reconnect people’s everyday lives with politics through collecting and sharing stories of when people first became aware of the bigger world around them.

I grew up in a very political household so trying to identify my first memory is complicated. When I look back to my “politically formative years”, which I place somewhere between the ages of 4 and 7 all I see is a kaleidoscope of memories.

Is my first political memory to be found in the pages of my book collection that included titles such as “Nelson Mandela for Kids”, “Harriet Tubman for Kids”?

Or did it start with the curtain call that preceeded my role in the Wazelendo Players’ production of Ngugi Wa Thiongo’s The Trial of Dedan Kimathi?

Perhaps it is in the tune of Bandiera Rossa; a song I learned to sing without so much as knowing what language it was in!

Maybe it lies within the pixels that made up the was the framed poster of Malcolm X in our living room?.

Botha's 1984 visit to UK protested

I was about six years old at the time and I was used to going on both leisure and protest walks with my parents, which often ended with me eating an Orange ice lolly (if the weather was nice) or a pack of Opal Fruits and/or Jaffa Cakes. For the most part there was nothing special about this particular walk until we got to Number 10. The crowed stopped and in unison began a call and response chant that went like this:

Caller: Maggie, Maggie, Maggie!!
Crowd: Out, out, out!
Caller: Botha, Botha, Botha!!
Crowd: Out, out, out!!

At the age of six, to be part of the 15,000 people who chanted in unison was an amazing experience. At the time I must admit that I thought we were calling for them to open the door and step outside. It was only as I grew older, as I started to learn more about Apartheid and Thatcherism, that I was able to connect the dots. It was this demonstration that helped me understand that Apartheid as an ideology and as a regime did not exist in isolation. In 2010, as the Conservative Party rolls out its “I’ve never voted Tory before” campaign, I can respond and say,

I’ve never voted Tory because they supported Apartheid

What is your first political memory? Get sharing!
—
With thanks Mark Pack for his LDV post – ‘cos that’s how I learned about this!

Introduction

On June 1st 2007, Kenyans everywhere will be celebrating Madaraka Day. Madaraka Day commemorates the day that Kenya attained internal self-rule following an important milestone on the road to independence. To mark this event, we would like to invite members of the Kenyan Bloggers Webring to blog in unison under the banner ‘Kenyan Bloggers’ Day’.

Why?

This day is opportunity for members of the Kenyan Bloggers Webring to share their thoughts on the topics below. Last year’s Kenyan Bloggers’ Day featured a wide range of inspired posts. The level of support and interaction shown by our members in response was outstanding. See how members celebrated last year

How to Get Involved

On or on the weekend of June 1st 2007, we are proposing that we all create a post on any or all of the following suggested topics:

* Kenya
* Being Kenyan
* Being a Kenyan blogger
* Being a member of KBW

The post can be a piece of prose – 2 lines, an essay, a poem, a podcast, a photograph, your favourite quote. It is entirely up to you how you chose to celebrate this day. You don’t have to be Kenyan, just a member of KBW.

On this day we wish to use collective blogging as means of celebrating the nation that unites us as bloggers of KBW.

So here it is 6 weird facts about me….but first the rules:

• Post six weird facts/habits about yourself. These cannot be used against you later on.
• At the bottom name the six people you will tag next.
• Leave them a comment to let them know they’ve been tagged and to read your blog.

