Activate Yourself by
Watiri Mwangi
A difference is often made by one
person who is fed up and is willing to act.
I love my sleep like Garfield loves lasagna, well maybe not
as much. So dreams are the focal point of my sleep, sometimes good dreams sometimes
nightmares. However, it has reached a point that I want to make my dreams a
reality. So maybe I tell myself to go back to sleep so that I can live my dream
again. However, I am constantly haunted by my dream for a better and brighter
Kenya. It is quite disheartening and disappointing to wake up to a different
Kenya, so I turn the sheets and continue to dream. Reality, as it is has become
such a painful excursion that I do not wish to relive. Every person resonates
to Martin Luther King Jr. and his dream. I look at my motherland and home Kenya
and envision multiple opportunities for its growth and opportunity.
Whenever I share this I am condemned and shaken with the
reality that majority of us have resigned to the status quo. The all too common
statements and counter statements that ‘You can’t change the system’ are the
inflictions I undergo because of my ‘wild notions. ’ I am told that my dreams
and visions for a better Kenya are a mirage, unreal. People have become so
focused on the status that is ‘reality’, rising inflation, high fuel costs,
poverty, corruption and negative ethnicity are the order. Issues such as
corruption and negative ethnicity have become the disorder that is the order of
the day. However, everything seems to stoop to a grinding halt when I envision
a better Kenya but the constant backlash hits me harder. That I should face
reality and accept the status quo makes me even more resilient. Resilience
becomes an all new driving force, an engine that drives my need for change.
 |
| Art like this, in the streets of Nairobi, is slowly being accepted as a form of activism by both the public and the authorities |
No one ever changed the course of history by accepting the
status quo. I am switching from dreaming to a new dimension of realization, the
realization of my dreams. The realization that all this can be understated as
mere political theory and illusion is mine to behold. This is particularly with
the increasing polarization that is product of ethnic politics. Everyone seems
to accept the sharp schism that engulfs the Kenyan national fabric. All that
people state in their hypocrisy is the all too common statement, ‘We Are One.’
It seems that all we do as a country is talk, talks after talks are the norm. No
one wants to act, walk the talk rather, the fear of challenging the reality
that is negative ethnicity. I chose to start with myself to realize the Kenya I
want.
I chose to defy the
status quo.
I make a conscious choice to be part of a movement, a movement for positive
change. It is the responsibility of every individual Kenya to actively
participate in the Change that we want. To make this conscious choice of not
just talking about issues but also acting to influence policy issues. Providing
positive criticism through activism is one of the main approaches to be
undertaken. I chose to dream no more but to undertake a new course of action,
activism to the change movement. The back stops with every Kenyan individual
towards holding the Kenyan leadership accountable, ensuring a system of checks
and balances. Activism as a movement becomes the new approach for us to
consciously effect the change we want in Kenya. Activate yourself today.
This blogpost was compiled by Watiri Mwangi. She is one of
the founding members of BAMU and is a third year Political Science student.
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