Monday 10, March 2014.
What is
Your Contribution to The Kenyan Story?
“I love America more than any other country in the world and,
exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her
perpetually.
James Baldwin.
James Baldwin.
American
Novelist and Social Critic.
Patriotism is a beautiful experience, especially when
a fellow citizen realizes a history-making achievement on the world stage. The
conversations that follow such events especially in the home countries of the
person being celebrated at that time are usually full of praise, hope and joy
plus a common feeling of an identity that has come by as a result of the
achievement being celebrated. Otherwise, this experience wouldn't have been
felt had that achievement not been made. We are most patriotic when we are
celebrating others. Patriotism comes with being selfless and a readiness to put
aside your thoughts and activities to celebrate someone else’s contribution to
your country.
Globalization has given everyone a chance to leave a
mark on the world stage and to be congratulated and known all over the world
for what they have achieved. The intermingling of people both online and
physically has been made easier by the technological and infrastructural advancements
made over the years. Globalization has reduced people’s prejudices about race
because we can now move more freely to interact and show people the side of us
that they had not known before. And so it is always a good experience when “one
of us” achieves a remarkable feat on the world stage. It is at these times when
conversations are full of praise and adulation for our citizens on the world
stage that we should ask ourselves what contribution as individuals we are
making to this country. What angle of the Kenyan story are you narrating to the
world by your mere being? Which quality that you would like to think of as Kenyan do you exude ?
Kenya just like any other African country in the 21st century is a place
where our countrymen and women in the diaspora are the people who have attained
great achievements that bring us together most of the time apart from our national holidays. And that is their
contribution to the Kenyan story. The question then is what is your paragraph
like in the book of Kenyan stories? What contribution have you made to this
country? What wrong things have you changed? Are you a part of the problem or a
part of the solution? Who have you worked with? What virtues do you stand by?
How many times have you tried and failed? The fundamentals of patriotism in
this country, are they things that you can identify with? The idea is not to make
anyone feel bad about themselves but to attempt to do something positive for
this country. What is needed is positive action coming from deep inside us that
drives us towards greatness and a better tomorrow.
Different people in this country have had their own contributions
to the Kenyan story. Most notable among the people who have contributed
positively to the Kenyan story are our athletes, rugby players, musicians,
journalists and individuals who have spearheaded transformative campaigns in
the private sector around farming, technology, fashion, and the art industry. There
are actually people who are concerned about the contributions that they make to this country. Question is, are you one of them? Does it even bother you
that in the past twenty five or thirty years you have lived in this country you
have not had a positive contribution to the Kenyan story? Take a close look at
the people who are renown throughout the world for what they have done for
their countries. There is only one message there, dream beyond the possible.
Make the impossible possible for yourself and go after it.
Over the past ten years there have been a couple of
good stories coming from Kenya. Stories of people starting from nowhere and
ending up in the highest peaks of world greatness. The whole world knows
Barrack Obama’s story. Just the other week, Lupita Nyong’o did it again. Collage
artist Wangechi Mutu, another case of Kenyan greatness uprooted from the Kenyan
soil and transplanted in the greatest of the world's art stages. Finland’s first
black member of parliament, Jani Toivola, is of Kenyan origin. The list goes on
and on. And it is not that the world is lenient towards us, it is the effort
and persistence of such people that takes them and consequently this country to
where it is placed in the world now. In this age of globalization, we cannot start
complaining that these people have abandoned their home countries to go live in
the diaspora. The world’s best social, economic and political systems are concentrated
there. And it is not a crime to want nothing but the best for yourself.
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| Kenyan actress Lupita Nyongo donning the "Nairobi Blue dress" with the prestigious golden statuette she earned for winning the 2014 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.She is the first African to attain such a remarkable feat in the American film industry. |
But then again you will agree that during such
moments when the whole world is awash with celebrations and praise messages for
people like Lupita Nyong’o and Barrack Obama for example, the only people identifying
with them as a fellow countrymen or women is us Kenyans. That feeling is good
even when shared by imaginative Mexicans and Americans respectively. For us, it is like
being born in the right country at the right time to be a part of this generation that has witnessed rare history because it is very probable that what Lupita, Obama and Toivola have done will not be done again for decades or centuries to come. We
celebrate these people first because they are from Kenya then second for their
own achievements. And most of the time
they are not usually very openly patriotic with the statements they say immediately
after being awarded. Lupita for instance first said that no matter where you
are from your dreams are valid before hinting at Kenya with her Nairobi blue
dress phrase and later on her parents.
I won’t dwell much on the successes and contributions
of the great people we all know. I’d rather challenge the little-known you and me to do something that will make this country a
better place. Think of a better country for yourself, for your family and
relatives, for the minority groups and generally happiness for everyone. In
Africa, despite all the amazing success stories that come from this place, our
political culture seems to be the one thing that shames us always before the
world. The image of the African politician is that of a gluttonous, power
hungry, conservatist, tribal and corrupt individual who has less time and space
for things that will transform the lives of the public but rather more time and
effort for anything that will pay him more. And despite the many legislations
that these politicians have passed over the years, their contribution to the Kenyan
story if you ask anyone is not as positive as ought to be. The whole issue of
politicians’ contribution to the Kenyan story is a whole other article itself.
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| Kenyan cartoonist Gado's impression of the Kenyan government's next action after Lupita's big win at the Oscars. |
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