okay, okay...

I know, enough posts for now, but I wrote this yesterday, and you never know when the internet will go out, and I've got lots to catch up on.

Plus, this caught my eye. Read this short article.

Note how, a) the Times does not buck the standard coverage of things-happening-in-Africa by making it sound like anything but a weird sideshow to the rest of the world. I love the Times, but I don't love their Africa coverage. This is bad writing, too: "Many Kenyans would be very sensitive about Mr. Obama, the Democratic contender in the American presidential election next month. His father was Kenyan and many people here are intensely cheering him on. His photos have been plastered across the back of mini-buses and stories about the election are front page news almost every day." Kenyans "would" be sensitive? Did the author not interview any Kenyans? Was he forced to write disjointed, simplistic sentences? Are Nairobi minibuses crappier than those in Dar and somehow decorated by "plastering" rather than deliberate car detailing?

And is this me, or would coverage from most other places take something like this "Several government officials, including some aligned with President Mwai Kibaki, have distanced themselves from Mr. Obama, saying he is American, not Kenyan, and asking what is the big deal about his candidacy" - and not maybe smooth it over from "what is the big deal of" to "calling into question the importance of" or "discussing the relevancy of"? I've got a lot of saved-up vitriol for this kind of thing, which I've never been able to put a finger on before, but come on! It's the problem of being more eloquent about bloodshed and dysfunction and curiosity than normal life (of which the Obama candidacy has become a big part). Argh.

Note also b) that Kenyan, like Tanzanian, immigration police are not to be fucked with. They will smell out your permit-avoiding lies! Checking "here on holiday" on my entry form, when I knew I would apply for a resident's permit, was nerve-wracking the first time, but returning after my trip to the D and having questions by a friendly if curious immigration officer about my comings and goings when my residency permit was not-yet-in-process was almost cold-sweat-inducing. I am a bad liar, and while there's really no alternative to entering as a tourist and changing to a resident, there is also no leeway if you get caught lying. At least most of the time.

And I don't know, maybe my sense of truth and justice is all messed up, but I think it's sort of FINE that the Kenyan government detained this - dare I say it - bozo for shilling his book and ducking their immigration laws. If a 22-year-old Danish NGO worker can get her forms together, Mr. Swift Boat's personal assistant can find the time. And, really, the majority of people I've talked to in East Africa are stoked about Obama and very conversant about American politics, and there are really few ways for people to get involved other than just talking about it -- but it matters, here. People take it personally not just because Obama had a Kenyan dad, is a man of color, is cool and hip, but because he's "smarti"*. The American presidency has a massive impact on world politics, and, dude, people here think it's time for change we can believe in, too.**

So, if the Kenyans want to put their reputedly-too-corrupt-for-words system into creaking fast-action when someone wants to talk bad about Obama, and do it on their watch, I'm inclined to snicker from the sidelines. It's not fair, of course, but there is something sort of appropriate about it. You push back with the weapons you have, maybe?



* Swahili-English adds "i" to lots of things, but smarti is my current favorite. And the first answer I've gotten from almost everyone about Obama.

** This needs a longer explanation, but I am more and more convinced of the deeper importance of not just the Democrats winning, but of the success of Obama and what he stands for, what he means. I do run on, I'm sorry. But have a look at this, and think about the kids you know. I know the big picture has shifted significantly since this was written, but still, it's food for thought.