Black History 365 | # 39 The Mau Mau Rebellion

The Mau Mau Movement or Rebellion is the opposition of British rule in Kenya. In 1895 the British East India Company invaded and colonized Kenya. The British took land away from Kenyans and forced labor upon its people. Some Kenyans began to revolt 50 years later and the British began a brutal military campaign that included detention camps and torture. The British enacted a series of crazy taxes to ensure they would generate revenue. For instance, the hut tax. Where they forced a tax paid to the British government for each family-owned hut. This resulted in Kenyans having to work for someone else in order to pay this tax, if they didn’t pay, forced labor was their punishment. Another example was the poll tax, where Kenyans were required to work 60 days out of the year for the British government if they were not already employed by British settlers. Kenyans who originally occupied the land stolen by the British were deemed squatters, and by 1939 settlers could demand 270 days of work from these so-called squatters.

Years of this torture and exploitation spurred the growth of the resistance movement, The Mau Mau Movement in 1950. It was comprised of numerous ethnic groups within the Kenyan diaspora, but unity was promoted within the movement. The British responded by calling them savages and branded them as terrorists. The Mau Mau planned attacks on British farms, settlers, and indigenous Kenyans who were loyal to the British. In 1952, the British declared a state of emergency and began its military operations against The Mau Mau. After an eight-year battle roughly 11,000 Mau Mau were killed, while 32 British settlers were killed. Then the British set up detention camps where an estimated 160,000-320,000 Kikuyu were detained. These detention camps were “rebranded” by the British as rehabilitation camps where good citizenship was encouraged and where the people were re-educated away from the nationalist views introduced by The Mau Mau Movement. Leaked documents exposed this to be untrue. These documents confirm that detainees were isolated, tortured, raped, forced to work, and some even murdered — disease and starvation were apt to happen, and it did.

Black History 365 | #46 Nikki Giovanni

Did you know, Yolande Cornelia Giovanni, Jr. better known as Nikki Giovanni. The, writer, poet, and educator has the 2Pac coined term “Thug Life” tattooed on her forearm.

Black History 365 | # 47 Thomas Jennings

Did you know a black man, Thomas Jennings invented dry cleaning in 1821 making him also the first black man in the United States to be granted a patent.

Black History 365 | #49 Huey P. Newton

Did you know Black Panther co-founder Huey P. Newton earned a Ph.D. in the Social philosophy program of History of Consciousness from the University of California at Santa Cruz in 1980.

Black History 365 | # 48 Yuri Kochiyama

Have you heard of Yuri Kochiyama? She was a friend of Malcolm X and was there when he was murdered. She held his head as he layed dying. She met Malcolm in 1963 and joined his group the Organization for Afro-American Unity, to work for racial justice and human rights. She described herself as red, white, and blue as a child and didn’t know how bad racism was. But on the Sunday morning of December 7th, 1941 when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor obviously the people she assimilated to changed around her. At home, FBI agents came and ordered her to get her father. He was ill and recently had ulcer surgery, but they made him put on his slippers and bathrobe and took him away. He was released six weeks later, and died a day after being released from custody. The following year Japanese Americans were removed from their homes and placed in concentration camps. When the war ended she was able to return to her home, but she had trouble finding a job. She saw that Japanese people were widely seen as the “enemy” at the time. Yuri did not became an activist until the 1960s when she moved to Harlem as a middle-aged homemaker with six children. Her husband’s salary was limited so the family moved to a housing project in Harlem. Surrounded by black neighbors she became involved in struggles to improve schools and to end job discrimination. In the 1970s she joined Japanese American activists who called for the redress of their internment during World War II. The Civil Liberties Act of 1988 made an official apology and authorized payments of $20,000 to former internees. Let’s end this with a quote from her, “Keep expanding your horizon, decolonize your mind, and cross borders.” Respect to Ms. Kochiyama’s legacy and her place in the struggle.