The Kenyan Experiment : Episode 3

Will This Be A Problem Presents Episode 3:

Forms of Protest III : The Serpent God of Lake Victoria

In this episode, we will look at the religion of Mumbo, a serpent god who was believed to reside in Lake Victoria and in the sun. This religion would spread among the Luo and the Kisii and challenge the colonial structures and religion.

You can listen to it here, or on your favorite Podcast app.

The new episode of The Kenyan Experiment Podcast.

Available now on  most major podcast apps.

*if it's not populated on search on the apps below you can use one of the links under thus to open it in the app and subscribe:

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3. Forms of Protest III : The Serpent God of Lake Victoria

Powered by RedCircle

In this episode, we will look at the religion of Mumbo, a serpent god who was believed to reside in Lake Victoria and in the sun. This religion would spread among the Luo and the Kisii and challenge the colonial structures and religion.

Sources

  1. Hackett, Rosalind I. J. “Millennial and Apocalyptic Movements in Africa.” Oxford Handbooks Online, 2011. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195301052.003.0020.
  2. Maxon, R. M. “The Thorny Road From Primary to Secondary Source: The Cult of Mumbo and the 1914 Sack of Kisii.” History in Africa, vol. 13, 1986, pp. 261–68. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.2307/3171545.
  3. Ogot, Bethwell A. “British Administration in The Central Nyanza District of Kenya, 1900–60.” The Journal of African History, vol. 4, no. 2, 1963, pp. 249–73. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.1017/s0021853700004059.
  4. Ranger, T. O. “Connexions between ‘Primary Resistance’ Movements and Modern Mass Nationalism in East and Central Africa: II.” The Journal of African History, vol. 9, no. 4, 1968, pp. 631–41. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.1017/s0021853700009087.
  5. Shadle, Brett L. “Patronage, Millennialism and the Serpent God Mumbo in South-West Kenya, 1912–34.” Africa, vol. 72, no. 1, 2002, pp. 29–54. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.3366/afr.2002.72.1.29.
  6. Maxon, R. M. “Gusii Oral Texts and the Gusii Experience under British Rule.” The International Journal of African Historical Studies, vol. 9, no. 1, Boston University African Studies Center, 1976, pp. 74–80, https://doi.org/10.2307/217392.
  7. Wangila, Mary Nyangweso. “The Cult of Mumbo in Central and South Kavirondo.” Journal of the East African and Uganda Natural History Society (Nairobi), no. 38–39, 1930, pp. 13–17, www.biodiversitylibrary.org/content/part/EANHS/Nos.%2038-39_13_1930_Nyangweso.pdf.

The Kenyan Experiment : Episode 2

Will This Be A Problem Presents Episode 2:

Forms of Protest II : Oaths & Stories

In this episode we contrast the Kikuyu and the Giriama, and how they both use the power of oaths as their weapon against the British empire. We will see how narratives and stories  are the foundation upon which the colonial project was built upon and sustained by.  In our second episode, The Kenyan Oath comes head to head, with the English fairy tale.

You can listen to it here, or on your favorite Podcast app.

The new episode of The Kenyan Experiment Podcast.

Available now on  most major podcast apps.

*if it's not populated on search on the apps below you can use one of the links under thus to open it in the app and subscribe:

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1. Forms of Protest I : The Two Prophets

In this episode of The Kenyan Experiment we explore the Maasai and the Nandi, the prophets who shaped their journey through the colonial march in Kenya and the varied and fascinating forms of protest the people adopted.

Sources

  1. Greenstein, Lewis J.The Impact of Military Service in World War I on Africans: The Nandi of Kenya.” The Journal of Modern African Studies, vol. 16, no. 3, 1978, pp. 495–507. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/160040.
  2. Anderson, David.Stock Theft and Moral Economy in Colonial Kenya.” Africa: Journal of the International African Institute, vol. 56, no. 4, 1986, pp. 399–416. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1159997
  3. Tignor, Robert L. “The Maasai Warriors: Pattern Maintenance and Violence in Colonial Kenya.” The Journal of African History, vol. 13, no. 2, 1972, pp. 271–290. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/180856. 
  4. Anderson, David M.Black Mischief: Crime, Protest and Resistance in Colonial Kenya.” The Historical Journal, vol. 36, no. 4, 1993, pp. 851–877. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2640035. Accessed 3 Aug. 2021.
  5. Githuku, Nicholas. “‘Collaborators’ or ‘Resistors,’ ‘Loyalists’ versus ‘Rebels’: Problematizing Colonial Binary Nomenclatures through the Prism of Dedan Kimathi's Career.” Groundings: Development, Pan-Africanism and Critical Theory, vol. 3, no. 1, 2018, pp. 50–67. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.13169/groudevepanacrit.3.1.0050.
  6. Mungeam, G. H.Masai and Kikuyu Responses to the Establishment of British Administration in the East Africa Protectorate.” The Journal of African History, vol. 11, no. 1, 1970, pp. 127–143., doi:10.1017/s0021853700037476.
  7. Waller, Richard. “The Maasai and the British 1895–1905 the Origins of an Alliance.” The Journal of African History, vol. 17, no. 4, 1976, pp. 529–553., doi:10.1017/s002185370001505x.
  8. Eby, Carl.‘In the Year of the Maji Maji’: Settler Colonialism, the Nandi Resistance, and Race in The Garden of Eden.” The Hemingway Review, vol. 39, no. 1, 2019, pp. 9–39., doi:10.1353/hem.2019.0015.
  9. Meinertzhagen, Richard. Kenya Diary, 1902-1906. 1957.
  10. Matson, A. T. Nandi Resistance to British Rule, 1890-1906. East African Publishing House, 1972.
  11. Bishop, Dennis. Warriors in the Heart of Darkness: The Nandi Resistance 1850-1897. Geocities, 2000

