What if maybe, just maybe you decide to honour the tug of your heart? To say ‘yes’ to that passion that keeps you up at night?

A woman who was born in a world of academia and at a time chose not to pursue her artistic passion as a career has found success, fulfilment, significance and many accolades from her work. This woman is Danai Jekesai Gurira, a Zimbabwean-American actress, playwright and activist who has achieved dizzying heights of success in an industry that often seems elusive to many who chase its promise of fame and fortune. Gurira is the last of four children born to Professor Roger Gurira and wife Josephine Gurira in the United States.

At the age of four, following the end of colonial rule in Zimbabwe, she and her family returned to the country, where she completed her education, including attending high school at Dominican Convent in Harare. Even at a young age, Gurira was active in the arts including participating in a production of ‘For Coloured Girls…who have considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf’ while still in school. The nineteen-year-old Gurira set out for college in the United States at Macalester College where she majored in social psychology. Upon graduation, the call of the arts could not be dulled and she enrolled at the competitive New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts for her Masters in Acting.

During her time at NYU, Gurira wrote and developed her first play titled ‘In The Continuum’ with Nikkole Slater. The play interrogates HIV/AIDS and its effect on women of colour. The play enjoyed multiple tours across the world including in her native Zimbabwe. Other plays she has written include ‘The Convert’ which deals with identity and colonialism in Africa and ‘Familiar’ that centres on a woman of Zimbabwean descent prepares for her traditional roora/lobola to a Caucasian man in snowy USA.

Perhaps her most triumphant effort as a playwright is her play ‘Eclipsed’ which is set during the civil war in Liberia and how a group of women fight to preserve their humanity in the midst of a fallen society and grave danger. ‘Eclipsed’ enjoyed a run-on Broadway with Lupita Nyong’o as the lead actress. The play was ultimately nominated for six Tony awards at the 2016 awards season including a nomination for ‘Best Play’.

Apart from her efforts on stage Gurira has enjoyed success on screen appearing on television programs such as ‘Law and Order’, ‘Treme’, ‘Life on Mars’ and ‘The Walking Dead’ in which she played the dreadlocked, katana wielding Michonne. She has been on films such as ‘Mother of George’, ‘The Visitor’ and ‘All Eyez on Me’. For her work playing Okoye in the Marvel films (‘Black Panther’, ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’, ‘Avengers: Endgame’ and ‘Avengers: Infinity Wars’) she has gained worldwide recognition. Her movies have grossed over $6USD billion at the box office which makes her one of the highest grossing film actresses.

Gurira is committed to giving back. She is the founder of Almasi Collaborative Arts which aims to educate, train and provide employment for African artists. Almasi’s efforts has led to the creation of hundreds of jobs throughout the years and has seen the staging of multiple plays. She is also the UN Goodwill Ambassador and in this role, advocates for the rights of women and girls across the world.