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Unveiling Africa’s Narrative: Harnessing Innovation, Media and Technology for Positive Storytelling

 







Venue, iHub, Nairobi. Date, 8th December 2023. This is ‘An Immersive Event Including a Panel Conversation and a Live Extended (XR) Experience. The interesting bits: a virtual 3D/360 tour of Machakos County – the governor’s office, the famed wooden carvers who apprenticed from the Makonde tribe… still photos that move… tech wizardry. Panellists: Mercy Wanjiku, Brian, Mwihaki, Wanjiru Koinange, Walid Kilonzi… iHub, Too Early for Birds, Paukwa, Book Bank Trust… storytellers using different mediums… orature, theatre, hearth, books, immersive experiences…

Stories with rhythms and which have our own sense of storytelling… that takes us back to happier times, either in digital or social media fireplaces as people are now in virtual spaces… How can media and storytelling reshape the narrative of Africa?

By design, stories out there are told in such a way that supress Africans… we have to have intentionality in how we tell our stories. For instance, Kenyan history -1900s – has Europeans being mentioned by three or four names, while Africans are referred to as ‘chief’, ‘warrior’, native’…

It’s interesting on how there is emphasis on how others  look at us Africans when it comes to narratives about Africa… there is more power when we tell our stories without caring about what others think of us… if we can support each other, say, by having more black funders, before getting out there…

That quote about who tells the story of the hunt… we live in a globalised world, with tools that are not made by us… that less than 4% of content on the internet is generated by Africans… for instance, initially Skype wasn’t made to recognise black faces as it’s facial recognition was modelled after whites, basically erasing the black person… we need not get mad, but active in shaping our narration. A case in point being how we told the stories of the Dusit terror attack (the humanity side), away from what was told by international media such as the New York Times…

Our history is more than what the Europeans call history… for instance, Somalia is a nation of poets, away from its portrayal as a failed state with the fall of the Siad Barre regime… it traded with other nations long before Vasco da Gama ‘discovered’ us… that Kenyans – unconsciously or consciously – fashion ourselves around storytelling, including our greetings… ‘Mambo?’, ‘Story?’

What can we do with the media to firm up our sense of identity? Focus on telling the stories that exist, away from the obsession on what others are thinking about us that is decolonisation. Digitise and make public the missing bits of our history. For instance, what was so and so grandmother doing when the big moments of independence were happening? Such and such. We have to insert our own stories – both negative and positive – to achieve a more holistic telling of our history.

That tools must be responsive to the people. For instance, a website is a modern library as opposed to social media content that vanishes with time… and which improves African content, more so, as AI does not build on social media but what is available on the internet (websites), hence we have to weaponise this … that digital has to be complemented with analogue – such as printed books – so that no one has to be left behind. That a Kenyan alphabet had to be developed to reduce ‘othering’… A for Avocado…

Again, that vexing question of what makes something African- an original African story… That you can do Netflix and ‘chai’ – two truths can exist at the same time – rather than being fixated on the same ‘Maasai aesthetics’ as the original African/Kenyan story. That my experience is my experience, and my reality is my reality… more so, as a ‘born-tao’… hence the ‘National Dress’ project being a non-starter… rather, we can agree on what an original Kenyan story is… ‘smokie-pasua’, ‘mutura’, ‘Ngoma rubber shoes from Bata’, ‘KDF – the dough product’…

That storytellers have to amplify their stories and their roles in telling stories… For instance, be loud that you are a producer and works towards this (with the Imposter Syndrome plaguing a good number of Creatives)… That they have to maintain good relationships with others to access more opportunities… That they shouldn’t gate keep as the Creative world is quite small…

That storytellers have to tell stories that represent the Kenya I know… That they have to just start, getting better as they tell more and more stories… That they should have fun while at it, while also letting go of everything they think they know so that they can learn more… that they have to trust their guts… and use what they have… that as a Creative, you are enough and should always tell your story the way you tell it as there is always an audience for you. Lastly, as a Creative, be bold enough to stand on your own cognisance… policy, capacity building, building a market…


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NB: Meanwhile, I have a small ask:- I am running a campaign that will enable me launch my two books in February, end, 2024. I humbly ask of your donations of 20KES/20Kshs/20bob, towards this. The campaign is dubbed #20BobSanaa. Thanks in advance. You can also support by liking and sharing this content, or by buying these books using the following links:

‘A Funeral Dress for Nyasuguta’ available at: https://nuriakenya.com/product/a-funeral-dress-for-nyasuguta-by-mark-mwangi/

‘Love Told, Poetry Souled, Family Bold’ – available on Amazon Kindle at  http://shorturl.at/hzALY

Buy Good Till Number: 9080911, Gatere Mwangi
Send Money: 0708 276 622, Mark Gatere


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