The Kenyan Experiment

The last two years have been an unpredictable and difficult period all around the world. Everyone has had to adjust and acclimatize to a new paradigm, and many are still finding their footing. We’ve been doing the same thing. 

Over the last year, Will This Be A Problem has been largely silent — but not dormant. We started this site what seems like a lifetime ago (has it really been 7 years?), and we’ve been wondering where this project is going and what we would like it to be. We think we’ve finally figured it out. Throughout the rest of the year, starting today, we will be announcing our new initiatives. 

Our first project is our Podcast Initiative. We’ve been toying with this idea for some time and we finally pulled the trigger on it. A Will This Be A Problem family of podcasts covering a range of topics and genres. The very first of these is debuting this very October.

We present, The Kenyan Experiment. A Podcast covering Kenyan History. 

We’re really excited about this and we can’t wait for you to hear it and everything else we have in store. 

The Kenyan Experiment, Coming Soon. But for now, here’s a snippet you can listen to.

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Speculative Fiction: The Final List

It’s about that time of the year where we here at Will This Be A Problem present our annual anthology. This year, we tried something a little different from the usual. For the 2016 anthology, we opted to incorporate an open call for submissions. The theme was Speculative Fiction and we received stories from across the continent.

And so, I present the stories our judges picked for the anthology.

“The Mortuary Man” by Mark Lekan Lalude (Nigeria)
“What Happens When It Rains” by Michelle Angwenyi (Kenya)
“Future Long Since Passed” by Lausdeus Otito Chiegboka (Nigeria)
“The World is Mine” by Kris Kabiru (Kenya)
“The Real Deal” by James Kariuki (Kenya)

A bonus story from WTBAP:

“The Last History” by Kevin Rigathi

And the prize winning story –

“Rise of the Akafula” by Andrew Charles Dakalira (Malawi)

The 3rd issue of our anthology will be released in the coming days. For now, see this beautiful cover art by Peter Marco, based on the winning story.

final-cover-small

 

Speculative Fiction Call Out

This time, we’re doing something a little different for the Will This Be A Problem Anthology. A public call out.

The theme this year is Speculative Fiction set in African countries and we will be accepting short stories from any African citizen.

wtbap

Here are the submission guidelines.

  1. Your story can be Horror, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Magical Realism, Alternate History or an unholy mash of any them.
  2. While your story must be set in an an African country, feel free to place it in any timeline you please. You may also set it in alternate versions of these countries. i.e. A Kenya that was never colonized.
  3. Our target length is between 2000-5000 words. However this is just a baseline, if the story is strong enough it can be longer or shorter.
  4.  Send your work to submissions@34.193.184.231 in doc, docx, odt or rtf formats. Do not send it in the subject of the email.
  5. Send a small bio about yourself, what country you’re from and what name you would like the work to be published under.
  6. Only submit your original work.
  7. By submitting a story the author allows Will This Be A Problem to include it in the WTBAP Anthology should it be selected.
  8.  Submissions should primarily be in English though pieces of dialogue and the text may contain other languages.
  9. The submission should be previously unpublished.
  10. If your work is published somewhere else after the Anthology is released we request that you mention Will This Be A Problem as the first place of publication.
  11. Submissions close on the 1st of November, 2016.

The WTBAP anthology is provided for free. We do not make any money off it and thus we do not (as of yet) pay for submissions. However, this year, there will be prizes for our favourite story.

  1. If the winner is from Kenya, the prize will be:  Ksh 3,000 and the Imagine Africa 500 Anthology edited by Billy Kahora delivered from the Magunga Book Store
  2. If the winner is from any other country: 30$ paid via paypal and a kindle (or kindle app) book gift of A Stranger in Olondria by Sofia Samatar OR Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor.

We look forward to seeing what you come up with.