1. I do not and never have owned a microwave. Much to the shock and amazement of friends and family who upon finding this out always ask the same question, ‘so how do you reheat or warm your food?’ What do you mean how do I reheat or warm my food? The same way I learnt how to; by placing the food in a sufuria (trans. cooking pot/pan) place the sufuria on top of one of the four cooker hobs, light the hob, cover the sufuria, et voila in five minutes time my meal is ready. Of course this only leads to the usual ‘ooh but that is so much work!’ To which I silently mutter, ‘Maybe but it certainly beats blasting cancer rays into my food’
2. I do not like belly buttons. Actually it is not that I don’t like them, I just can’t find the English equivalent of how they make me feel. When I see a belly button (innie or outie) I feel what in Kikuyu is known as thithii (not sure if that is the correct spelling) The English equivalent would be the feeling some people get when they hear nails dragged across a blackboard. Belly buttons make my skin crawl.
3. I am not a shopper. Contrary to the stereotype of women being addicted to clothes/shoe shopping, I can not stand shopping. I only buy clothes as when and I need them and I do not leave the house unless I have a clear plan of the shop (note singular use of the word) that I shall be going to and what I intend to buy. I abhor aimless browsing, especially when done under the pretext that one might find something. Even when armed with a purpose I still find shopping such a chore and I recall one particularly traumatic event. In 1999 I visited New York and on my mother’s orders I went to Macy’s to buy clothes, shoes and other random items for every member of my immediate family. That little outing made me physical ill and I remember suffering the worst migraine to date. There is only one thing that will send me to the shops….
4. As seen on TV. If something is advertised on TV, I will buy it. Clearly there are some limitations, actually only one limitation – I don’t have enough money to buy everything that I see advertised. That said, with the little I have, I have managed to stock up on a range of items, mainly household cleaning products. 9 out of 10 ten times the stuff I end up buying is junk but every so often I find that one item that becomes a permanent fixture.
5. I will never make an OSCAR judge. No matter how good a movie is, I am guaranteed to forget everything about it as soon as the end credits have finished rolling. It is as if I have had my memory zapped by one of those Men In Black torch thingies. It is only when I begin re-watching a movie that I get the odd flashback. The only trouble is I can’t stand re-watching movies. I have got to the stage where I just don’t bother with films at all and I only make it to the cinema about twice a year (thrice if it is a Harry Potter year).
6. Elephants make me laugh. I love love love elephant jokes. It doesn’t matter if I have heard the joke before, I will still laugh as though I was hearing it for the first time. As I have reached the end of my list I shall sign off with an elephant joke I found at wikipedia

Q: How do you get an elephant into the fridge?
A: 1. Open door. 2. Insert elephant. 3. Close door.

Q: How do you get a giraffe into the fridge?
A: 1. Open door. 2. Remove elephant. 3. Insert giraffe. 4. Close door.

Q: The king of the jungle, the lion, decided to have a party. He invited every animal in the jungle, but one didn’t come. Which one?
A: The giraffe, because it was stuck in the fridge.

Q: Two explorers attempt to cross a crocodile-infested stream. How do they manage to get across?
A: They just wade across. The crocodiles are at the lion’s party.

In keeping with the spirit of this meme I kindly request that the following people have a go:

Remi, Uaridi, Ostalgia, D-Notice, Birth of a Notion and Devasting the Obvious.

Jay is Games Casual Gameplay
Often refered to as JIG Casual Gameplay this is “simply the best selection of (mostly) free casual games you will find on the Web today.” In the year or so that I have been reading JIG I have watched it grow from a one person blog to a group project that has recently completed and announced the winners of the first ever JIG game design competition. There is a real sense of community over at JIG, with reader’s submitting games for review, guest blogging spots and a comment section that provides help for those of us who get stuck on the simplest of games.

Black Gay Blogger
On January 25 2005, after deciding that New Year’s resolutions are “tres gauche,” Karsh (author of bgb.com) came up with a list of 101 things to do before 25th September 2007 i.e. 1001 days after the list was completed. This list covers e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. Karsh really wants to do it all and judging by the number of items he has crossed off he might just get to achieve 101 in 1001. Oh and I can’t mention this blog without mentioning the design – it is beautiful!

tiffany b brown
Tiffany b Brown is the eponymous blogger behind this fantastic web design blog. She describes it as her “personal playground [a] place where [she] experiment[s] with web markup and programming languages….” To me it is a very useful learning tool for all things Internet/Blog/Site design related. (her other blog Black Feminism is equally fantastic)

Lynne D Johnson’s Diary
I don’t consider it an overstatement to refer to Lynne D Johnson as the best Hip Hop blogger in the blogosphere. Prior to listening to the SXSW Blogging While Black Revisted session (of which both Lynne and Tiffany were panelists) and hearing Lynne speak of the abuse she has been subjected to because she was a female Hip-Hop blogger I had no idea how prevalent sexism was within the Hip-Hop blogosphere. Her account of how she handled this abuse was truly inspirational especially after going through her archives later on and actually reading the extent of the attack.

