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.

Bantu Mwaura: Family Statement

PRESS RELEASE TUESDAY, April 28, 2009

BANTU MWAURA NDUNG’U

The family wishes to confirm that a post mortem was done by Dr. Ndegwa, with arepresentative from Independent Medico-Legal Unit (IMLU) present. The findings were that Bantu Mwaura Ndung’u died of chemical poisoning. The Kenya Police Criminal Investigation Department are conducting further investigations in relation and complimentary to the government pathologist report.

The family further wishes to thank all Bantu’s friends and sympathizers for all their support during this period and continue to ask for your patience as the police go on with their work.

There will be a fund-raising at the Kenya National Theatre opposite the Norfolk Hotel, on Thursday 30th April 2009 from 7 p.m. An artistic celebrative memorial will be held at the Kenya National Theatre 1st May 2009, from 2 pm to 6 pm.

The funeral will be held on Saturday May 2.The cortege leaves Chiromo Funeral Home at 9a.m. followed by the service and burial at Langata Cemetery.


Family and friends are meeting at the Wasanii Restaurant at the Kenya National Theatre, opposite the Norfolk Hotel daily from 7.00pm and at his residence in Langata View Estate opposite Langata Women’s Prison from 4:00pm.

For further inquiries, please contact:

Dauti Kahura Ndung’u
Brother
0720 793577
dkahora@hotmail.com

Wakanyote Njuguna
Friend
Tel No 0734 577203
wakanyote@yahoo.com

Bantu Mwaura: Update

1) A condolences book has been opened at the Kenya National Theatre, Nairobi, for the artistic and intellectual community in and around Nairobi. Friends meet at the KNT’s Wasanii Restaurant every day at 7 pm to review plans and progress.

2) Contributions towards meeting funeral and related expenses are being collected and recorded at the Kenya National Theatre. Mueni Lundi has agreed to receive mobile telephone cash transfers on behalf of the organizing team on the numbers 0720 748 900for M-Pesa or 0733 748 900 for Zap.

3) A major fundraising will be held on Thursday, April 30, at Wasanii Restaurant from 7 pm, to bring all collections to closure.

4) A four-hour Performance Memorial to celebrate Bantu’s life will be held at the Kenya National Theatre from 2 pm on May 1, 2009. Those with a song, dance, skits, poetry, readings and recitals as well as any other performances are requested to alert Githuku Ndungi and Mueni Lundi (muenilundi@yahoo.com).

5) Bantu will be laid to rest at the Langata Cemetery on Saturday, May 2 at around 1pm. The cortege will leave the mortuary at 9, pass through the Kenya National Theatre on its way to the final place of rest.

6) An autopsy was carried out yesterday on Bantu's body. An independent pathologist was provided by IMLU (Independent Medico-Legal Unit, member organization of Kenyans for Peace, Truth and Justice), to work with the government pathologist. Cause of death was determined to be "chemical poisoning". Investigations continue into how it was administered, and by whom.

Bantu Mwaura

Two hours ago, an email flashed into my inbox from Philo Ikonya, President of the Kenya Chapter of PEN:

deeply shocked by the news of Bantu Mwaura's murder... Is it true? What happened?

I froze.

Then dialled numbers as fast as my fingers could push buttons. Not really knowing why, as I had no words.

Then I cried as the voices of friends in Amsterdam and Nairobi confirmed it. It takes the voices of friends to bring the tears down.

Bantu was a brilliant Kenyan scholar, academic, activist, theatre artist, poet, writer. A valued friend and colleague.

The first time I met him, in Zanzibar three years ago, he showed me the cellphone display photo of his wife and children. When he told me his daughters' names - Makeba and Me Katilili - I teased him:

No pressure there, huh? No burdens of history on two gorgeous children?

Bantu's voice unspools in my head right now. With all his fierce righteousness, honest rage, passionate scholarship, loathing of hypocrisy, love of true art, uncompromising rigor of standards, commitment to making good work, activist power, courage of spirit, and largeness of heart.

It's the faces of his daughters that keep the tears running.

I'm writing a tribute to Bantu for Pambazuka News. If you have something you'd like to share about him, email it to me at shailja@shailja.com

Gamla Uppsala

For every living creature that is male nine are sacrificed, the blood of which is offered to appease the gods.......

The bodies are hung in a grove near the temple....dogs and horses and also people...

Adam of Bremen, German church historian, 1070s, on the Pagan Temple in Uppsala

Turns out though, that Adam of Bremen never actually visited Uppsala. This account was based on hearsay from a Danish king. And they both had an agenda to convert the heathens to Christianity, so it clearly served the purpose to create horror stories about "pagan rites".

And while Gamla Uppsala was unquestionably the seat of power from which the Kings of the Ynglingar dynasty ruled, and the place where they were buried in huge grave mounds, modern scholars doubt there was ever a temple there.

It was a gloriously bright day on Saturday. Perfect for the twelve-kilometre bike ride there and back, through viridian fields and woods misted with the pale silver-green of emerging leaves. And for strolling around the burial mounds, and through the sunny museum.

Like men they journeyed
far for gold.
And in the east
they fed the eagle
in the south they died
in Saracenland.

Icelandic saga on Scandinavian expeditions to the eastern Caliphate