What do you think about this soul cry people?
My aspiration is to be one of the builders of a world of equality, a world where diversity is respected and value for people's lives is paramount. A world where religion and culture are not used as weapons of dispute and destruction, where leaders serve and not steal, where everyone does not pretend to love each other but does so straight from the heart.
Friday, October 21, 2011
REVOCATION OF ''MEMBERSHIP'' OF NIGERIA BY A NIGERIAN IN ARGENTINA
What do you think about this soul cry people?
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Wangari Maathai: Celebrating The Unbowed ‘Crazy Woman’ By Njoki Wamai
Prof. Wangari Maathai did not need any introduction growing up in the eighties and early nineties. She was there already, in the news and in hushed conversations in our living rooms and market places. The strong dark woman in African prints and braided hair,speaking truth to power when no one dared question Moi.She was there even after Moi called her the crazy woman with insects in her head and sycophants in parliament chorused calling her a badly behaved woman and a divorcee who was a threat to Kenya's national security.
She was there in press interviews and run-ins with the establishment’s hired goons after graciously kneeling to plant a tree.
She was there, at home with grandmothers in villages urging them to plant more trees,as she was, dining with world leaders in exclusive locations explaining complex concepts of why they urgently need to address climate change.
The grey Monday morning she left us signified the mood that enveloped me and indeed Kenya and the world as we came to terms with the loss of yet another great non-conformist whose courage to turn her back on old formulas while inventing the future had left an indelible mark in Kenya and the world we live in.
Again the words of Thomas Sankara, the former revolutionary President of Burkina Faso rang true to the person that Wangari was: another ‘crazy’ woman who engaged in the politics of space at a personal and public level.
At a personal level she confronted patriachy refusing to be cowed into oblivion by her ex-husband, thereby affirming Laurel Thatcher Ulrich’s words that ‘well-behaved women seldom make history.’By Wangari’s refusing to conform as a ‘well-behaved woman’ in her private space she made history and expanded the public space for women and men at a national and international level in various spaces such as the academy, in politics and most importantly the ecological space which she was later feted for as a Nobel Laurent.
These instances of madness and non conformity have led to several legacies she left us on environment, women’s emancipation and politics.On the environment, her madness finally bore fruit when she recovered and secured our public spacessuch as Uhuru park, Karura forest and more recently our water towers: the Aberdare and the Mau complexfrom landgrabbers and corrupt politicians.Internationally, as the co-chair of the Congo-Basin fund she tirelessly campaigned to save the African water tower.
On local politics, she refused to conform to the politics of handouts in her Tetu constituency and left a legacy that is evident in the numerous development projects she initiated. At a national level, she stood by her convictions no matter where her ethnic group, religion or political party was, which cost her the Tetu Parliamentary seat in 2007 when she failed to support the Bananas/Yes team in the referendum.
On women rights, Wangari was a feminist par exellence, who exemplified the personal is political mantra from her days in the National Council of Women of Kenya, as a founder of the Green Belt Movement, to her role as Chairperson of Maendeleo ya Wanawake(MYWO) when she publicly initiated a campaign that supported Wambui Otieno’s bid for SM’s body.
Many ‘well behaved women’ who were beneficiaries of the patrimonial politics of Moi’s leadership refused to support Wangari as she fought for the rights of another ‘crazy’ woman and for a younger generation of Kenyan women who now enjoy these rights.
Embracing the legacy ‘crazy’ men and women
In conclusion, the most notable constant that enabled Wangari and Wambui to soldier on despite adversity and insulting labels such as as ‘mad women’ is their great love for humanity.
A love so great that their revolutionary legacies will be celebrated forever.They both exemplify Che Guevara’s assertion that ‘the true revolutionary is guided by great feelings of love. It is impossible to think of a genuine revolutionary lacking this quality. We must strive every day so that this love of humanity is transformed into actual deeds, into acts that serve as examples and as a moving force.’This is the simple act that these two daughters of Africa urge us to live for and in so doing leave our world a better place than we found it. Love our humanity.
Njoki is a Peace and Security Scholar at the African Leadership Centre (ALC) at King’s College, London.
Monday, September 26, 2011
Reviving 'The Activist' Blog.
I am going to have a very busy academic year as am back to the university doing my Masters. King's College London is a tough school of excellence and the African Leadership Centre is a tougher fellowship administrator. I have to combine so many rigorous activities and on top of this list is to revive 'The Activist' Blog, contribute to many online discussions on the blogshpere like I used to do and excel exceedingly in my studies.
I will take everything step by step. But it is much easier when one is sure of what to do and makes plans towards achieving them.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
You will always be a friend

When I said you will always be a friend, I meant it
When I said I could forgive you anything, it's from the heart
When I said I will always be there for you, it was not in vain
When I said you were special, yes in every way
When I said my dignity and integrity not negotiable, they are not
You said goodbye, not so much in words but it was understood
I kept my distance, I may do so forever
But one thing is certain; you will always be a friend
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Cats on Tuesday: England without my Cats

I have missed bragging about my cats!!! My sweet sweet Scofield and Garfield. I am off to school in England in a few weeks and taking them with me is not an option. My husband will be joining me in a few weeks and I wonder who will be in charge of my cats. Nobody for now. I choose not to worry about how I will sort this out yet because am trusting God and the Universe! My cats will be fine but will I be fine without having them snuggling next to me for the next one year?


They have being good kids. Socfield skin issue is still a big concern but am sure again that he will be fine. Hey all cat lovers on Gattina Cats on Tuesday... say hello to all my lovely purr angels!!!
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
The Shameless Quest
What a heart craves, it pursues
Shameless or not the game is on
Guilt and shame trapped in the bottomless pit
Forever unsurfaced
But it takes two to tango
This heart is shamelessly on the quest alone
This heart tangos alone it seems
As the other half remains unreachable
The shameless quest comes to a halt
The heart faces rejection
The best response ever to a shameless quest

