We Have Each Other
By Peter Wahome wa Ngatia
I have been thinking about this for a very long while now. I have been considering the fact that we the Kenyan youth and even much more African youth -which makes up the majority of the population- have so much talent and energy but little to show for it.
You are a musician, you possess a heavenly voice and have written sweet songs that the world should hear but you have no opportunity to deliver it to them. You are a painter and an artist who has very creative, priceless pieces but have nowhere to sell your craft. You are a designer and you’re passionate about fashion and wish you had an opportunity to showcase your ingenuity in a fashion show but you neither have the resources nor the networks to do so.
That is a huge challenge that the modern day young creative is contending with especially if you do not come from a rich well-known family. Though talented and gifted we are having it rough. Broke busted and disgusted are some of the adjectives that fit this age-group.
But what if I told you it doesn’t have to be so? Why? Simply because we have each other. If we decided to support each other by the numbers and make noise about what we do, there is no telling what we can achieve.
Finding sustainable jobs in Kenya is like looking for someone in the CBD if they don’t have a phone with them. Therefore people are looking for alternative means to get an income. As a result the online community is growing exponentially. Youtubers, bloggers, gengetone artists and the likes are popping by the second as they try to tap into the digital economy.
It is so amazing that technology has leveled the ground for all of us and given us an equal opportunity to make a living and has expanded the market to a global reach as opposed to the olden days.
Think about this, what would be Gengetone as we know it if it were not for Youtube and social media. How would the mainstream media have given them the attention if they had not first gone viral on the web?
The young market made it go viral. They Tweeted, Facebooked, Instagramed, Whatsapped and Snapchatted them with utmost passion and exhilaration. Remember Alvindo’s Takataka song? It started with Whatsapp then it ended in the mainstream arena before it was unceremoniously banned by Dr. Ezekiel Mutua.
We are the ones that stood with that craft and it transformed Alvindo’s life. From working in a butchery to being interviewed by all major shows including Churchill Show and ending with a news conference with Dr. Mutua promising to be better and write better songs. He later released the ‘Boychild’ banger with Magix Enga and the ever funny Dj Shiti.
What if we decide to deliberately and intentionally decide to support each other and start sharing our works with the world? Won’t we be able to rise from the rut that we have been stuck in and make impact in this country.
Imagine if we make videos or write articles or do amazing photoshoots and we start peddling them like wildfire all over the internet, will the sky still be the limit or the floor? Technology has taken away the power from the high and mighty from keeping us in the cocoon of begging and waiting for handouts from them.
We can leverage on this opportunity and strategically support each other in an organized movement and dominate the web. Let the whole world see the Kenyan craft and support it.
Government will catch up when they realize that they can’t control us and when it dawns on them that they will be left behind.
If we build our unity and structure our resources, we can use what we have to get what we don’t have.
What do we have? Each other. Let the fire of this passion burn within us and we give everything we have for each other. Success is sweet when shared. We are happier when we rise as a team as opposed to going solo.
Together we can and we will.
#WeHaveEachOther.