leader. On July 6th, the group called #ThisFlag, organized a nationwide protest where schools and businesses were shut down. The government decided to arrest Mawarire because of the protest and charged him with inciting public violence, disturbing the peace, and treason. Thousands of people arrived at the Harare Magistrate’s Court because of his arrest. Mawarire was released after one night in custody and posted a video, praising people for protesting peacefully. He continues to post encouraging bible verses to his audience and urging the government to make changes.

For more information, please refer to: http://religionnews.com/2016/07/21/how-thisflag-pastor-evan-mawarire-use...