Peoples Resistance To Colonialism And Imperialism In Kenya

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People's Resistance to Colonialism and Imperialism in Kenya

Author : Shiraz Durrani
Publisher : African Books Collective
ISBN 13 : 9966114513
Total Pages : 126 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (661 download)

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Book Synopsis People's Resistance to Colonialism and Imperialism in Kenya by : Shiraz Durrani

Download or read book People's Resistance to Colonialism and Imperialism in Kenya written by Shiraz Durrani and published by African Books Collective. This book was released on 2018-08-03 with total page 126 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book looks at the third pillar of resistance to British colonialism peoples resistance, the others being Mau Mau and radical trade union movement. It brings together several aspects of peoples resistance to colonialism and imperialism before and after independence and includes resistance by nationalities, women, students, peasants and workers in what can only be described as peoples resistance. While Mau Mau and trade unions were essential in the liberation struggle, on their own they would have faced innumerable difficulties to achieve their goal. Peasants, nationalities, women, children and young people, students, independent churches, independent schools, all played a part in reinforcing the organized and ideology led resistance of Mau Mau and trade unions. Additional material is included to provide thought for reflections. The first two essays deal with the question of nationalities and with the contradictions between capitalism and socialism with the collapse of USSR. They point to the fact that that the struggle in Kenya influences, and is in turn influenced by, developments around the world. The next section is the presentation at the launch of Kenyas War of Independence in Nairobi on February 21, 2018. The final section contains solidarity messages from Shiraz Durrani, Abdilatif Abdalla and Kang'ethe Mungai at the event to commemorate and celebrate the revolutionary work of Karimi Nduthu held on March 24, 2018 at the Professional Centre in Nairobi. The Kenya Resists Series covers different aspects of resistance by people of Kenya to colonialism and imperialism. It reproduces material from books, unpublished reports, research and oral or visual testimonies. The three aspects chosen for the first three publications in the Series Mau Mau, Trade Unions and Peoples Resistance make up the three pillars of resistance of the people of Kenya.

Mau Mau the Revolutionary, Anti-Imperialist Force from Kenya: 1948-1963

Author : Shiraz Durrani
Publisher : African Books Collective
ISBN 13 : 9966189084
Total Pages : 155 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (661 download)

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Book Synopsis Mau Mau the Revolutionary, Anti-Imperialist Force from Kenya: 1948-1963 by : Shiraz Durrani

Download or read book Mau Mau the Revolutionary, Anti-Imperialist Force from Kenya: 1948-1963 written by Shiraz Durrani and published by African Books Collective. This book was released on 2018-08-03 with total page 155 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Very few countries hide or obscure the significance of their most important historical achievements. Kenya has managed to do so without any regrets or even a thought about the implication of such a major oversight in connection with Mau Mau Resistance. The reason for this underplay is not difficult to understand. The government that came to power at independence was not only not part of the Mau Mau movement which fought for land and freedom for working people, but actively opposed it. It sought and was given by the departing colonial power state power, land and freedom for its class, thereby sidelining the radical resistance movement and its activists. This elite then used its state power to ensure that the nation forgets its radical history which would have alerted future generations to the theft of their inheritance and country. This book provides essential facts about Mau Mau. It seeks to give voice to the Mau Mau resistance fighters. It is aimed at young people who were born after independence and who have been deprived of their historical heritage; it is also a tribute to those who played a part in the war of independence and in Mau Mau without whose contribution independence would have remained a dream. It seeks to restore Kenyas working class history of resistance to colonialism and imperialism. The Kenya Resists Series covers different aspects of resistance by people of Kenya to colonialism and imperialism. It reproduces material from books, unpublished reports, research and oral or visual testimonies. The three aspects chosen for the first three publications in the Series Mau Mau, Trade Unions and Peoples Resistance make up the three pillars of resistance of the people of Kenya.

