148 posts
Wanjikusblog - Wanjiku's Two Cents. - Tumblr Blog
Game recognize game.
A moment of conviviality between John Carlos and Charles Asati who was part of the quartet that won 4×400m relay gold at the 1972 Munich Olympics (Safari Park Hotel, May 12 2023).
John Carlos he of the Mexico podium protest was in town for the 4th edition of the Absa KipKeinoClassic. Carlos who last visited in the 1970s, reminisced especially on his friendship with Ben Jipcho who passed away in 2020. Carlos remembered the 1972 Olympic silver medalist in the 3000 metres steeplechase as an inquisitive and cultured man with whom he enjoyed an easy rapport.
Peter Norman, Tommie Smith, and John Carlos (medal ceremony for the 200m, 1968 Mexico Olympic Games in Mexico City.
A triumph of human will against all odds.
A world away from her wartorn country of Ukraine, Yaroslava Mahuchikh thrilled the crowd on her way to setting a WL of 2 metres in the high jump (Kipkeinoclassic, Saturday May 13 2023).
Unyama, ukatili, na uhasama.
In what appears to have been a ritual killing, 15 year old Ibrahim Katana a student at Port Reitz Jr Secondary School was murdered and his body with its eyes gouged out dumped on a Mombasa beach.
Unlike animals which kill for survival, people kill for all sorts of malicious reasons. Suffice it to say that the mystery of who killed Ibrahim Katana will likely remain unresolved. The 15 year old high school junior was last seen leaving his Mikindani home to go frolick with friends on Good Friday April 7 2023.
Waloyo yamoni. We have overcome this storm, wind, spirit. An extraordinary song performed at London's Cadogan Hall in the Lan'go language of Uganda and Southern Sudan. Mr Bolden of the Angel City Chorale starts things off with a powerful solo performance that will give you the chills.
Restoring Regina Twala to her rightful place in history.
Regina Twala is one of those towering intellectuals that you never hear about. But now, thanks to the efforts of Stanford historian Joel Cabrita, the story of Regina Twala is finally hitting the newsstands.
In her book, Written Out: the silencing of Regina Twala, Joel Cabrita examines how both systemic racism and systemic sexism and their gatekeepers, conspired to disappear from public consciousness one of the 20th century's most important thinkers.
In many ways, Regina broke the mould of what an African woman is supposed to be. She was the second black woman to graduate from the University of Witwatersrand, and the first to graduate in social science in South Africa. She was also a popular newspaper columnist, a role in which she examined the misogyny as well as social and racial disparities of her society.
Regina's active politicization began in 1948 following an election that ousted the more intellectually minded Jan Smuts, and changed the course of South African history by ushering in D. F. Malan and his nationalists who'd install 40 years of racist apartheid government in South Africa.
As an IDP from rural Natal courtesy the Native Lands Act of 1913, Regina's new life in Johannesburg allowed her to rub shoulders with the city's intelligentsia. Regina became intimately acquainted with the likes of Nelson Mandela, she travelled the continent as well and met with Pan-Africanists such as Ghana's Kwame Nkrumah.
With South Africa's political space shrinking every day, the country's black elite massed to the African National Congress (ANC) where they took to protesting against apartheid. In 1952, Regina was herself arrested for participation in the non-violent resistance movement. Shortly thereafter, Regina left South Africa for neighbouring Eswatini where she remained until her death from cancer in 1968.
But Regina wasn't just a political activist, she was also a talented researcher and academic. As the recipient of a Nuffield grant, Regina pursued anthropological research into Swati women, their response to cultural evolution, and the weaponization of African culture with a view to keeping women in their place.
And like all true revolutionaries, Regina had her crosses to bear. She was constantly buffeted by two forces; the ignorance and chauvinism of her fellow Africans, and the envy of so called liberal white academics and mentors. The latter either resented that she'd outgrown their patronage, or stole her work. Athropologist Hilda Kuper for instance, effectively quashed the publication of Regina's final work titled "A study of Swati women." Swedish historian Bengt Sundkler on the other hand, plagiarized Regina's research on indigenous Zionist churches and published it as his own.
