Dear Swes, I woke up last night calling out your name. Sweeeeeeeeees… The world knew you as Binya, but for me, you will always be my beloved big brother whom we nicknamed Sweswe—though to this day, I am not sure who started it or why. My childish voice traveled noisily everywhere seeking you. It was just the way we used to do it when we were kids—shouting to the rafters, like I was trying to reach you somewhere far off in that huge, expansive setup that was home in Naks growing up. I wanted my voice to meet you, to embrace you, and to shove you—in that specific way in which siblings love and irritate each other in one sweeping movement. Last evening, I spoke to an acquaintance who lost her brother in December 2022. She told me that she only managed to breathe calmly again in December 2025, when her friends and loved ones marked her birthday by spoiling her with love and gifts. I quietly told her: I can relate. There is nothing as horrible as losing a sibling. You miss them, you fiercel...
Some nights, the sky feels utterly starless, doesn't it? A heavy blanket of darkness where you lose the felt memory of the warmth of the sun or the gentle light of the moon. I have been walking through one of those starless nights lately, a season when my own heart is learning the clumsy dance of holding grief while composting old wounds that have scarred over and healed. It was in this quiet darkness that a gift arrived, not with a loud announcement, but like a steady, gentle flame. That gift is Faith Njahĩra Wangarĩ’s newly published ebook, Love, Grief and Healing: Your companion through loss and discovery . It is a bright torch, and its light is guiding the way home to myself. I am honoured and touched to know Faith, my fellow feminist sibling, and so it is a profound experience to receive the gift of her words and reflections. Her book is a generous, raw, honest, and profoundly moving account of her healing journey, which validates the path I am on to be more pres...
Images By Jerry Riley Words By Sikiliza “ …Unadamu mkononi na asali mdomoni Matendo yako ni maovu matamshi yako ni matamu Nimeomba haujadhamini nimeiimba hausikii Nimebishabisha nimeitana na mlango haufungui …” There is blood on your fingers honey flows from your tongue As you conceal the boundaries stones While am not looking you stab me in the back with my own spear I play my song but you’re not dancing I pray for you but you won’t believe My knees are aching from nights awake and tears for you … ___________ … ukweli hauna kifo ukweli hauna mwisho Na wewe umejaa vitisho Ukweli hauna mwisho …” Truth never dies Truth has no endAnd all you have are threats Truth has no end” ____________ Powerful words from Eric Wainaina’s single Ukweli meaning Truth in his latest album called “Twende Twende” loosely translated to mean let’s move with some frantic urgency. This song was commissioned as a call for justice in the mysterious death of Father Anthony Kaiser who was reported as having commit...
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