Avalon Star
Possibly the best blog design I have ever seen. It is almost hard to believe that this blog is based on K2. Everything about this site is amazing, even the categories, which according to Bryan Veloso (the man behind the blog) “aren’t like your mother’s category archives!” he does not tell a lie, each category is like a whole new blog. Though it was the site design that won me over, I also enjoy reading this blog because Bryan has a very friendly, conversational style. I particularly liked this post which touches on an issue that am sure affects many bloggers: how to explain to non-blogger friends what we bloggers do.

And that concludes my Blog Day 2006, so till next year – Happy Blog Day.

While working on the first part of my Kenyan Bloggers’ Day contribution I came across Doodle 4 Google: my Britain.

[This is] a nationwide design competition open to the UK’s 10 million school children. Young people are being invited to design a Google doodle explaining what it means to be British today. The winning doodle, which will be displayed on the Google UK homepage for 24 hours, will be seen by around 18 million people.

[read more the full article]

Doodle for Google began in 2005 and the winner of last year’s competition was 11 year old London student, Lisa Wainaina (pictured below with Dennis Hwang and her wining doodle)

She designed a doodle titled ‘Day of the child’. Lisa’s creative theme and clever incorporation of childhood images into the Google logo contributed to her being named the winner of the London competition. Lisa’s doodle was hosted on the Google homepage for 24 hours for millions of people to see, including her very proud parents and schoolmates.

[Read more here]

As I read the 2005 Winner’s name, I felt in me an emotion similar to (but stronger than) the feeling I get when I first notice a stranger wearing a Kenyan T-shirt or carrying a kiondo. It matters not that I do not know the person, or they may not be Kenyan. All I see is a person carrying an aspect of my identity and often they do so with such pride that it makes me want to stop them and say,

“Because you chose to wear/carry X, every person you meet will be exposed to a part of my culture and identity. They will admire the beautiful X you wear/carry. They may even want to find out more. In short you are representing and for that I am grateful’

I have never had the courage to say all the above to a total stranger. Sometimes I wish I did have that courage. Especially since these happy thoughts are often eroded cynicism.

I begin to question the carrier’s/wearer’s identity,
‘hmmm….I bet he/she is not even Kenyan’.

I speculate on their motives,
‘hmm…I bet they wore X, carried X because the “Ethnic” look is in.’

I conclude that the stranger pronounces Kenya as Kee.ni.a, they have only visited Kenya once on a 10 day package holiday/safari. Based on this I convince myself that the stranger has no to right to lay claim to my heritage. It may be days later before I remember how upset I get when others attempt to redefine my identity and the ways I choose to display it.

Nobody has the right to decide the cultural signifiers that others may use to define their identity and I certainly do not have the right to define another persons’ cultural/national identity.

With this in mind I approach the issue of Ms Wainaina and her outstanding achievement with a certain degree of caution.

I do not know Ms Wainaina and the articles that document her win make no reference to her national identity. I do know however that Wainaina is a Kenyan name.

Actually, that is all I need to know.

Through her name, Ms Wainaina carries an aspect of my cultural/national identity. Through her success she has exposed an aspect of my identity to millions of people. People all around the world will admire her work and will congratulate her on her win. They may even ask about her name. In short she is representing. And for this I am grateful.

As I think of Lisa Wainaina and her online achievements I am reminded of something the Acrobat said in his Kenyan Bloggers’ Day post.

Kenya was not a house we moved into, it was a house which they started building, which we will complete and which our children will furnish. In that sense we mould it in our character. It is a reflection of us. The good and the bad. But it is us.

While his remarks are in reference to the building of a nation, I feel it can also be applied to the building of a nation’s online identity.

A short while back, it was almost impossible to find news, opinions, gossip, facts and stories on Kenya written by Kenyans/friends of Kenya. In the recent months, through the proliferation of Kenyan/Kenyan friendly blogs we have started to shape Kenya’s presence on the net.

The Kenyan Blogsphere was not a house we moved into, it is a house which we are still building, the Lisa Wainana’s are already working on the interior design and by the time her children move in they will be adding loft conversions for our ever growing family.

In this sense, through our blogs, we are moulding the Kenyan Blogsphere and in turn Kenya’s identity on the internet. It is a reflection of us. The good and the bad, but it is us.

And damn! Am I proud of us!

Happy Madaraka Day

——————–
Lisa Wainana image from Doodle 4 Google’s publicity page.

