IT HAPPENED! See the vid | See the pics
So why did I sing and persuade others to sing the National Anthem?
On March 1, (the very next day) my iPhone was stolen, snatched from inside the cab that was taking me to my office by a young man who ran away daintily across traffic and disappeared into a low income neighbourhood. Upset though I was, I didn’t run after him. Instead I turned to my blackberry and as the cab sped away from the scene, I ‘twitted’ it and ‘facebooked’ it.
All these are decidedly middle class experiences, aren’t they?
Maybe that’s why I did it. Because I am middle class. And I need to get involved, somehow.
Poor people, like my uncle Awadh don’t drink Mocha. And they don’t pontificate about being Kenyan – they simply can’t afford to. I am privileged and I must sing that national anthem and reflect on the line “raha tupate na ustawi” (“plenty be found within our borders”)
But lets pontificate a little. There sometimes seems to be little to be proud of in this country. Scholar, Wambui Mwangi says it even better than I do:
In her observations above, she speaks for me too. There’s little to be proud of. If this was the whole story. And it isn’t the whole Kenyan story. Some important positives have happened and while I demand justice for wrongs done (and maybe I should be less populist and demand for justice to be done for the last 30 years’ worth of wrongs at least), I would be remiss if the positives did not make me proud. Kenya has become that country that everyone can say and think what they please about anyone and anything (lots of Kenyans died and were tortured and lost everything for this right). Kenya has somehow – in a canternkerous, topsy-turvy, bendy way – finally come up with a new constitution and a lot of effort has gone into getting that to happen – and a lot more is going on within the country to make things better. It is true tribalism and corruption does weigh heavily on us. It is also true that there are efforts all over the country – many taken by non politicians to bring people together.
By the way, speaking of this thing called pride: Wambui says, “‘Pride’ is an uneasy hook for our national sentiment because it seems to demand that we forget issues that we urgently need to remember and to question.” I am careful to talk back at Wambui Mwangi because she is among the smartest people I know, but here I think she has misrepresented what “pride” in this context would be. A mother is proud at her son’s football game of her son, despite the fact that his grades have been failing and she caught him trying out recreational pharmaceuticals, is she not? So is pride in Kenya in my view. It occurs, even as we question what we urgently need to remember and question.
Maybe I sang and called on others to sing because I see more that binds us than that tears us asunder.
Maybe I did it because it is an important national symbol and this country may have gone to the dogs because we don’t focus hard enough on our national symbols.
Shikwati ends his critique by saying, “The middle class should get to work and help to dismantle the infrastructure holding people back from being citizens of this country.” Er… it must be noted that the middle cass is very busy – thats why the economy is leaping and bounding (however wobblingly) again. But someone needs to remind us, the middle class what we should be working so damn hard for – in addition to our mochas and glib attitudes. The national anthem if reflected upon, may do this.
And it did for some: Where’s my pillow, Mark Kaigwa, Viola’s iris and for many others… just Google it.
I sang the National Anthem, and in doing so, I felt liberated. As I sang these words, I understood in a very personal way, that it isn’t about the politicians. It starts here, with me, now. So why do a pointless thing as sing? Because as the roman historian, Gaius Sallustius Crispus (Sallust) said: “It is sweet to serve one’s country by deeds, and it is not absurd to serve her by words.”
At the end of the day, I still believe in Kenya and there is something Kenyan worth fighting for Damn it! or like Mr. Grimwig in Dicken’s Oliver Twist, “I will eat my head!”
Thank you very much for the mention, Al. And your insights on the attitude we ought to have as the privileged middle. Check my update to this post, where I describe what the process and aftermath of that sporadic public rendition of the anthem was.
http://wheresmypillow.wordpress.com/2011/03/03/th…
Musings of a sheltered middle, nay so middle class existence u want change? Tell the so called middle class to run for office and stop imagining that singing the anthem in the middle of a working day will change the course of this country.,the uhuru,ruto.,and raila insidious poisonus campaigns are run by men and women like us. U want change stop tweeting and facebook and embrace your neighbour business associate regardless of tribe,this so fancy musings are a flight of fantasy. Kenya is not nairobi. Please ensure your fancy toys.so that when some1 risks life and limb u dont chase after him and get him killed. True nationhood is not a fad or a lifestlye,its being one pple
Thanks for the mention as well. It's clocking a month since the KenyaFeb28 fete, looks like it was ages ago.
Speaking of the middle class I have a new post wondering what your thoughts might be?
http://bit.ly/eylzK6
As always sir, great read !!! But for some reason, I feel as though you are trying to convince yourself here as much as your trying to convince me… It seems to me that deep down you know the HARD fact; that there will be less and less to be proud of until the busy middle class gets organised, runs for office & gets busy in office !!! BTW , I sang here in the UK & was inspired to do something more than sing !