Kenya's War of Independence

Author : Shiraz Durrani
Publisher : African Books Collective
ISBN 13 : 9966189025
Total Pages : 451 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (661 download)

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Book Synopsis Kenya's War of Independence by : Shiraz Durrani

Download or read book Kenya's War of Independence written by Shiraz Durrani and published by African Books Collective. This book was released on 2018-02-08 with total page 451 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Kenya's War of Independence restores Kenyas stolen history to its rightful place, stripped of colonial interpretations. In this expanded and revised version of his 1986 booklet, Kimaathi, Mau Mau's First Prime Minister of Kenya, Durrani covers Mau Maus resistance to colonialism and neo-colonialism and reflects on its ideology, organisation and achievements. He sees Mau Mau in the larger context of Kenyas war of independence and looks at the influence of organised, radical trade unions as the engine of resistance, linking economic with political demands of working people. Additional chapters document the post-independence resistance by the underground December Twelve Movement-Mwakenya. Durrani captures the dynamism of transition from colonialism to neo-colonialism: Imperialism replaced colonialism, African elites replaced White Settlers, neo-colonial government replaced colonial government. Resistance changed from the War of Independence to War of Economic Independence. Worker and peasant resistance is evident once again. History is on the march.

Liberating Minds, Restoring Kenyan History

Author : Nazmi Durrani
Publisher : African Books Collective
ISBN 13 : 9966189033
Total Pages : 203 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (661 download)

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Book Synopsis Liberating Minds, Restoring Kenyan History by : Nazmi Durrani

Download or read book Liberating Minds, Restoring Kenyan History written by Nazmi Durrani and published by African Books Collective. This book was released on 2017-03-22 with total page 203 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is my duty to take the message of revolt to other[s]. "is is the only way to liberate the victims of suffering and slavery, Nazmi Durrani quotes W.L. Sohan in this book. Resistance to imperialism in pre-independence Kenya by progressive South Asian Kenyans propelled the Kenyan liberation struggle to new heights. "They were active in almost every field, from publishing progressive newspapers to supplying arms and material to Mau Mau. Liberating Minds consists of biographies of progressive South Asian Kenyans written by Nazmi Durrani. Originally published in Gujarati in the 1980s, they are available here in English for the first time, together with the original Gujarati. Also included is Naila Durranis 1987 conference paper, Kenya Asian Participation in Peoples Resistance, while Benegal Pereira introduces Eddie H. Pereira (1915-1995) and his resistance letters to the Colonial Times Newspaper.

The Giriama and Colonial Resistance in Kenya, 1800-1920

Author : Cynthia Brantley
Publisher : Univ of California Press
ISBN 13 : 0520414543
Total Pages : 214 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (24 download)

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Book Synopsis The Giriama and Colonial Resistance in Kenya, 1800-1920 by : Cynthia Brantley

Download or read book The Giriama and Colonial Resistance in Kenya, 1800-1920 written by Cynthia Brantley and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2024-07-26 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Giriama of Kenya's coastal hinterland persistently resisted colonialism, and they were unreceptive both to Christianity and to Islam. In 1912 the British colonial authorities earmarked the Giriama as a key source of labor for the plantations Europeans were trying to develop along the coast. The Giriama, prosperous producers and traders, could not become wage laborers and maintain their successful economy, and the British demands upon this scattered people therefore were spontaneously rejected. Increased pressure increased Giriama recalcitrance. Finally, military action brought defeat to the Giriama, whose only weapons were bows and arrows and whose decentralization prevented coordinated resistance. They lost their best lands, paid a heavy fine, and had to contribute a thousand laborers to the Carrier Corps. But the British costs were also heavy. The coastal plantations failed, few Giriama ever became wage laborers, and the entire area became depressed economically. Cynthia Brantley explores the precolonial Giriama's political and economic system and their dynamic trade relationship with the coast of Kenya in an effort to explain why the Giriama were so determined in their resistance to British pressure. She shows that even when the political and social structures of a people seem weak, it is unlikely that the population will submit to changes that undermine the economy. Moreover, their very lack of a centralized political or religious organization made the imposition of foreign administration extremely difficult. The British won the war, but their victory was hollow. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1981.

