The Struggle

Such impeccable beauty She is

Oh! What marvel to the eyes

You can view Her from any angle

But every angle is different, 

Every angle is unique, 

Every angle is special, 

Every angle is more beautiful than the other.

But to keep such beauty,

She had to Fight!

She had to Fight Hard! 

She had to Fight with Strength!

She had to Fight with Courage!

She had to Fight with Wisdom bestowed upon Her by Her ancestors!

She had to Fight with her all!

To have it all

Not to loose at all

The beauty that is rightfully Hers

Her forty two children She wanted safe

To shield under Her breast.

She commands respect and attention

Admiration and approval

Her home covered with green vegetation

Creatures of all kind

Maybe the Garden of Eden in the modern times

A land of milk and honey

That the pale skin men saw as potential

Potential to scramble for and grab

Grab what wasn't theirs

Harvesting where they had not sown

Imprisoning the children of the land 

And we became slaves in our own home.

Slaves to be exploited

Whips, sexual assaults, starvation, taxes and torture chambers rewards for resisting

Slaves ripped off our independence to free will, thoughts, ideas, opinions,

For anything you said was already held against you

Left but only with the right and freedom to breath

For they couldn't rule that

And with all their "intelligence"

They had no control over it.

They said they came to our land to bring "civilization"

But all they did was insult us

They made us donkeys

Beasts of burden

They called us monkeys

They called us dogs.

Did they think after all their treatments we would accept them?

Give them gifts?

You mess with a chick,

Well be prepared to be pecked by the Mother Hen's beak

You tried to destroy our culture and make us go against each another

So we fought for the blood you spilled

That was our weeping

Fighting and revolting against you

And we finally won

And sent you packing 

Back to your home

Now She holds Her head high

Waving Her beautiful powerful Black, Red, Green and White flag

For Her people fought with shields and spears in defense of their freedom

Blood was shed and She mourned for Her lost children

But She reclaimed Her natural wealth

Now peace is Her motto

My Power My Freedom

 
Color and ambiance
Beauty and glamour
Freckles and wrinkles
Wisdom and power
Seeking attention
Commanding approval
Let matters speak for themselves 
Let them command a podium with their voice

The art of drawing

The art of music

The art of writing

The art of dance

The art of poetry

The art of photography

The art of technology

The art of free versing 

The art of spoken word

Arts of expression

Arts of sharing

Arts of liberation

Arts of love

Their influence

In their power

Power of color

Power of words

Power of tunes

Power of chords

Power of choreographed steps

Power of the lens

Power of code

Freedom of the arts

Freedom in the flow of the pen

Freedom in the flow of the paint brush

Freedom in the flow of the body

Freedom in the observation of life as it unfolds behind the camera

Art

The Power and Freedom of expression

Dear Darling

Hold your breath and count two, ten
Then breath in... breathe out
Now put your trust in me.

Close your eyes and take my hand
We are about to go for a journey you won't forget
So Dear Darling
Don't be scared..
To take the first step.

Hold on tight
Don't let go
I promise
Not to break you or make you fall
Our future is intertwined
I hope you can see
As clear as I can see through the glitter in the sea
The sea of your eyes
A reflection of me
Same as the sea reflects the sky that we now see.

In the present and the beyond
Our hands and hearts will remain
A perfect complete jigsaw
Of different shapes
Different sizes
Different strokes
Perfectly intertwined
Perfect in every way
Natural perfection
For we didn't have to lift a finger
To join the pieces together
For each simply found their perfect other
And they complimented and completed each other.

Isn't it beautiful and warm?
To watch the sun rise and to watch it fall?
Fall... to bow to the rise of the Moon
As the Moon shall soon fall... to bow to the rising Sun
Two leaders that rule with great grandeur
Each with a kingdom they don't fight over
Both beautiful in their perfect way?
Both dependent and independent of each other
Both whose future is intertwined as ours.

Dear Darling
Don't be scared
To open your eyes and make this a reality
To let the jigsaw complete itself
To let our hands intertwine forever
To trust me with all you've got

For I shall always hold on

Even when you let go.

Emancipation

Freedom?
They question
Freedom
They say with disgust
Freedom!
I shout and chant it
Freedom!
That Sarafina fought for

Freedom!

My dream... As Martin Luther King Jr also had his dream

Freedom!
To attain self actualization
For I have liberation
That is not a limitation
To use my full potential

Am I not your equal?
Am I not supposed to breathe in oxygen and breath out carbon dioxide?
Is it not blood that is supposed to flow through my veins?
I may differ from some of you because of gender
Because of ideology
Because I lack a limb or two
Because I can't speak out my words as fast as you do
But I still ask...
Am I not your equal?
Do I not deserve to be treated like a human or a fellow animal?
Because under biology we are animal mammals.
I deserve respect the same way you do
I deserve to have a voice the same way you do
I deserve equal shares of humanity
In this company we call life.

Chains
Is what you have put me in
Chains
Both physical and mental
Chains
Of bondage
Chains
Of regret
Chains
Of "You can't do it"
Chains
Of "You won't do it"
"You won't make it"
"You're not worth it"
Chains! Chains! Chains!
I WILL BREAK THEM!!!

Liberate me
Set me free

Liberate me
I am your equal

Liberate me
Break these chains

Liberation
Is what I seek

Liberation
Is what I crave

Liberation
I shall fight
To attain it

Dear Son

Dear son...

I loved you so much...

That killing you was the only way to rid you of your pain.

