After reading Nyandarua.com, we now know what we need to do for ourselves, our families, our communities and our country. To help us achieve some of those goals, we can elevate our thinking further by embracing messages of hope and inspiration from those who have the platform to deliver them.
Every generation has icons who rise up above everybody else, big and small, famous and ordinary, cutting through the noise of their society and getting their vital message across, one way or another. From reading Nyandarua.com, you realize I am a great admirer of the late J.M. Kariuki. I was too young to know him or his work, but I have heard a great deal about him from my parents and other Pioneer Parents of OlKalou to appreciate what he did for his constituents. I love the speeches and quotes he gave challenging the status quo of his day, things that ultimately got him assassinated. He stood for something and he died for taking that stand and sticking with it disregarding the powerful forces he was up against. That is where my admiration stems from. They killed the man but his legacy lives on to this date, brighter and louder than those who silenced his youthful and vibrant voice. There are unflattering things I have read about J.M. Kariuki and his personal life, but those are things I chose to ignore, and just like my Pioneer Parents, I chose to embrace the greater good J.M. Kariuki the Member of Parliament did for Nyandarua North, the constituency he represented.
We also had Wangari Maathai who inspired a movement that has been embraced by the entire world, they deemed her worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize, a well deserved recognition. She remained a misunderstood lone voice for decades, enduring ridicule, violence and embarrassing confrontations with powerful land grabbers who wanted to clear every green space in Nairobi for their personal enrichment. Wangari stood firm and shouted even louder from every platform she could find, and sure enough, we all heard her message and the world did too. Today, when we hear scientists all over the world grappling with the effects of global warming, it now gets even more clearer why Wangari fought so hard all her life, refusing to be silenced because she had a powerful message that the world needed to hear.
Our neighboring country Tanzania had Mwalimu Julius Nyerere. A humble leader who sought peace for his country throughout his presidency and retired to his rural village after handing over power, something that was unheard of in most African countries. He may not have led Tanzania to great prosperity like his neighboring countries but his legacy lives on, a legacy of minding their fellow human beings (undugu) as opposed to individualism and amassing of wealth at any cost.
South Africa had Nelson Mandela, a leader that stood strongly for what he believed in regardless of the consequences he had to endure for more than half of his adult life. India also had Gandhi who inspired a nation.
United States of America had Martin Luther King Jr who inspired a civil rights movement that brought civil liberties to his fellow African Americans. He got assassinated for his message and influence, but his legacy lives on, recently getting Barack Obama elected the first black president of the USA, twice. Obama embodied the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr, inspiring a generation with his optimism, decency and audacity of hope, earning him great respect all over the world. USA also has inspirational figures like Oprah Winfrey, a black woman who broke barriers to become one of the most influential and most recognizable figure all over the world. Then there is Bill Gates, a man who built a technology empire whose enormous wealth he choose to channel around the globe to change lives of disadvantaged people especially in third world countries.
The few names I have mentioned above are recognizable anywhere in the world because of their contribution to humanity. They influenced, encouraged, inspired or led people to another level of thinking they had not considered before, or they may have considered but did not have the courage to embrace those ideals. These figures are ‘eye openers’. They are icons who were not afraid to challenge the status quo, disregarding the consequences of their actions, which includes bodily harm, even assassination. They were not afraid to spell out truths that majority in their society already knew but shied away from because the subject matter was either unpopular or uncomfortable to bring up. Inconvenient truths I call them. That is why these icons rise above everybody else and their voices are heard the world over. You may not like everything about them, and you shouldn’t, but the message they bear or the example they present to the world is worth paying attention to, even emulating. They are vessels that contain a message that the world needs to hear. We have such icons living among us today.
In the Bible, David is known as a mighty King who won many battles for Israel, starting with the slaying of Goliath when he was just a young shepherd boy. God referred to David as “a man after my own heart”. David’s son, King Solomon is known for building the magnificent temple in Jerusalem and for his great wisdom. Yet, these were flawed men who did questionable things in their lifetimes, but that did not diminish their message and example that God intended humanity to witness.
That is why we need to embrace the messengers God raises for every generation, heeding their messages of hope, caution and insight into the future. The famous Titanic ship could have sailed across the Atlantic safely had its Captain heeded the warning to change course to avoid the icebergs that doomed it to its watery grave, ending over a thousand innocent lives in the process. When voices are raised and words of caution are sounded, it is our responsibility as a society to listen, consider them carefully, deliberate amongst ourselves and take required action. Some may require individual response like changing daily habits that affects our health and destroys our environment, while others may require a communal response like voting to elect to office leaders who represent our values and ideals as a society. My parents generation had freedom fighters like Dedan Kimathi, General Kago, Waruhiu Itote (General China), Gititi Kabutu alias General Kariba, Stanley Mathenge, Field Marshal Muthoni wa Kirima and others who inspired and led them to fight off the British colonists and attain independence for our country. They did. They were later inspired by leaders like J.M. Kariuki who showed them what good leaders can do for their constituents.
We are living in a different era now, with some harsh realities that our parents’ generation could never have envisioned. We are faced with a different set of challenges which if not addressed urgently, they will swallow up the future of our children and grandchildren. Globalization has its benefits, but it comes wrapped in some heavy consequences, which if we are not careful can set our country back to ugly chapters we thought we already overcame. That is why it is very important to keep our eyes and our minds wide open so that we keep pace with a changing world, otherwise we will be trampled upon by those marching ahead with their agenda riding on our ignorance and oblivion. Get inspired. Act.