Mau Mau the Revolutionary, Anti-Imperialist Force from Kenya: 1948-1963

Author : Durrani, Shiraz
Publisher : Vita Books
ISBN 13 : 9966804021
Total Pages : 155 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (668 download)

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Book Synopsis Mau Mau the Revolutionary, Anti-Imperialist Force from Kenya: 1948-1963 by : Durrani, Shiraz

Download or read book Mau Mau the Revolutionary, Anti-Imperialist Force from Kenya: 1948-1963 written by Durrani, Shiraz and published by Vita Books. This book was released on 2018-08-03 with total page 155 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Very few countries hide or obscure the significance of their most important historical achievements. Kenya has managed to do so without any regrets or even a thought about the implication of such a major oversight in connection with Mau Mau Resistance. The reason for this underplay is not difficult to understand. The government that came to power at independence was not only not part of the Mau Mau movement which fought for land and freedom for working people, but actively opposed it. It sought – and was given by the departing colonial power – state power, land and freedom for its class, thereby sidelining the radical resistance movement and its activists. This elite then used its state power to ensure that the nation forgets its radical history which would have alerted future generations to the theft of their inheritance and country. This book provides essential facts about Mau Mau. It seeks to give voice to the Mau Mau resistance fighters. It is aimed at young people who were born after independence and who have been deprived of their historical heritage; it is also a tribute to those who played a part in the war of independence and in Mau Mau without whose contribution independence would have remained a dream. It seeks to restore Kenya’s working class history of resistance to colonialism and imperialism. The Kenya Resists Series covers different aspects of resistance by people of Kenya to colonialism and imperialism. It reproduces material from books, unpublished reports, research and oral or visual testimonies. The three aspects chosen for the first three publications in the Series – Mau Mau, Trade Unions and People’s Resistance – make up the three pillars of resistance of the people of Kenya.

Trade Unions in Kenya's War of Independence

Author : Shiraz Durrani
Publisher : African Books Collective
ISBN 13 : 996611453X
Total Pages : 119 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (661 download)

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Book Synopsis Trade Unions in Kenya's War of Independence by : Shiraz Durrani

Download or read book Trade Unions in Kenya's War of Independence written by Shiraz Durrani and published by African Books Collective. This book was released on 2018-08-03 with total page 119 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is due to the success of the trade union movement in the national liberation movement that the colonial government suppressed prominent trade unions and attacked TU leaders like Makhan Singh, Fred Kubai, Pio Gama Pinto and Bildad Kaggia. It also passed on colonial laws to the independent Kenya government so as to ensure that future trade unions were forced to take the non-radical approach to meet worker needs. They thus created imperialist-oriented and led trade unions that bedevil working class politics to this day. There are valuable lessons to be learnt from the history of the militant trade unions in Kenya and also from understanding how colonialism and imperialism enforced changes that made the trade unions ineffective after independence. The selections in this book recall relevant events in the history of the militant trade union movement in Kenya and record the contribution that the trade union movement made to Mau Mau and to Kenyas war of independence. The Kenya Resists Series covers different aspects of resistance by people of Kenya to colonialism and imperialism. It reproduces material from books, unpublished reports, research and oral or visual testimonies. The three aspects chosen for the first three publications in the Series Mau Mau, Trade Unions and Peoples Resistance make up the three pillars of resistance of the people of Kenya.

Never Be Silent

Author : Durrani, Shiraz
Publisher : Vita Books
ISBN 13 : 1869886054
Total Pages : 280 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (698 download)

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Book Synopsis Never Be Silent by : Durrani, Shiraz

Download or read book Never Be Silent written by Durrani, Shiraz and published by Vita Books. This book was released on 2016-11-25 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “We will never be silent until we get land to cultivate and freedom in this country of ours” …so sang Mau Mau activists. The struggle for independence in Kenya was waged at many levels. Never be Silent explores how this struggle was reflected in the communications field. It looks at publishing activities of the main contending forces and explores internal contradictions within each community. It documents the major part played by the communications activities of the organised working class and Mau Mau in the achievement of independence in Kenya. The book contributes to a reinterpretation of colonial history in Kenya from a working class point of view and also provides a new perspective on how communications can be a weapon for social justice in the hands of liberation forces.

