The Voice Of The Maua Mau, By John Ngugi

He creates tension and division between the Natives and the Napikawans (whites) to illustrate the relationship and encounters between the colonizer and colonized. He breaks the traditional stereotypes that Natives are savage by limiting the perspective to the Natives. From the Natives’ point of view, the reader is able to understand that the Napikawans formed treaties with the Natives, introduced new diseases, and scam a majority of their land. Fools Crow incorporates Pikuni’s words and theology with English vernacular to represent the intermingling of cultures. Welch deliberately excludes the translations of the Pikuni’s words to represent the resistance and rebellion of the Natives against European ways. It also illustrates the struggle on Napikawans to communicate and understand the colonized’s culture. On the other hand, Welch, a Native American, writes Fools Crow in English to depict mimicry and altering one’s culture to adapt to European standards. Welch uses oral storytelling to preserve the Pikuni’s culture as the Napikawans oppress the Blackfeet way of life. Welch effectively shows the first encounter between Napikawans and Natives from the indigenous perspective. As a descendant of Natives, I felt Welch brought awareness of Native life pre and post European contact. In Western society the indigenous people are viewed as savage and wild creatures who only smoke tobacco and

Unfortunately, Rachel Price’s narrow-minded attitude remains stagnant into late adulthood. The Equatorial where Rachel’s “proudest achievement[s]” lie alludes to the imaginary line that divides up the world, establishing how Rachel’s accomplishments lie on a unjust foundation (462). Fittingly, her “own little world” (462) is upheld by her “standards of white supremacy” (28).The word “world” suggests to the reader the illustration of a European explorer charting the globe for unknown lands to redeem as his own. It frames the painting of colonialism and segregation to the reader, as Rachel “can run [her world] exactly however [she] please”, further alluding to the image of a white colonist dictating and exploiting the lives of “local boys” and “punish [them] with a firm hand” (462). Rachel’s self-appointed responsibility of policing her African staff with violence only gives more weight to her internalized ignorance, prolonged by her stay in the Congo and unwavered by the years. Unlike her siblings’ change of heart over the years, Rachel’s exposure to Africa only reiterates her initial belief of how “these people here can’t decide anything for themselves” (480), suggesting how she sees them as lesser than her, as a docile child who remains incapable of assertion. All in all, Rachel’s unfazed ignorance

There was a great question asked by numerous individuals in the eighteenth century with what happens to people’s lives when their country is a colony of another country. This was very important to Americans when they were being ruled by Great Britain, and even to this day it remains important when countries find themselves controlled by more powerful outsiders. But what is colonialism? Colonialism occurs when one nation takes control of another. Kenya’s experience as a colony of Great Britain gives us more of an idea of what being colonized meant both to the people being controlled and to those who control them. Although it seems hard to believe, Kenya was created by the Europeans and generally this had a positive on effect on Kenyans because it began development.

In Matigari, Ngugi wa Thiong’o elevates Matigari’s character to a mythic level within the context of a post-colonial Kenya; Matigari’s legendary status is significant because he gains power over his oppressors and demonstrates that a regular person has the power to overthrow authority. The novel takes place in postcolonial Kenya, ruled by Prime Minister Jomo Kenyatta, and depicts the wealth gap and oppression which resulted from Kenyatta’s rule (Parsons). The stories of Matigari’s rebellious actions, which circulate and develop throughout the novel, transcend reality and inspire others to make their voices heard against the oppressive elite.

Throughout history, Africa has been subjugated to multiple waves of its that clash at its innate sense of oneness. No more had one wave caused as much damage, than that of the disaster of the Trans Atlantic trade of Africans. This disaster has been unequivocally understood as one of the worst acts against humanity in recorded history. One of the many scholars that have come to study the traumas left behind by this episode in history, has been Mama Marimba Ani. Marimba Ani coined the term Maafa to encapsulate this field of interest. Maafa is the Kswahili (Swahili) word for disaster. In studying the Maafa, a focus is concentrated on the effects that the European ideal of capitalism has had directly on Africa as a continent, but also gives attention to the factors that led to this ideal just like how any analysis of history looks at the cause and effect of an event.

The representation of anti-colonialist struggles and post-independence milieu stem from the creation of artificial Africas, that perpetuates prejudices, and stock narratives throughout dominate media and film. The Kitchen Toto follows the journey of Mwangi, the son of a preacher who is killed for opposing an independence movement. The film portrays African’s as malicious, corrupt, and in need of colonial saving by depicting the Mau Mau, the independence group who killed Mawangi’s father, in a negative light. They are shown in the night with machetes, forcing people to swear allegiance, and killing their countrymen without sufficient reasoning. A Good Man in Africa depicts Africans as malicious, corrupt, and in need of colonial help as well. During a presidential election, the favored candidate, Sam Adekunle is attempting to get the land back that Britain conned his father from. His tactics come off as corrupt, and malicious; in actuality, Britain is attempting to keep control the Kinjanja’s economy. This story is representative of neocolonialism, and reflects Nigeria’s struggle to profit from their oil reserves after they were declared free from Britain. Anti-colonialist struggles and post-independence milieu are presented as malicious, corrupt, and in need of colonial saving through narrative strategies in The Kitchen Toto, and A Good Man in Africa.

