Africa, Economy, Essays, Politics, Socio-cultural

Injustice. Everywhere.

Brenda Wambui

The phrase “new year, new me” cannot be said to apply to the year 2015 – for it appears that it will be a continuation, and perhaps a crescendo, of the gross inhumanity we experienced in 2014.

Nigeria has suffered yet another onslaught from the terror group Boko Haram, who have killed an upward of 2,000 people in the town of Baga. Many complained that the attack did not garner nearly enough public attention and outrage, as compared to the attack on the offices of Charlie Hebdo in which 17 people, mostly staff members of the magazine, were killed. A … Read More

Africa, Essays, Writing

The Year In Literature

Brenda Wambui

“and when we speak we are afraid our words will not be heard nor welcomed but when we are silent we are still afraid. So it is better to speak remembering we were never meant to survive”

Audre Lorde

These are the works that spoke to us the most in 2014. [Click the title, in bold, to go to the respective piece.]

How NOT To Approach the #MyDressMyChoice Conversation

by Olivia Kidula

“The nature of these attacks stems from the entitlement to women’s bodies. For so long women have been viewed as property, extensions of men and not their own … Read More

Essays, Politics, Security, Socio-cultural

The Security Laws (Amendment) Bill 2014

Brenda Wambui

In Kenya, we have a knack for knee jerk reactions to our problems and over reliance on legislation whenever things go wrong, especially with regards to our security. We have experienced several terror attacks from Al-Shabaab in the past four years, since our entry into Somalia, which have culminated in terror attacks in Mandera, Wajir, Lamu, among many other areas. The antidote to this, we have been made to believe, is a security amendment bill that has been proposed to parliament.

On December 11, 2014, the Parliamentary Committee on National Security and Administration (PCNSA) sent the Security Laws (Amendment) Bill, … Read More

Africa, Essays, Politics, Security

The Militarization Of Kenya

Brenda Wambui

On September 5th 2014, Uhuru Kenyatta caused a social media (and traditional media) standstill when he wore army fatigues for the first time in his presidency. All kinds of things were said: he looked “devilishly handsome”, “presidential”, “they fit him much better than his usual suits, he should get this tailor to make his suits”, “look at how cool my president is”, “oh my God you guys see how much swag he has”, and many others. He has done so at least once again since. This is a first for a Kenyan president: his predecessors have only worn their … Read More

Essays, Socio-cultural

How To Be A Kenyan

Brenda Wambui

There comes a time when one is called to great things. One of those things is being Kenyan. How does one become Kenyan, you ask? You have come to the right place.

Religion: Praise God? Amen! It does not matter where you are, who you are with, or what their religious beliefs are, discussions about the wonders and glory of God are always welcome, especially since Kenya is a Christian nation. In a country as confusing as this one, where each day does its best to drive you mad, the only thing that can keep you sane is carrying your … Read More

Essays, Gender, Legal, Sexuality, Socio-cultural

Women and The Law: A Spotlight On Recent Kenyan Legislation

Brenda Wambui

This past weekend, I was fortunate to attend the second Atieno Project Unconference and learn about how the law affects women, especially bills and acts written with women in mind, such as The Protection against Domestic Violence Bill (2013) and The Reproductive Health Care Bill (2014). The discussion was lively and informative, and there were parts of both proposed pieces of legislation that stood out to me as outlined below.

The Reproductive Health Care Bill (2014)

This Senate Bill is for an Act of parliament to provide for the recognition of reproductive rights, to set the standards of reproductive health, … Read More

Economy, Essays, Politics, Security, Socio-cultural

My Land Is Not Kenya: The Folly Of Patriotism

Brenda Wambui

You only got one mama

You only got one pa

You only got one life to live

No matter who you are

You can go the whole world over

Every city has its dawn

But everybody liveth has one place where he was born

And mine is Kenya, so warm and wild and free

You’ll always stay with me here in my heart

My land is Kenya, right from your highlands to the sea

You’ll always stay with me here in my heart, here in my heart.

Good for Roger Whittaker, who sang this song. It is normally used to … Read More

Africa, Essays, Politics, Security, Socio-cultural

Kenya: A State Of Perpetual Fear And Chaos

Brenda Wambui

From Wednesday 18th June to Friday 20th June 2014, I got to experience life in Kakuma, at the refugee camp. A couple of bloggers and I went there courtesy of UNHCR to commemorate World Refugee Day, and each day, we had opportunities to interact with the host community, the Turkana, and the refugees, who are of more than 13 nationalities, and are about 150,000 at the moment.

Every morning, between 8 – 9 am, a lorry would arrive full of people displaced from their home countries, and they would head to the UNHCR offices to register themselves. Many of … Read More

Essays, Internet, Media, Sexuality, Socio-cultural

Outrage Is The New Black: On Vera Sidika and The Campus Diva

Brenda Wambui

This essay was written before the occurrence of the Mpeketoni Attack. We as Brainstorm extend our deepest condolences to all those affected by the attack, and to Kenya as a whole.

Outrage Pornography: Memes, news articles, TV segments, email forwards, or other forms of media that are designed to invoke outrage. This is especially true for political-related topics. Viewers of outrage porn often become addicted and spend many hours per day trying to seek new outrage highs.

Many Kenyan citizens of the internet seem to constantly be on the lookout for things to be outraged by. We are professionally furious. … Read More

Africa, Economy, Essays, Politics, Socio-cultural

Architects Of Our Own Despair: Thoughts On Poverty

Brenda Wambui

“Once poverty is gone, we’ll need to build museums to display its horrors to future generations. They’ll wonder why poverty continued so long in human society – how a few people could live in luxury while billions dwelt in misery, deprivation and despair.”

Mohammed Yunus

It is easy to think of poverty as a thing that once solved, will lead to unending human prosperity. We just need to find its source and cut it off. Only that poverty has several causes, and once you begin to think about it, it begins to seem like a hydra: when you cut off … Read More