Witchcraft and Colonial Rule in Kenya, 1900–1955

Author : Katherine Luongo
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1139503456
Total Pages : 265 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (395 download)

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Book Synopsis Witchcraft and Colonial Rule in Kenya, 1900–1955 by : Katherine Luongo

Download or read book Witchcraft and Colonial Rule in Kenya, 1900–1955 written by Katherine Luongo and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2011-09-26 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Focusing on colonial Kenya, this book shows how conflicts between state authorities and Africans over witchcraft-related crimes provided an important space in which the meanings of justice, law and order in the empire were debated. Katherine Luongo discusses the emergence of imperial networks of knowledge about witchcraft. She then demonstrates how colonial concerns about witchcraft produced an elaborate body of jurisprudence about capital crimes. The book analyzes the legal wrangling that produced the Witchcraft Ordinances in the 1910s, the birth of an anthro-administrative complex surrounding witchcraft in the 1920s, the hotly contested Wakamba Witch Trials of the 1930s, the explosive growth of legal opinion on witch-murder in the 1940s, and the unprecedented state-sponsored cleansings of witches and Mau Mau adherents during the 1950s. A work of anthropological history, this book develops an ethnography of Kamba witchcraft or uoi.

Decolonization & Independence in Kenya, 1940-93

Author : Bethwell A. Ogot
Publisher : Ohio State University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780821410516
Total Pages : 292 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (15 download)

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Book Synopsis Decolonization & Independence in Kenya, 1940-93 by : Bethwell A. Ogot

Download or read book Decolonization & Independence in Kenya, 1940-93 written by Bethwell A. Ogot and published by Ohio State University Press. This book was released on 1995 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a sharply observed assessment of the history of the last half century by a distinguished group of historians of Kenya. At the same time the book is a courageous reflection in the dilemmas of African nationhood. Professor B. A. Ogot says: "The main purpose of the book is to show that decolonization does not only mean the transfer of alien power to sovereign nationhood; it must also entail the liberation of the worlds of spirit and culture, as well as economics and politics. "The book also raises a more fundamental question, that is: How much independence is available to any state, national economy or culture in today's world? It asks how far are Africa's miseries linked to the colonial past and to the process of decolonization? "In particular the book raises the basic question of how far Kenya is avoidably neo-colonial? And what does neo-colonial dependence mean? The book answers these questions by discussing the dynamic between the politics of decolonization, the social history of class formation and the economics of dependence. The book ends with a provocative epilogue discussing the transformation of the post-colonial state from a single-party to a multi-party system."

Key Points in the History of Kenya,1885-1990

Author : Shiraz Durrani
Publisher : African Books Collective
ISBN 13 : 9914992137
Total Pages : 209 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (149 download)

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Book Synopsis Key Points in the History of Kenya,1885-1990 by : Shiraz Durrani

Download or read book Key Points in the History of Kenya,1885-1990 written by Shiraz Durrani and published by African Books Collective. This book was released on 2022-07-15 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: History never dies. It is embedded in people's memories when books are burnt and children are taught false histories, imagined by false historians from near and far - says the author in this book. This is the context in which Key Points in the History of Kenya, 1885-1990 is published. This, the 4th in the Kenya Resists Series from Vita Books, brings together presentation points from several conferences and meetings on the history of Kenya. It also includes historical records on Kenya by Saleh Mamon and Ladislav Venys. Key Points highlights many hidden facts about the history of Kenya. References are included for those who wish to explore the history further. While these books and facts are readily available in many history books, they are not easily available to all people in Kenya and in a form that meets their needs. The book therefore aims to familiarise people with the history of Kenya. It seeks to keep people's struggles, sacrifices and history alive. The author hopes that it will be a weapon in the sense that Bertolt Brecht meant when he said: 'Hungry man, reach for the book: it is a weapon'. That is the aim of the series, Kenya Resists too.

The Kenya Socialist Volume 7

Author : Shiraz Durrani
Publisher : African Books Collective
ISBN 13 : 9914970141
Total Pages : 35 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (149 download)

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Book Synopsis The Kenya Socialist Volume 7 by : Shiraz Durrani

Download or read book The Kenya Socialist Volume 7 written by Shiraz Durrani and published by African Books Collective. This book was released on 2021-01-12 with total page 35 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The year 2023 saw one of the latest genocides in modern times - that of the people of Palestine by Israel. People born in the last or this century find it difficult to understand how such genocides in the past were allowed to take place at all, so barbarous an action this is. Yet the current genocide continues unabated, despite the millions of people around the world demanding an end to it. This exposes the real nature of capitalism and imperialism. It is in this situation that issue no 7 of The Kenya Socialist focuses on the Palestine Question. Articles include The Palestine Question, Claim to be Pan-Africanist? Until Everyone is Free, Zionism and the Myth of Democracy. The title of the Editorial is ‘We are all Palestinians’. Another article examines why ‘the struggle for Palestine is the struggle of working people worldwide’, showing the class and imperialist background to the genocide. The issue ends with solidarity statements from Kenyan organisations and a book review. It carries a number of illustrations on the struggle.