On June 1st 2006 Kenyans everywhere will be celebrating Madaraka Day. Madaraka Day commemorates the day that Kenya attained internal self-rule following an important milestone on the road to independence. To mark this event I have joined my fellow Kenyan Blog Webring (KBW) members as we blog in unison under the banner ‘Kenyan Bloggers’ Day’.
—————————————-

I have always admired the work of Dennis Hwang. He is the man behind the Google Holiday Doodles. I had so much faith in their holiday logos to the extent that I did not consider a day a holiday unless Google had doodled it.

Today, the day Kenya attained internal self-rule, I expected Google Kenya to be all doodled out in black, green and red. But alas, there was no Madaraka Day Doodle!

So in the true Madaraka spirit, I decided to use the freedom that comes with having access to the Internet to create and share my own Google Doodle!

Happy Madaraka Day.

————–
Credit:

• Dr Mich – who refuses to get a blog but seems to enjoy helping me on mine – worked with me on this Mockoogle Logo.

Introduction

On June 1st 2006 Kenyans everywhere will be celebrating Madaraka Day. Madaraka Day commemorates the day that Kenya attained internal self-rule following an important milestone on the road to independence. To mark this event the Kenyan Blogs Webring (KBW) Admin Team would like to invite KBW bloggers to blog in unison under the banner ‘Kenyan Bloggers’ Day’.

Why?

We have been inspired by Keguro’s and Black Looks’ and Mshairi’s call to action in respect of the East African Standard raid and International Women’s day respectively. Additionally, the level of support and interaction shown by our members in response was outstanding and we therefore, recognise the value of collective blogging.

With this in mind we wish to use collective blogging as means of celebrating the nation that unites us as bloggers.

How to Get Involved

On or before June 1st 2006, we are proposing that we all create a post on any or all of the following suggested topics:

• Kenya
• Being Kenyan
• Being a Kenyan blogger
• Being a member of KBW

The post can be a piece of prose – 2 lines, an essay, a poem, a podcast, a photograph, your favourite quote. It is entirely up to you how you chose to celebrate this day.

You don’t have to be Kenyan, just a member of KBW.

Blogs Taking Part
(Last updated 25/05/06 -12:00)

Below is a list of bloggers (in alphabetical order) who are taking part and we shall continue to update this list. To keep track of who is taking part please leave a comment in the comment section of the original post over at KBW Admin Team Blog or email us at admin [@] kenyaunlimited.com with a link to your blog.

Gukira
Mama JunkYard’s
Mentalacrobatics
Mshairi
Uaridi

What of our postman, who for years has always known me as Ms. W Kihoro? I am almost certain that as he shoved the A4 envelope through the letterbox he muttered to himself, ‘There goes the neighbourhood!’ How will I ever face him again?

But hey, the loss of social standing in the real world is nothing when compared to what I have gained as a result of being the second recipient of Guess’ Mailbox Meme.

Taking into account the choice of card, armed with handwriting analysis and knowledge of her deepest darkest secret I can tell you exactly what the child she was thinks of the adult she has become.

As for my dear friend, we have called you Godfather in jest but the use of bold red ink, lower case mixed wItH UppEr case and the contents of that secret leave me no choice but to hail you as the one true Don and say Omerta!

Noting that Guess wrote in black and The Don wrote in red I have opted to share my secret in Green and to give the card a little flavour of Bendera Yetu Ya Kenya (trans. our flag of Kenya).

A cautionary message to whosoever receives this card, it contains information that many would kill to possess and many more would kill to protect. Dan Brown and his Code ain’t got nothing on this. Are you brave enough to take part in the KBW Kwess Konspiracy? (Ngai..ati KKK!!)

oh…and Mr Acrobat – didn’t you receive Nick’s memo? It is Sir MJY to you….Next time Sema Afande!

———
Background info:

• Origins of the Mailbox Meme
• First Recipient’s Account

1. Total number of films I own on dvd/video:

   Initially I thought this was a hard question because the DVD/video collection in our house is a mish-mash of mine, mich’s and stuff on perpetual loan from friends. I then decided to approach our video collection with the ruthlessness of a divorce lawyer and started to divide the collection into two groups: mine and his. I can unashamedly say that out of the 70+ films no more than 10 belong to me. All the more reason to remain with Mich for the rest of my life. Who said romance is dead?