But whatever she endured in life, Regina remained true to her ideals. Even whilst in exile she was still working to bring about social change. In Eswatini, Regina became one of the founders of that country's party politics, she confronted royalists and criticized the excesses of the powerful, but she also quickly realized that Sobhuza (the paramount chief of Eswatini who'd become the world's longest reigning monarch) had no intention of expanding democratic space for ordinary Swazis.
The "let's cut off our noses to spite their faces" crowd.
Chappelle, spot on as always.
"if they're black, its a gang, if they're italian, it's a mob, and if they're jewish, it's a coincidence and you should never talk about it."
Word!
those who drained me of my empathy get no more of me
Mwalimu.
Julius Kambarage Nyerere (13 April 1922-14 Octiber 1999).
Often referred to by the hypocorism "Mwalimu," Julius Kamabarage Nyerere was Tanzania's founding father, major force behind modern Pan-Africanism, premier anti-apartheid exponent, opposer of white supremacist governments in Southern Africa, patron of African freedom movements, graduate of history and economics, peace mediator, elder statesman, thinker, philosopher, diplomat.
Samples of Nyerere's life's work.
In this 1996 interview with Charlayne Hunter-Gault, a then 74 year old Nyerere was still as sharp as ever. Mwalimu discussed amongst other issues, the problem of absolute power as vested in the hands of minorities and his mediation efforts in the Great Lakes region following Rwanda's 1994 genocide.
Recalling the achievements of an unassuming legend.
August 9 2022 marked 10 years since the 800m WR was set in extraordinary style, by an extraordinary athlete, before a fantastic crowd at the London Olympics.
Andrew Osagie and Rudisha. The lanky Maasai warrior whose elegant running style has been described as poetry in motion, paced Osagie to a last place finish that would have won the British athlete gold at the three previous Olympics (Thursday August 9 2012).
Widely regarded as the best race of the London 2012 Olympics, the men's 800 metres assembled a cast that will never be seen again. And in fact, of the men who lined up on that famous August evening, only Rudisha would return to defend his title at the next Olympics in Rio.
Such was the pace that was set by the greatest 800m runner ever, that he pulled the rest of the field to 7 Personal Bests, 3 National Records, and 1 World Junior Record.
But make no mistake about it, Rudisha knew beforehand that he was going to produce something special on the day. He said as much in the warm-up area in the presence of Kip Keino, as well as his younger teammate 17 year old Timothy Kitum.
Then a youngster himself at only 23, Rudisha advised Kitum to run within himself and not to attempt to follow the breakneck pace that Rudisha was about to throw down. Said Rudisha to Kitum, "I’m going to break the world record today and if you follow me you will die."
Toxic people.
Toxic people see your boundaries as revenge on them and think that you're nothing but a problem, when in reality, it's their toxic or abusive behaviours that led to those boundaries in the first place. They will never take accountability for their own actions, and they become angry, resentful, and hateful when you no longer accept the abuse, mistreatment, disrespect, rudeness, cruelty, or controlling behaviours. This is not revenge. It is part of self-care and recognizing your worth. When people feel free to hurt you, and do it over and over again with no remorse, they are showing you who they are, and that they aren't ever going to change.
(Taken from a post shared on Quora).
The face of evil; pathology of a genocide.
https://href.li/?https://link.medium.com/InByu0Vxcnb
Whoever heard of such a thing as criminalizing the collection of rainwater?
We can't allow the government to control our essential resources.
The movie "Hotel Rwanda" highlighted amongst other issues, the limitations of undermanned and underfunded UN peacekeeping forces. In this scene, General Roméo Dallaire is holed up at the Hôtel des Mille Collines where he and a handful of UN troops attempt to protect Tutsi civilians from frenzied interahamwe who've just murdered 10 Belgian peacekeepers.
Celebrate each age you only live once you know.
