Tatenda Kunaka

Eight years ago, at age 22, Tatenda Kunaka boarded a plane for the very first time. He was the first in his family to leave Zimbabwe, let alone the continent. Thanks to an academic scholarship awarded to him by Vodacom, an African mobile communications company, he was able to embark on a journey that started at the University of Dallas and eventually led him to the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, where he now studies international policy. He says attending MIIS was the birth of a much larger objective. “I felt I had to do more for my people,” he says. “I realized I had to do something for international development.”

Since he’s been in the United States, the disparities between Africa and the U.S. have become more glaring, and he is hopeful the skills he is developing at MIIS will help him to bridge the gap in some way. Kunaka, now 30, has a pensive stare and a kind smile, and he has toyed with the idea of running for office one day. Kunaka sat down with the Weekly and spoke about his assimilation to the American lifestyle, and politics and misconceptions about his home.

Weekly: How do you feel about being where you are today?

Kunaka: I feel lucky. I feel blessed. I am grateful. I feel like I have to help [my family] succeed in the same way others have helped me, because I got a scholarship through strangers who believed in my story. I feel obliged to help my family while I am here. But really, it’s no longer just about my family. It’s about my people. It’s like I’m looking out for the whole continent: I want to help.

What’s a standout memory you have from the U.S.?

Bringing my parents to America. These are people who never boarded a plane in their lives. I had a dream to have my parents board a plane, come see me, and I was able to purchase tickets for them. My mom was over the moon. I picked them up at the airport on a Sunday night in July with clear skies. I saw them getting their luggage and it’s something I never imagined beyond my wildest dreams.

Did your family have to make sacrifices to give you this opportunity?

My dad [recently] told me that when I was young, they used to call me “professor” as a nickname, because I responded more to academics. There’s five of us and the younger three – we are each three years apart – it was a stretch on the budget to send all the young kids to school. So they decided to send me to a better school – to boarding school. [My two siblings dropped out to work]. I am so grateful to my siblings, because they have no resentment at all.

What politician do you look up to?

Obama is an embodiment of hope, of what I aspire to be, of what is possible in life. He comes from a difficult past, and look where he is now.

What is the biggest misconception people have about your home?

That Africans are ignorant and that we are corrupt people. Everyone is not corrupt, everyone is not evil, but just because these few guys at top act this way, it pains me that we are all painted with that brush. After being in America for a while, this narrative on CNN and Fox becomes almost subliminal.

What are your views on how the U.S. comports itself in the world?

I believe in capitalism and a free market, but at some point, capitalism has to have checks. Issues of wealth inequality and radical terrorism, these are results of unchecked capitalism. We have allowed Fortune 500 companies in the world to get as much wealth as they can anywhere in the world without a conscience. It saddens me that big oil companies make fortunes out of Syria and Nigeria. It saddens me with what is happening in Africa. I don’t think big companies are responsible for what is happening there. But could they do more? Yes. There should be more responsibility.

Speed round: Considering you’ve been here for some time now, and have assimilated to our lifestyle, what’s your favorite American food?

I love Wing Stop.

Favorite Beer?

Budweiser.

Favorite music?

Jay Z. I look up to him. He is another person who came from a hard place and became a success story.

Favorite TV show?

I watch a lot of HBO. Bill Maher is the truth.