Mass murder and the American Dream. It turns out that a lot of what was said in the media about the Columbine shootings was simply wrong according to this story by Andrew Gumble in the Guardian. It turns out that the killers were not resentful nerds out to punish jocks, their aim was [...]
The London G20 Protests
I get back into London tomorrow evening and really hope to be on time to witness some of the G20 protests. There is something very ironic about the coverage on the destruction of property by some of the protesters since if there are real destroyers of wealth, they are in the very buildings the crowds [...]
Kenya still burning
Have pasted in four opinion pieces below that have run in the East African and elsewhere in the last month. Trying to restart blogging but my brain feels leaden and uncooperative.
Ethnic strife: How Kenya’s politics was tribalised
This piece appeared in the East African in the second week of January 7, 2008 as Kenya continued to burn.
Ethnic strife: How Kenya’s politics was tribalised
It is Friday, December January 4. I walk through the lobby of the Serena Hotel in Nairobi. Packs of politicians and their entourages hurry past. Most have mobile phones into [...]
Kenya is burning
Everyone reading this blog must know that Kenya is aflame. We have burnt churches with dozens trapped in them, we have seen a peaceful election with the highest turnout in our history end as farce and the number of displaced citizens has risen to more than 100,000. I wrote a piece last [...]
Kenya’s Coming Fire?
I grew up being told that Luos were clever but addicted to showboating; Kambas were clean but stupid; the Maasai brutal and backward; people from the Coast were lazy; while we Gikuyus were ambitious and a tad dishonest. In a Kenya where the president’s marital wars impact national politics more than his economic policy, it [...]
George Bush and Superman: Naked and Powerless?
Powerful people are not powerful: they are fumblers and jivers as we used to call them back in the day. I say this after two events: George Bush’s antics during the G8 and the latest Superman movie.
Consider this slice of the off-the-cuff conversation between Bush and Blair in Russia:
Bush: I think Condi [US Secretary [...]
Let us get back to belief shall we? Again. And memory in writing.
From: MMK
To: BW, BK
Hey, take a look at the excerpt below drawn from an essay by Eugene McCarraher called The Incoherence of Hannah Arendt: Breaking the marriage between heaven and earth
‘Arendt’s intellectual debut was a dissertation on Augustine’s conception of love. It’s a convoluted and repetitious monograph, bathed in the brooding earnestness of Existenz philosophy. [...]
Some Email Considerations on the African Bush and its European Saviours
Below are some emails that I exchanged with one of my closest friends (PK) just after reading James Miller’s great essay, ‘Carnivals of Atrocity: Foucault, Nietzsche, Cruelty,’ (in Political Theory, Vol. 18, #3, August, 1990.) It is a bit of a switch from the kind of digressions and rants that have appeared here in the [...]
The Unintended Consequences of African Christianity to Politics and Power
I have just come across an amazing columnist called Spengler who writes for the Asia Times. It turns out that the African church which was the subject of one of my recent posts has been exercising Spengler’s mind with provocative and interesting results. His focuses on the role of belief in political life, especially in [...]
The Tragedy and Puzzle of the Massacre in Northern Kenya
While the headlines are dominated by London’s terrorist attacks, Kenyans have been grappling with the massacre of over 80 people in Marsabit in north-east Kenya. Local press coverage has been extensive reflecting the empathy that I believe most Kenyans feel for the victims and survivors of these attacks. However, little has been said [...]
The Escalation of the Will: Western Power in an Age of Symbols
Since September 11 2001, the March 2004 Madrid bombings and last week’s attacks in London, the West, led by America, has been in a war of wills. It little understands the nature of this war but has waged it fiercely with unparalleled military and economic might. The opponents, the remnants of al Qaeda [...]
My Granpa Went to Burma and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt
Have you ever wondered why the British have so much concern for Africa and Africans that they would launch commissions of inquiry into the continent’s troubles? Well so have I, which is why an upcoming Oral History conference on ‘changing memories of World War Two’ offered me a glimpse into the heart of British [...]
The Vampire State and the Moral Dimensions of Kenyan Citizenship
Kenya is many things and many peoples, a dizzying blend of communities and individuals; not a single entity with a common understanding of itself. A friend of mine recently asked: How does Kenya arrive in your village, at your doorstep? As a friend or a foe? In the case of the Pokot, or the [...]