While I have read this book before for a previous class, I felt that it was important to reread this book. Since first semester of my first year, my knowledge has increased, giving me a better understanding. In chapter one the author discussed how the birthing process would have taken place if Foua had given birth in Loas. The Hmong understands of the pregnancy and labor process is hard to try and understand why compared to the United States understanding of child bearing. What I would consider a simple pregnancy craving, Foua believed that the if she didn’t fulfill that craving, the baby would suffer a consequence. For example in the book it states, “If she craved chicken flesh and did not eat it, her child would have a blemish near its ear.”

One of hardest parts of helping the people was not being to provide everything the people needed or watching young children die of malaria and starvation. There were robberies and the outbreak of the Somali War in 1992 that caused an increase in violence between tribes. Even when talking about the low points, they are not detrimental, just bumps in the journey. The time spent in Kenya is not scared by these, but rather revealed the Kenyans personalities. She explained they were filled with kindness and hospitality, always helping each other. For people having so little, they were so giving she explained. “If a grandma down the road needed help, a family would send a child to go take care of her,” giving an example of the unfathomable kindness. Through these trials, it showed Henrietta how to “reach out to others and be aware of their needs.” It was through the trying times that a greater appreciation was generated for the Kenyans.

In the novel Segu, Maryse Conde beautifully constructs personal and in depth images of African history through the use of four main characters that depict the struggles and importance of family in what is now present day Mali. These four characters and also brothers, by the names of Tiekoro, Siga, Naba, and Malobali are faced with a world changing around their beloved city of Bambara with new customs of the Islamic religion and the developing ideas of European commerce and slave trade. These new expansions in Africa become stepping stones for the Troare brothers to face head on and they have brought both victory and heartache for them and their family. These four

Namakaokahai was married to a mighty sorcerer, Aukelenuiaiku. Upon meeting him she was impressed by his warrior spirit, showed him all her forms and taught him her magical powers. But easily swayed, Aukelenuiaiku was seduced by Namakaokahai’s younger, beautiful sister, Pele. Aukelenuiaiku betrayed Namakaokahai by taking Pele as his wife. She is often seen by people as an old lady with a dog. People

Dr. Veraswami describes U Po Kyin in the same way as the native’s describe the British merchants, “You do not realism the influence of that man in the district. No one dare speak against him.” (149) This fear that Dr. Veraswami has is because he is a victim of British imperialism involving racism by both Ellis and U Po Kyin. This influence of demining other people just because of their heritage was one bad quality of British imperialism at influence U Po Kyin.

In regions of colonization, a significant issue that emerges in the native community is a disruption of identity resulting from an influx of colonial European ideals. As a result of colonization, the native identity is subjected to threats of marginalization by the invasion and domination of European cultural practices and language. The detrimental impact of colonization on the indigenous people of Rhodesia in Nervous Conditions is illustrated by the dominance of the British Empires colonial European identity, which is perpetuated by the conception that “Englishness” will civilize the population. In Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions, the natives of Rhodesia, Tambu and Nyasha, illustrate a hybrid identity crisis as a result of imperial oppression over the language and educational system of the nation. The role of English language and culture, imposed by colonial education, emphasizes the movement for natives to abandon their indigenous cultural and linguistic roots. The mental colonization of the colonized by the means of English language, education, and European cultural values results in a state of displacement, alienation, and identity confusion in the individual.

Cornelius’s coming to terms with his own relationship to the massacre eventually leads the readers to figure out their own relationship to the notion of genocide. The central theme and question that drives the storyline, what really happened during the Murambi Massacre, causes readers to closely follow along with Cornelius as he too tries to piece together these memories in order to build up a history of the Rwandan

The desire to conquer land that was previously unexplored has existed throughout history. This desire forced many indigenous societies, who were usually dominated technologically, to adapt to the teachings and overall system of the ‘superior’ conqueror nation with destruction as the only alternative. This causes a major impact on how a certain society functions, even after seeking independence from the foreigners. The rise and fall of indigenous societies can be analyzed through various media. Chinua Achebe is a novelist specializing in African literature, and this essay deals with the themes regarding colonialism in one of his many novels. In

Though Kenya’s impoverished and underdeveloped conditions were certainly not highlighted in the film, I believe it is important to observe. These conditions are best displayed by the state of the primary school. In the film, students were forced to sit 5 students to a desk and were crammed into a tiny room. Moreover, the Kenyans were highly grateful for the concept of free education. This highly contrasts the state of American schools, which are typically well funded. Americans are used to the concept of free education, so much so, that people now desire free higher education. I believe this theme is important to note because it is the key difference between the Kenyan and American