IT'S A KENYAN THING!

It's not a Luo thing,

That I'm full of me,

And esteem myself this highly!

It's not a Kikuyu thing,

That I see & take every opportunity,

To have more & improve me!

It's not a Kalenjin thing,

That I'm a lean, mean,

Racing machine!

It's not a Maasai thing,

That I'm this iconic,

And seem to tower over everyone else!

It's not a Luhya thing,

That I never tire to say hi,

And always seem to invite you over for tea!

It's not a Kamba thing,

That I'm this full of life,

And full of colour!

It's not a Mijikenda-down-at-the-Coast thing,

That I never seem to be in a hurry,

And always seem to be cool, calm and collected!

It's not a ‘Them’ or ‘Us’ thing,

Nor is it an ‘Our’ or ‘Their’ thing!

I am all these things and more

Because ….

It's a Kenyan thing!!

Courtesy of WordTracer

To Be African

I take this opportunity to salute StoryMoja for coming up with this idea for writers to express what they believe it means "To Be African". Second, I salute the winners of the #ToBeAfrican Twitter contest... Soul_fool , Savvykenya  & Woozie_M... you guys did good. Wanted to post your photos but...haven't seen it anywhere..sorry! (I'm watching out for your compiled To Be African tweets, so please get to it soonest!!) There were some great insights posted (via tweets of course) .. I cant post them here..I don't think I have the right to so I'll just post my entries. Follow this link to read more To Be African Tweets  to read these insights that I believe might teach you, us a thing or two about what it means To Be African  & lead you to appreciate being African.

The following were my entries...they in a way form a 'poem' of sorts.. Enjoy!

No matter how old you never retire,
Despite the odds supporting each other,
You doubt me? Check how Africa rode on Ghana tires!

This is To Be African!

In adversity being resilient,
In oneself being confident,
who cares about being competent?
Sometimes to change being resistant

Is To Be African!

The men are strong
And the women beautiful,
to live for long,
because love is bountiful

Is what it means To Be African!

To love & work with nature,
All children being the community's responsibility to nurture,
staying true to culture

Is what it means To Be African!

Always optimistic,
In everything being artistic,
punctuating every event with music
And in beliefs being a little mystic

Is what it means To Be African!

To move in rhythm,
To the beat of the drum,
The buzz of the Vuvuzela or even just a hum

Is what it means To Be African!

To always know you can,
Keeping your cool even under the blazing hot sun,
No matter your tan,
As a community or just one


Is what it means To Be African!

The skin tone being black,
Of knowledge lack
And of time unable to keep track


Is NOT what it means To Be African!