Liberating Minds, Restoring Kenyan History PDF Download

Author: Durrani, Nazmi
Publisher: Vita Books
ISBN: 9966097414
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 203

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Book Description
“It is my duty to take the message of revolt to other[s]. This 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 Durrani’s 1987 conference paper, “Kenya Asian Participation in People’s Resistance”, while Benegal Pereira introduces Eddie H. Pereira (1915-1995) and his resistance letters to the Colonial Times Newspaper.

Author: Nazmi Durrani
Publisher: African Books Collective
ISBN: 9966189033
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 203

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Book Description
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.

Author: Shiraz Durrani
Publisher: African Books Collective
ISBN: 9966189041
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 393

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Book Description
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.

Author: Durrani, Shiraz
Publisher: Vita Books
ISBN: 996613381X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 39

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Book Description
The Kenya Socialist exists to: Promote socialist ideas, experiences and world outlook; Increase awareness of classes, class contradictions and class struggles in Kenya, both historical and current; Expose the damage done by capitalism and imperialism in Kenya and Africa; Offer solidarity to working class, peasants and other working people and communities in their struggles for equality and justice; Promote internationalism and work in solidarity with people in Africa and around the world in their resistance to imperialism; Make explicit the politics of information and communication as tools of repression and also of resistance in Kenya. This first issue covers several areas that remain neglected in public discourse in Kenya. The study of class remains one such topic and Kimani Waweru’s article, Class and Class Struggle in Kenya, fills this gap. Waweru also contributes a briefing on ideology as a weapon of oppression or liberation. He will continue his theoretical explorations in the next issue with an article on gender and women’s oppression and liberation. History is never far from any liberation struggle. Nicholas Mwangi looks at Mau Mau and the origin and meaning of the term ‘Mau Mau’. Njoki Wamai’s contribution is her presentation at the All African Peoples’ Conference in Accra in 2018. Linking up with the launch of the Ukombozi Library, the question arises, ‘What is the role of information in liberation?’ Shiraz Durrani answers some question from Julian Jaravata on various aspects of information. Finally, Durrani looks at the challenge by Wakamba wood carvers to the information embargo under President Moi.

Author: Shiraz Durrani
Publisher: African Books Collective
ISBN: 9914970184
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 468

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Book Description
Guerrilla Incursions into the Capitalist Mindset is an unprecedented collection of over 60 essays, interviews, petitions and letters as well as poems and short stories flowing from the pen of Shiraz Durrani. It is a treasure trove of truths that has so far been obscured by the information vacuum created by capitalism and its sister, imperialism. By reprinting out-of-print material, and bringing to light limited access information, this book supplies a new language for understanding and articulating our realities. This collection not only recovers and recollects the remnants of previous displaced history but also makes alternative ideas and experiences available. Remarkably, it sets the record straight by establishing a historical link between the arrival of the trade union movement from India through Makhan Singh, who began calling for independence in 1950, to the Mau Mau war of independence in Kenya led by Dedan Kimaathi, and the subsequent clash between socialism and neo-colonialism, which claimed the life of its champion, Pio Gama Pinto.

Author: Durrani, Shiraz
Publisher: Vita Books
ISBN: 9966189092
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 119

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Book Description
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.

Author: Durrani, Shiraz
Publisher: Vita Books
ISBN: 9966804021
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 155

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Book Description
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.

Author: Shiraz Durrani
Publisher: African Books Collective
ISBN: 9914970141
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 35

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Book Description
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.

Author: Nsah Mala
Publisher: African Books Collective
ISBN: 9914970168
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 113

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The lyrical pessimism of Nsah Mala's poetry presents a world characterized by violence, inhumanity and destruction, a world that is sadly too familiar. While many of the poems address contemporary issues in the poet's native Cameroon, much of the human-inflicted damage they describe is not limited to 'Cam-Kingdom'. Although much of the content is negative, many of the poems contain questions. These questions express the cynical voice of this politically committed poet, but behind them lies the distant possibility of a better version of the world in which values of love, peace and unity reign: 'Don't we know,' the poet asks, 'that violence is out of fashion?' - Professor Nicki Hitchcott, University of St Andrews, UK

Author: Shiraz Durrani
Publisher: African Books Collective
ISBN: 9914970125
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 133

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Book Description
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