I couldn't take it no more

To see you toss and turn each day

In your little bed

Crying in pain

Because of a disease that strove to gain

Its gain being to take your life away

I couldn't take it no more

To hear you cry out my name

For me to make the pain go away

I am your mother but ain't a doctor

I wish there would have been another way

To ease your pain

But I was left with no options my son

For the doctors couldn't help you

And I didn't have the money to support you

To buy you painkillers

Or take you to India for treatment

Forgive me son

For taking you to your grave

But it was the only way out

The single option I had left

To make the pain go away.

Noises from the neighbors 

To make you hush

So they could sleep at night

Annoyed me so much

Didn't they see that you were in pain?

Didn't they see how much I struggled for you to be well?

To cry in joy and not in pain?

They pushed me my son

I feared that they would take you away from me

And would never get to see you again

I thus had to send you to heaven first my son

But don't worry

I will be joining you soon

For the poison I put in your food this morning

Is the poison I have put in my food this evening

See you soon my son

In a land where we shall feel pain no more

Wangu wa Makeri

     When it comes down to history, fame, success, failure and events; it all boils down to individuals who shaped them and the magnitude of their impact in the society or better yet the peculiar attributes exuded by such people or events. Such people include Adolf Hitler, Dedan Kimathi, Ben Carson, Wangari Maathai and many others. Similarly, events such as the World War II, the fight for freedom by the MauMau, the fight to keep Uhuru Park by Wangari Maathai and many others.

     However, today's recap of history is not about any of those people or events I have named but rather about one woman who will not be scrapped out of history any time soon. She was born around the year 1856 to Mr. Gatuika Macharia and Mrs. Wakeru of Gitie Village in Kangema division, Muranga district. She attracted Makeri wa Mbogo of Ndorbo descent form Ethaga clan through her hard work on her parents land and soon landed herself a husband. History isn't clear about her status about having bore children as some claim she was barren others claim her children, born before she was appointed a colonial administrator, were named Nyakimotho, Nyambura, Wanguru, Muchiri, Gatuika and Mwangi. 

     Her appointment as the first and only female "headman", assistant chief, of Weithaga location during the entire colonial period took place in 1901 earning her the prestige of being the first Kikuyu female leader as well. She is well remembered as the woman who humiliated the menfolk of her time as she rode them like horses and quite promiscuous. Her downfall was led by the menfolk of Weithaga who were tired of her treatment and they revolted and plotted against her. It happened that fateful day when Wangu committed the ultimate insult against tradition and her office when she danced at an exclusive adult male dance, Kibata, as called by the Kikuyu, while she was naked. It is claimed that she saw her hero and lover, Karuri, dancing with youth and vigor, and couldn't resist the urge to join him and she joined in the dance  as she removed some of her clothing exposing her body, while others claimed that before joining the dance some of the men adjusted her ceremonial sword near her waist and it cut the strings to her traditional skirt, which dropped when it was cut loose exposing her nakedness as she danced.She became the subject of ridicule and forced to resign soon after.

***

Leading with an iron fist

Trouping over the heads of men

All done with a bigger cause

Or all for some selfish reasons?

Being a feminist

Or a chauvinist

Should we take two seconds to analyze this?

Leading with an iron fist

Riding over the backs of men

Free humiliation

For menfolk of Weithaga

At the hand of Wangu

Not “My” Wangu

But Wangu wa Makeri

Leading with an iron fist

Her downfall caused by the hand of man

Black History Month

The dream of one person is what started this

He did not intend to be a legend

Neither did he intend to be famous

Or get crowned as a hero

He simply intended to give his fellow black family

A sense of pride for being the people they were...

Black.

The Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH)

That is where he started his journey

Founding an organization with his fellow black intellectuals

One dedicated to researching and promoting achievements by black Americans 

Not forgetting other peoples of African descent

This is the year 1915 

It marks the beginning of that revolution

State Department of Educations with considerable Negro population,

Churches,

Black press...

The public had to be informed and what better way to do so

The Journal of Negro History(1916)

"We are going back to that beautiful history and it is going to inspire us to greater achievements"

Wouldn't you be interested to read it?

Wouldn't you be interested in saving your race?

Wouldn't you want to be an ambassador of such a cause?

It is now 1926

The month of February

It is not only the month of love

But bares more history and significance than that

The birthdays of Abraham Lincoln (12th February) and Frederick Douglass (14th February), 

Two great Americans

That played a prominent role in shaping black history days

And black communities and other Republicans commemorated their birthdays each year

Even when they were long gone

Six feet below the ground.

Negro History Week 

The new name for the week in which these two heroes were born

Traditional and symbolic days of commemorating the black past.

"If a race has no history, it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, it stands in danger of being exterminated."

This is what he fought hard to prevent

The extinction of the black race

The luck of pride

The luck of justice

The luck of acceptance

For the color the black man has

It was no longer about the study of two great men

But of a great race

One man's dream soon became a whole nation's dream

One step towards that journey became a movement

A one day thought became a whole week celebration

Soon it became Black History Month

Will it one day become a Black History Year?

Carter G. Woodson, the Harvard-trained historian,

Will not get to see if what he started will end up being a yearly celebration

Rather than the monthly celebration it currently is,

But he would be proud of what he has achieved

That black history is a field of serious study

From biographies  of famous African Americans such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Muhammad Ali

To milestones accomplished in education in historically black colleges.

It may be a celebration started out in the United States, that spread to the United Kingdom and Canada

But it is of impact to all Africans in every country in the world.

I am proud to be Black

Are you?