Pio Gama Pinto

Author : Shiraz Durrani
Publisher : African Books Collective
ISBN 13 : 9966189041
Total Pages : 393 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (661 download)

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Book Synopsis Pio Gama Pinto by : Shiraz Durrani

Download or read book Pio Gama Pinto written by Shiraz Durrani and published by African Books Collective. This book was released on 2018-10-19 with total page 393 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pio Gama Pinto was born in Kenya on March 31, 1927. He was assassinated in Nairobi on February 24, 1965. In his short life, he became a symbol of anti-colonial and anti-imperialist struggles in Kenya and India. He was actively involved in Goa's struggle against Portuguese colonialism and in Mau Mau during Kenya's war of independence. For this, he was detained by the British colonial authorities in Kenya from 1954-59. His contribution to the struggle for liberation for working people spanned two continents - Africa and Asia. And it covered two phases of imperialism - colonialism in Kenya and Goa and neo-colonialism in Kenya after independence. His enemies saw no way of stopping the intense, lifelong struggle waged by Pinto - except through an assassin's bullets. But his contribution, his ideas, and his ideals are remembered and upheld even today by people active in liberation struggles. This book does not aim or claim to be a comprehensive record on Pio Gama Pinto, just the beginning of the long journey necessary to record the history of Kenya from an anti-imperialist perspective. It introduces readers to voices of many people who have written about Pinto to build up as clear a picture of Pinto as possible. In that spirit, it seeks to make history available to those whose story it is - people of Kenya, Africa and progressive people around the world.

Race and Empire

Author : Chloe Campbell
Publisher : Manchester University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780719071607
Total Pages : 228 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (716 download)

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Book Synopsis Race and Empire by : Chloe Campbell

Download or read book Race and Empire written by Chloe Campbell and published by Manchester University Press. This book was released on 2007-06-15 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Race and Empire tells the story of a short-lived but vehement eugenics movement that emerged among a group of Europeans in Kenya in the 1930s, unleashing a set of writings on racial differences in intelligence more extreme than that emanating from any other British colony in the twentieth century. The Kenyan eugenics movement of the 1930s adapted British ideas to the colonial environment: in all its extremity, Kenyan eugenics was not simply a bizarre and embarrassing colonial mutation, as it was later dismissed, but a logical extension of British eugenics in a colonial context. By tracing the history of eugenic thought in Kenya, the books shows how the movement took on a distinctive colonial character, driven by settler political preoccupations and reacting to increasingly outspoken African demands for better, and more independent, education. The economic fragility of Kenya in the early 1930s made the eugenicists particularly dependent on British financial support. Ultimately, the suspicious response of the Colonial Office and the Prime Minister, Ramsay MacDonald, backed up by a growing expert concern about race in science, led to the failure of Kenyan eugenics to gain the necessary British backing. Despite this lack of concrete success, eugenic theories on race and intelligence were widely supported by the medical profession in Kenya, as well as powerful members of the official and non-official European settler population. The long-term failures of the eugenics movement should not blind us to its influence among the social and administrative elite of colonial Kenya. Through a close examination of attitudes towards race and intelligence in a British colony, Race and Empire reveals how eugenics was central to colonial racial theories before World War Two.

