The Street Is My Pulpit by Mwenda Ntarangwi

Author:Mwenda Ntarangwi [Ntarangwi, Mwenda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, General, Anthropology, Cultural & Social, Sociology of Religion, Music, Genres & Styles, Rap & Hip Hop
ISBN: 9780252098260
Google: Lj4bDAAAQBAJ
Barnesnoble:
Goodreads: 27219291
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
Published: 2016-05-06T00:00:00+00:00

VIONGOZI WA KESHO: YOUTH CHANGING THE NARRATIVE OF PLACE

It has almost become a given that youth in Kenya are considered leaders in waiting. The common phrase used when public pronouncements are made about youth is “viongozi wa kesho” (tomorrow’s leaders). With increased numbers of youth in public spaces, along with interest and abilities in new media and technology, however, this perception is changing to “viongozi wa leo” (today’s leaders) (Ban 2014). UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, in a speech in New York to youth, confirmed this: “People usually say young people are leaders of tomorrow but I have a different view. I know that young people are also leaders of today, already” (2014). The prominent role played by youth as today’s leaders is already visible in Kenya’s neighbor Tanzania, where, as ethnomusicologist Alex Perullo notes, youth have influential positions in their communities: “In the music economy, youth are prominent in radio and television, working as announcers, deejays, technicians, managers and, in a few cases, owners” (2011:32). The same scenario is observable in Kenya, where youth dominate many FM radio stations, television stations, and newspapers.

With increased use of technology as well as the emergence of social media as a major part of everyday communication, especially in urban areas, Kenyan youth have found important sources of livelihood and social engagement. Juliani’s slogan of “Kama Si Sisi ni Nani?” confirms that youth have a big part to play in all aspects of life in Kenya today. They do not have to wait until tomorrow to show leadership, they are leading today. In his song “Kama Si Sisi” from Mtaa Mentality, Juliani says:

Zitaendeshwa na nani ka si sisi?

Zitanunuliwa na nani ka si sisi?

Kutabadilishwa na nani ka si sisi?

Simaanishi mwingine ni wewe na wewe na mi

Who’ll drive them if not us?

Who’ll buy them if not us?

Who’ll change things if not us?

I mean none other than you and I.

Juliani is playing a key role in shaping the future of his community and the belief that youth in Kenya possess what it takes to make an immediate difference in their own lives as well as the lives of others runs through much of his music. Mtaa Challenge programs have already started to provide a different narrative not only about youth agency but also place. Youth are providing new ways of describing such places as Kibera, often considered “the largest slum in Africa” (Yates 2011). Writing about its history as a settlement for Sudanese soldiers, Timothy Parsons starts his essay by stating that Kibera “is a place of over-crowded, substandard housing with unreliable water, poor sanitation and minimal social services” (1997:87). This narrative is the most dominant one regarding Kibera, drawing US celebrities and European tourists alike who themselves reemphasize the prevalent narrative.3 The focus in these descriptions is what Kibera lacks and what is wrong with its infrastructure and facilities, rather than its potential, assets, and resources. In the first Mtaa Challenge competition, however, some youth from Kibera, calling their team Chocolate City, provided a different narrative in their entry video for the 2013 Mtaa Challenge competitions.

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