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Written by Mariana Chokaa
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Tuesday, 17 June 2008 |
The killing fields of Cote D’Ivoire! How could that be so? How did a country so famous for its economic prowess become known as one of the many 21st century sites of murder? The killing in Cote D’Ivoire was systematic and in most cases based on ‘if’ the perpetrator felt that the victim was a supporter of Allasane Outtara.
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Written by Peter Idwasi
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Monday, 09 June 2008 |
News filtering out of South Africa is troubling to say the least. People from other Africans countries are under attack here. And it is not a new phenomenon.
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Written by Peter Idwasi
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Thursday, 29 May 2008 |
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After a ten-hour flight from Zurich, I was happy to land in Johannesburg. Dozens of minutes crawling through the immigration queue and I was finally in the front of counter marked “Other African States,” my passport was stamped and I happily walked over to the baggage-claim area. |
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Written by Wanjiru Mbure
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Tuesday, 22 April 2008 |
A full discloser of my name crisis is necessary lest my past names come back to haunt me. Part of my teen rebellion took the form of taking up the “English” name of Lucy, which, later, I vehemently disowned after a long process of decolonizing the mind.
My parents, in the spirit of Afrocentrism decided to give all their children African names. The result? I have one female name and two male names. The fact that I have two male names doesn’t really bother me, but I must say not being able to keep all my names if I choose to marry, is quite disturbing.
Growing up, the concept of hyphenated names was completely alien to me. That is, until I enrolled for a class with a media studies professor with a hyphenated last name.
Another professor of mine has in the past described the process of considering a last name change as a “feminist moment,” before deciding to use the power of the hyphen. Unlike my professor, my personal struggle with the last name change is not so much a “feminist moment” but a reaction to several observations of my Kenyan upbringing.
In my early dating, I often rehearsed in my mind how my name would sound if I married my boyfriend. Wanjiru Karagu, Wanjiru Mutula, WanjiruTowett. I would laugh like a child at the thought of taking up a man’s name, being someone’s wife and rearing little Karugas, Mutulas or Towetts.
In my gender socialization, the possibility of keeping my last name or using the power of the hyphen was non-existent.
My last name-change crisis is spawned by a few observations. To begin with, we live in a society that tells us that family names belong to men and only they have the right to give family names to non-relative females. It is well-known that in cultures that prefer sons over daughters, the need to continue with the family name is often cited as a concern.
If the ownership of the last name was afforded to women, women like I could also add our family names to those of our children in addition to the first and middle names dictated by society.
Is marriage not a union of two families, two individuals and two identities? If so, children should encompass a duality in their identity with names that signify the identities of both parents – unlike the last name that automatically comes from the father.
In my next observation, the naming system at least in the Kikuyu culture gives the husband first priority in naming children from his side of the family. In this day and age, with fewer children being the norm, unless the married couple has four children, two boys and two girls, the woman’s side of the family will not get a name to their credit. In my family, my father’s side scores 3-1.
Hyphenated last names may be the only way to even out the male privilege even though I am a little hang up about the fact that the last name I am trying to keep is my father’s not my mothers. I fancy the idea of creating a new last name – like Muragu (Mutula-Karagu) or Wanwett (Wanjiru-Towett). How avant-garde!
Now comes the hard part. Is our society ready to accept hyphenated last names? If you look at the last wedding invitation you received or the tax forms or passport application forms, there is only one male title Mr. now compare that to Ms. often taken as a “feminist stance” as you have refused to declare your marital status, Miss (the female in transit) and Mrs. (the hitched female who has a “maiden” name and a “married” name).
I often say that English is a colonizing language, yet I find the punctuating power of the hyphen rather enticing. Within it lie my hopes of keeping my last name and perhaps passing on a part of me to my progeny.
Wanjiru Mbure is a PhD student in Communication at the University of Missouri, Columbia. |
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Written by George Gathigi: Afrika News Blogger
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Saturday, 15 September 2007 |
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A few days ago I had an interesting discussion on ethnic identities with a friend. Some inscription on a t-shirt worn by a fellow Kenyan at Ohio University that overtly stated that he is a Kikuyu spurred the discussion. My friend seemed uncomfortable with this expression.
I saw and still see no problem with one expressing ones roots in such ways, unless there are tensions at that particular point. Our discussion just reminded me the baggage that we carry by the virtue of belonging. |
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