I admit to having been one of those people who were on the fence about the February 28th movement. I considered it a cosmetic and lazy middle-class approach to the very real problems this country has. I’ve had a violent change of heart this morning (not too late). Here’s what happened:
1: I read this blog post by Sarah Mitaru: [jusblackman.wordpress.com]
who reminded me that the anthem is in fact a prayer, and a very beautiful one at that. Anyone who goes to church and prays for themselves believing it changes things should have no problem taking part in the February 28 movement.
2: I watched this video: [www.youtube.com]
in which Derek Sivers demonstrates the very crazy human dynamics that power movements. “The first follower is the person who turns a lone nut into a leader.” Powerful stuff there; following is just as important as leading.
And finally, 3: I read the definition of ‘patriotism’: Patriotism is love and devotion to one’s country. A willingness to sacrifice for it. Google it.
Patriotism is as abstract as loving your wife/husband/girlfriend/boyfriend/family whatever. How do you demonstrate your love for someone? Usually in ways that are completely pointless to logical outsiders. You buy flowers, you mumble sweet nothings, and sometimes even declare your love in public for all to hear.
Patriotism is pretty much the same thing: you feel proud when our athletes win races, you get annoyed when people talk trash about Kenya (even though you sometimes know it’s true), you got pissed off when Uganda were misbehaving at Migingo, and when it gets really bad, you go to war and kill other people for your country.
Does all that stuff make sense when you look at it objectively? No. Even the boundaries that make countries up aren’t real – they only exist in maps. But people are willing to fight for those imaginary lines. That’s what makes a country stick together. I’m sure a lot more people agree that if Kenyans loved their country a bit more, a lot of the problems would cease to exist. We’d stop voting for greedy bastards and wondering why they’re stealing, for instance.
So, yes – singing the anthem out loud is abstract, it probably won’t change anything BUT that’s not the point. If a lot more of us were so damn proud to be Kenyan despite all the bullshit that comes with it, that’d be pretty good. If a lot more of us were willing to look silly in public singing an anthem for Kenya, that would be pretty good. If a lot more of us were willing to spare a couple of minutes praying for Kenya, that would be pretty good.
It’d be a start, then maybe, maybe, maybe – all the other crap would start to fall into place.
So, at 1pm today, suspend your usual cynicism and just sing the damn anthem. It may not change anything, but it won’t hurt anyone either. And thank you Sarah, for making me stop and think.