Trade Unions in Kenya's War of Independence

Author : Durrani, Shiraz
Publisher : Vita Books
ISBN 13 : 9966189092
Total Pages : 119 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (661 download)

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Book Synopsis Trade Unions in Kenya's War of Independence by : Durrani, Shiraz

Download or read book Trade Unions in Kenya's War of Independence written by Durrani, Shiraz and published by Vita Books. This book was released on 2018-08-03 with total page 119 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is due to the success of the trade union movement in the national liberation movement that the colonial government suppressed prominent trade unions and attacked TU leaders like Makhan Singh, Fred Kubai, Pio Gama Pinto and Bildad Kaggia. It also passed on colonial laws to the independent Kenya government so as to ensure that future trade unions were forced to take the non-radical approach to meet worker needs. They thus created imperialist-oriented and led trade unions that bedevil working class politics to this day. There are valuable lessons to be learnt from the history of the militant trade unions in Kenya and also from understanding how colonialism and imperialism enforced changes that made the trade unions ineffective after independence. The selections in this book recall relevant events in the history of the militant trade union movement in Kenya and record the contribution that the trade union movement made to Mau Mau and to Kenya’s war of independence. The Kenya Resists Series covers different aspects of resistance by people of Kenya to colonialism and imperialism. It reproduces material from books, unpublished reports, research and oral or visual testimonies. The three aspects chosen for the first three publications in the Series – Mau Mau, Trade Unions and People’s Resistance – make up the three pillars of resistance of the people of Kenya.

Abina and the Important Men

Author : Trevor R. Getz
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN 13 : 0190238747
Total Pages : 238 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (92 download)

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Book Synopsis Abina and the Important Men by : Trevor R. Getz

Download or read book Abina and the Important Men written by Trevor R. Getz and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2016 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is an illustrated "graphic history" based on an 1876 court transcript of a West African woman named Abina, who was wrongfully enslaved and took her case to court. The main scenes of the story take place in the courtroom, where Abina strives to convince a series of "important men"--A British judge, two Euro-African attorneys, a wealthy African country "gentleman," and a jury of local leaders --that her rights matter.--Publisher description.

A Struggle of sixty-two days

Author : Shiraz Durrani
Publisher : African Books Collective
ISBN 13 : 9914970125
Total Pages : 133 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (149 download)

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Book Synopsis A Struggle of sixty-two days by : Shiraz Durrani

Download or read book A Struggle of sixty-two days written by Shiraz Durrani and published by African Books Collective. This book was released on 2024-02-14 with total page 133 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Annual General Meeting of the Labour Trade Union of Kenya in Sept 1936 fixed Oct 1936 for implementation of the eight-hour day .. In December 1936, the Union gave notices to employers that all wages should be increased by 25% from April 1937. The strike began on 1 April, 1937. It was a complete strike. A strike-committee was formed, picketing was organised, a free kitchen was started .. the decision was popularised through handbills, meetings in residential areas, works-discussions and public announcements (preceded by ringing of a large bell), in the the main thoroughfares of Nairobi, and daily mass meetings. The campaign created a new spirit among workers. The employers were at last compelled to reach a settlement. They agreed to wage-increase of 15-22%, to an eight-hour day and reinstatement of all workers. The workers resumed work on 2 June, 1937. - Makhan Singh (1969) Thus ended the longest, and the most successful, strike in the history of Kenya. But the sacrifices, the actions and the reality of the strike for workers is not captured by history books. Nor are the organisation by the East African Trade Union Congress and the role of its leader, Makhan Singh, fully understood. In going on strike for sixty-two days, the workers showed their industrial and political power, unmatched to this day. Shiraz Durrani's A Struggle of Sixty-Two Days is a welcome addition to a growing backlist of drama texts that draw on the rich and often hidden history of East Africa. A Struggle of Sixty-Two-Days sets itself apart from the tradition of historical plays before it by eschewing the use of a singular heroic figure to centre the drama. Instead, the play deliberately delivers the texture of the lived realities, skills and experiences of the workers who made a success of the longest and most consequential strike in the country's history, but also acknowledges the collaboration and support they drew from the people against the backdrop of the imperialist, racist and colonial era The 1937 strike would not only deliver an eight-hour working day as a right, besides wage increases, but would also be the seeding for mobilising the people of Kenya to challenge injustice and launch the fight for freedom. It is a struggle that pits the might of imperialist capital against the survival instincts of the oppressed and their quest for justice. The scenery and dialogue transport the reader back to 1937, but its echoes still ring true in continuing present-day clashes between labour and exploitative capital. - Kwamchetsi Makokha