Greetings Wealthy People:
I hope this communication finds you well and wealthy.
I recently had an epiphany that I think you would best be suited to help me. While I was listening and reflecting on Belcalis Almanzar’s lyrics, popularly known as Cardi B, in her song ‘Money.’ I realised that I would like to be rich.
I am tired of living in a country where the bare minimum of care is used in decisions. I would love to see compassion and love for the young people in the country.
The lyrics, “I was born to flex, diamonds on my chest,” really touched my heart as I now realise that I, too, was born to flex with diamonds on my chest, despite this being my destiny that is not my current fortune (pun intended). Unlike Cardi B, I can’t rap, and unlike white-collar criminals, the thought of jail doesn’t sit right with my spirit or my aesthetic.
This is why I come to you today to request you provide me with a wealthy husband. I have all the qualifications to be the wife of a monied man. I believe I am accustomed to the lifestyle of the wealthy. However, I will demonstrate it by quoting Cardi B from her collaboration with Megan Thee Stallion on ‘WAP.’ “I don’t cook, I don’t clean,” but unfortunately, I don’t have a ring.
I am more than prepared to show up and look good. Jet-set, spend my days at the country club or the yacht, and most importantly, mind my business because, as I mentioned earlier, jail and I just don’t go hand in hand.
Now … are they gone?
Yes? Excellent!
I was hoping that everything I wrote prior incensed the purveyors of patriarchy reading this and made them exit, so I may ask my fellow womxn what is going on?
Every day I watch the news, I get more and more shocked that fellow humans see this and are not outraged by what is going on. Fighting at funerals, threatening to reintroduce corporal punishment, and banning portable sanitizers from schools in a country where water scarcity is common during a pandemic.
I am tired of living in a country where the bare minimum of care is used in decisions. I would love to see compassion and love for the young people in the country. The children in this country are living through a pandemic, and their whole lives are being upended. Can we give them some grace and love?
I want thoughtfulness and consideration in the decisions taken to develop this country. Was it necessary to evict and destroy the belongings of the families in Kibos, Kariobangi North, Ruai, and all the other places in the country where houses have been demolished? What does it say about us as a country that we would be willing to forcefully evict people in a pandemic?
They say this is all for development and to advance Kenya, but whose idea of development are we using? Levelling trees and encroaching on green spaces to show people who colonised us that we’re on par, that we’re worthy of respect, dignity and investment. Making Kenya a haven for tourists and foreign investors but hell for the people who live here doesn’t make any sense. As Lauryn Hill sang, ‘How you gon win when you ain’t right within?’
Oh, shoot … we don’t have much time before they come back to look for more material on what’s wrong with the current generation of womxn.
Kenya is going into an election year, and as much as we may believe our votes and voices don’t matter, there are ways we can push for our ideas to be heard. In the past year, we have seen Msambweni – largely considered an ODM stronghold in Kwale – opt for a different candidate. Stacy Abrams and grassroots organisers fought tirelessly against voter suppression and registered voters in the US, helping win Georgia for the Democrats.
If we want to see sustained change, we have to support our grassroots leaders and organisers. As of September 2020, there were 71 registered political parties in Kenya. If you don’t agree with any of the parties we commonly see on TV, there are many more that may align with your values. If a political party is not the step you are trying to take at the moment, look up the Linda Katiba Movement, Kongomano La Mageuzi, or a social justice centre near you to learn more about the work they are doing to ensure Kenya works for all of us and not for a select few.
You can also donate to campaigns and movements, so the leaders we want in office are not held captive by entities who don’t have the country’s best intentions. If you can’t donate your money, donate your time or skills. Volunteer for a political party, hand out t-shirts, run their social media, donate a sound system, or offer protection for the womxn candidates that choose to run for office.
I know these ideas are probably idealistic given the things we know about the Kenyan electorate and scary given the state’s history of suppressing or killing those who organise against it. However, we must start from somewhere. Kenya was fought for by the Mau Mau, politicians such as Pio Gama Pinto, the Seven Bearded Sisters, mothers, university students, and many others. We all have a part to play in creating a country and world that looks out for our best interests, crafts policies and makes decisions from a place of care and understanding. We just have to persist and beat the system at their own game.
I see a few of them coming back, so I’ll leave you with this. In her book ‘Feminism, Interrupted,’ Lola Olufemi writes ‘We must rise to the challenge with a revolutionary and collective sense of determination; knowing that if we do not see this world, someone else will.”
Anyway, as I mentioned before, I am fully ready to join the wealthy. I can even begin today. I was born to live a life of luxury, and it is past time for me to take my rightful place in society.
Faithfully yours and wealthy in Spirit,
– Beverley Wakiaga