2. The last film I bought:

   Lion King 1 and ½ (aka Lion King 3)

3. The last film I watched:

   On TV: The Invisible Circus: It was on Channel 4 a few nights ago. I honestly thought it was some sort of clever ‘whodunnit’ thriller and was convinced that it was the English boyfriend who had murdered the heroine’s sister. I sat patiently waiting for the twist…but alas…it was yet another love story. A good one though.

   At the Cinema: Star Wars – Revenge of The Sith. It was fantastic, a movie worthy of its own blog entry. The best fight scenes in all the Star Wars films.

4. Five films that I watch a lot or that mean a lot to me:

   Amandla! A Revolution in Four Part Harmony: The (hi)story, the music – it is a powerful movie.

   Bowling For Columbine: I liked the whole film but the animated history of America is perhaps the main reason why I keep re-watching this movie.

   The Lion King: There is one scene that my siblings and I watch over and over again. Simba, Timon and Pumbaa have just arrived at Pride Rock. The hyenas are guarding Pride Rock and Simba needs to get passed them, so he asks Timon and Pumba to create a diversion. Timon responds with the best line of the entire film:

   What do you want me to do? Dress in Drag and Do the Hula?

   This leads on to the best song and dance routine which can be viewed here.

   Pride and Prejudice (BBC adaptation): This is more of a series than a movie but I never tire of watching it. It is the by far the best adaptation of Austen’s work.

   Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge and Bombay: Ok so these are two films but I always think of them together. Aside from their great music and storylines it shall always remind me of the 1996 6th Formers trip to the Czech Republic. The Bevin Boys I went with made the songs from these movie our holiday soundtrack.

5. Tag five people and have them put this in their journal:

   Bernie, Bchii, Invincible Kung Fu, Maitha, and Margaret in Germany.

You’re stuck inside Fahrenheit 451. Which book do you want to be?

This question confuddles me. Perhaps it’s because I have only read the synopsis of Fahrenheit 451. If I have understood it correctly it is asking me which book I would like to see burnt. Well, I don’t think any book should ever be burnt.

Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?

Ha! Who haven’t I had a crush on! This is the abridged version.

Mr Darcy the real Pride and Prejudice Darcy and NOT the Bridget Jones one (though I must say Colin Firth who has acted as both Mr Darcy’s probably has a lot to do with this).
Paul Ashworth ( Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby). The book itself is based on Nick Hornby’s life so doesn’t strictly count as fiction but the main character is not real. This has nothing to do with the fact that it was role played by Colin Firth in the 1997 film. It has more to do with the fact that I can’t help but be attracted to a man who so faithfully follows Arsenal.

John(Jack/Earnest) Worthing JP ( Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde). I have never been one to fall for a playa but this guy got game!

The last book you bought is?

• The Last Juror – John Grisham
• The Four Agreements – Miguel Ruiz

Neither of which have been completed.
I only read Grisham when I fly and I had bought this in Miami Airport on the way back from Belize. I have never fallen asleep on a flight before but for some reason this time I did. I’m saving it for Kenya.

The Four Agreements I bought the minute I landed after a Belizean friend recommended it to me. It is a tiny book but I have found that parts of it conflict with my own spirituality so I had to take a break.

What are you currently reading?
The Sunday Times. It takes me until about Thursday to get through most of this paper.

Five books you would take to a deserted island:

I have no intentions of getting stuck on a desert island until after July 17th when the latest Harry Potter book comes out.

• I would take this book along with the rest of the collection. (This counts as one book).
• The Bible
• The Karma Sutra – you never know who might turn up to rescue me so I better be ready. It’s the pocket version so this only counts as half a book
• The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold) – I have read this before so it also counts as half a book
• Waiting In Vain (Colin Channer) – Rod reckons I will identify with the characters so I can’t wait to find out
• The Complete Works of Shakespeare

Who are you going to pass this stick to (3 persons) and why?

I had a long list of people that I wanted to hand this to but I stopped over at Elayne Riggs who made me think twice about passing over memes willy-nilly.

That said, I would love to read the following people’s responses
Mshairi (she is always going on about words this words that)
Larry D Lyons II (He writes so well, he could make a shopping list seem fascinating)
Maitha (if only to see this meme in Kiswahili)
Oh and ofcourse, from this dunce to another (I just want to know if he does anything other than watch TV).