Comrades Book House

03/10/2024

100 days on!

Storming parliament on June 25th was collective catharsis for the youth, a feeling that Frantz Fanon refers to as people reclaiming their state and country.

Ukombozi Review is an archive & reservoir of memory of this uprising.

23/08/2024

In the heartland of Ngarariga village near Nanyuki town, I finally met Wamuyu Caroline who we have been conversing on social media. Wamuyu is a poet, and has just published her debut collection of poetry titled, “Echoes of the soul.”. Despite having a disability due to a rare condition known as spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), Wamuyu has found solace and strength in poetry and variety of writings. She has several unpublished articles, including her autobiography, hearkening to the common adage that “attitude determines altitude”. Wamuyu’s poetry collection is self – published. A copy goes for KES 600. Kindly reach out if in need of one.

16/08/2024

https://ukombozireview.com/2024/08/14/revolution-is-in-the-air-in-kenya-maandamano-edition/

Revolution is in the Air in Kenya: Maandamano Edition

The uprising led by the youth in Kenya was, and still is, unprecedented, literally out of the blue as it were. It has changed Kenya, as it has elsewhere in Africa. It will no longer be business as usual in this country. The youth have risen to the demands of the times and have taken centre stage in the politics of this country. It is a historical moment, quite interesting times, or as it was said by the English poet, William Wordsworth during the French Revolution – "Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive. " This issue of Ukombozi Review gives vent to the various forms of creative energy in this uprising in form of protest poetry, music, infographics, articles, art/cartoons, images, much more. Protest poetry is in particular opportune, being the most poignant and urgent forms of creative outbursts.

At best, Ukombozi Review serves in this issue as an archive and reservoir of memory of this uprising. Memory in itself is both an inspiration and active combatant in the struggle; looking back, now, and in the future. Ukombozi Review hoists high the flag of this youthful uprising. This uprising has coalesced various sites of people’s struggles. People’s struggles will continue in various sites. Revolution is in the air, not if, but when. Welcome to the 18th issue of Ukombozi Review, the bumper Maandamano edition. The website has also been revamped, including a print copy that can be read online, or downloaded. The struggle continues!

The uprising led by the youth in Kenya was, and  still is, unprecedented, literally out of the blue as it were. It has changed Kenya, as it has elsewhere in Africa. It will no longer be business as usual in this country. The youth have risen to the demands of the times

18/07/2024

Every revolution produces and marshals its own art and images.

24/06/2024

What just happened?

1
When the dust is still in the air
When the feet of the youth
Stomping, dancing, hustling
Like Mau Mau on a warpath
In the forests of cities and towns
Stomping away dead past
Stamping a bold new future
It’s time to ask ourselves
What just happened?

2
The books say that revolution is a process
That it is spread over years
Across generations
Sometimes hopeful, sometimes desperate
At times one step forward
Other times two steps backwards
Slow, measured, frustrating
Usually by known suspects
Career politicians and activists
This one threw away the rulebooks

3
When thousands of youth
Pour into the streets of cities and towns across the country
Faceless, organic, leaderless
From different fronts
Like swarms of bees
Seemingly un-coordinated and un -organised
Mobilising themselves through social media
Their hot blood swelling their veins
Shouting Hashtag Reject Finance Bill 2024!
A minimum penalty
Against the goal of an unjust society
The goal that has eluded past generations
The revolution is in the air

4
Past generations of activists watch in studious silence
We’ve seen this before, they say
From the Mau Mau in the 50s
KPU protests in the 60s
After the murder of JM Kariuki in the 70s
December Twelve Movement
Mwakenya
1982 coup attempt
Pro – democracy protests in the 90s
NARC Revolution in 2002
New Constitution in 2010
The road has been long and winding
Our hearts are now consoled, they say
Our children are now all grown up
It’s their time now to take over the mantle
It’s an inter-generational struggle

5
But there is a slight difference in this one
The dictatorship then was clear
White colonial regime!
Kenyatta and Moi!
Figureheads easy to rally against
The liberal world closing in
Okaying the resistance
With buzz words of good governance, accountability and transparency
The leadership of the revolution then was visible
This one the leadership is invisible
Smartphones are their guiding stars
Social media is their battlefield
The keyboard warriors have come out!

6
Youthful revolutions are sparking across Africa
In Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, South Africa
By the pen, by the ballot, by the gun, by social media
Any which way, freedom must come
Dub poet Mutabaruka would put it

7
But wait!
The revolution better be careful of betrayal
Consuming itself and its children
It happened to Mau Mau
To Thomas Sankara
In the North African uprising
The so – called Arab spring
In Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt
Guinea, Niger, Sudan
The youth arose in masses
Regimes fell
Dictators were thrown in jails, silenced or in exile
The youth were united in the revolution
But they had not organized their leadership
Beneficiaries of the revolution were varieties of similar despots

8
When the youth
Inspired by immortal spirits of freedom
Seizing the times
Damning the powers that be
Taking over the streets
Sparking all over carnivals of resistance
Contemplative glances are necessary
Of past and present spirits wounded in betrayals
Of young souls lost unsung
As political barons shared the spoils of power
Dissipating revolutionary energies
Cautions are necessary

9
Yes, revolution is a carnival of resistance
But carnivals also need organization
To harness and safeguard this carnival
Just in case power falls on the streets
There will be combatants to pick it up
Not the same varieties of political opportunists and traitors
This has happened before
It is happening all over the world
It can happen in this revolution
The revolution needs security

By Njuki Githethwa (Sunday, 23/06/2024)

07/05/2024

https://ukombozireview.com/issue-17/beyond-protest-to-liberation-music/

".....Protest music can as well be grounded in a movement capable of sharpening contradictions and heightening the need and urgency of an uprising. But protest music becomes enduring and transformative over time when it is emboldened by a deeper sense of spirituality, or an ideology, or alternatives and propelled by a movement for transformative social change – the fight and build stratagem. Protest music not cushioned by a movement becomes the plaintive cry of a lone artist, gets hoarse and slips into disillusion and despair of the music and the artist. Liberation music on the other hand is done for the sake of personal and collective redemption. It endures as the personal quest to transform oneself and society is transcendent, never ends, only changes the repertoire and the beat..."

When Bob Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2016, he was hailed and ridiculed by many critics in equal measure. That Bob Dylan music was even considered for the award was an accomplishment by itself. It was a subtle recognition of the brand of protest music he has championed over th...

18/04/2024

There are some articles in our literary archives from the 1990s on the Literary Forum of the Sunday Nation.

One was by Barrack Muluka on December 5, 1999, titled: “Whither the Marxist Writer?” The article was a build – up of an earlier one Muluka had written on March 15, 1992, titled: “What Literature for Africa in post – communist era?” These articles followed that of Leteipa Ole Sunkuli on July 21, 1991, titled: “ The rout of the Reds and Socialist Writers.” The gist of these articles, and many of such, was that socialist writers in Africa, and elsewhere, “will have to look elsewhere for ideological nourishment.” For Muluka’s article, I wrote an unpublished rejoinder titled, “Look around, the Marxist writer is still there.”

Do ideological writers and writings still matter? Who were/are ideological writers and writings? Content and form of ideological Writings.

These debates are still valid to date. We shall continue them on Saturday, 27th April, 2.00 – 5.00 p.m, at the iconic MacMillan Memorial Library in Nairobi’s CBD. There will no lectures, just conversations amongst friends, comrades and literary enthusiasts, interspersed by poetry, book readings, exhibitions and launches, open mic, much more. Karibuni!