tapestry

of celebration and mourning for Bantu Mwaura, on this week's Pambazuka news.

Read it here.

The first draft of this piece was over 9,000 words. There was so much I wanted to share about the friend I laughed and dreamed with, the colleague I taught and argued with, the activist I worked with, the scholar I drew on as a vital resource.

As my inbox flooded with tributes and recollections from across the globe, I realized how many worlds and people Bantu impacted. My own personal experience of him became less important than conveying the breadth and depth of his engagement with all those worlds.

So in the final version, I edited out almost all my own words. What remains is a tapestry of voices, a collage of images. The beginning of a much larger story that will be added to, expanded, enriched, and deepened, in months and years to come.

With perfect timing, Deamer Dunn deposited this digital portrait of Bantu in my inbox this morning. A gift of heart, warm as a hug, like all Deamer's art.

Safiri salama, Bantu. Tutatambuana.