The Performer

The Performer
Arty

Audre Lorde

I write for those women who do not speak, for those who do not have a voice because they were so terrified, because we are taught to respect fear more than ourselves. We've been taught that silence would save us, but it won't.

 

Friday, May 20, 2011

Home with Kings and Queens of Kings College...


Thursday 19th May, 2011

The Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya (GALCK) and member groups namely Ishtar MSM, Gay Kenya Trust (GKT), Minority Women in Action (MWA), Artists For Recognition and Acceptance (AFRA-Kenya) and Trans gender Education and Advocacy (TEA) gathered in the board room at the community centre at 2.45pm to meet a group of political science students from Kings College, New York. The students were also born again Christians who were on a tour of the countries within East Africa for the very first time. They were about 14 men and women in number.

The meeting was to start at 2 pm but am imagining cruising around in the all-time crazy Nairobi traffic can delay one for up to 3 hours or more!
I curtain raised the discussion by doing a number, one of my fav.... songs about injustice and understanding where I come from as a queer woman artist.

Then a brief presentation from each organization on their core missions, visions, objectives, current projects and membership etc. Then an introduction to Kings College and a few questions asked. One of us analysed the political situation in Kenya at the moment and updates on what had been happening in terms of progress in advocacy work and all. A round of our personal experiences and so on and so forth.
This forum was seemingly too official, until one of us requested for a break to grab some snacks and get to mingle for a few minutes before resuming discussion!

I was envious since I could not take the snacks and soda, I'd a few hours earlier pumped my demanding stomach with bacon and vegetables and it was still excited at being full! He he he, then I got into an interesting conversation with about 7 students on our lives, music. I found it strange that a few of them had done most of their primary education indoors (schooling from home) and only got to go to college at teenage! Mine was the vice versa, I went to boarding school at an early age and that was routine till I cleared college. I wondered whether they ever got 'school sick!'
I wondered how some of their parents managed to have up to five guitars while I never managed to convince my folks to let me study a major in Music at College! I was however impressed that a number of them were very much interested and involved in the arts back in the United States (US).

We talked about weather and I found it especially hard to compare the heat seasons here to those in the US. I wondered how my skin would feel getting exposed to over 100 degrees Celsius of heat...and of cold during winter!
I asked a bit about Kings College which I now understand is quite a small college in the United States of America but one where you can study media and the arts (if you are interested). They admit international students.

We talked about work, coming out, family amongst others. I never flinched, just stayed on and answered their questions. Everyone of us was at ease, the kings and queens were very good listeners and we found laughter in every word and sentence that spelt funny while conversing. The environment was cool and exciting. I was glad to know that they enjoyed listening to me sing and play my guitar (Inara- Ray of Light/hope).

But before we were done enjoying each others company,the whistle was blown to bring us together and close. It felt like we had known one another for quite a while. It never at any point occurred to me that we were attached to the self identified young and accommodative heterosexual women and men who also loved our company and mentioned that engaging with us was one of their best experiences in Kenya. That said, introductions were made, vote of thanks from both groups given and we were free to leave. My heart sunk, they were gone...

This goes to say that I thoroughly enjoyed being with and talking as well as laughing with you! You made who I am feel so much better... I thank you for your time and looking forward to seeing you all sometime!

Regards and hugs,
K8


A silent prayer...

Show me the way,
Catapult my thoughts to
the positive construction of
divine memoirs of a monk in seclusion,
Hold my soft skin gently
But firm to your bossom,
Let your warmth and smile
Enchant me to sleep...

Hugs,
K8

Saturday, April 23, 2011

NOTIONS...

It's dawn
Time to get my groove on
I know what ultimately turns you on
So leave me the f*** alone!

Did you see Jean?
She had cream on her jeans
And I wondered how they'd get cleaned
While she pretended to grin
In pretense that it wasn't such a big deal! (well, it was for me)

My friend tearfully narrated to me how
She watched a newborn
Writhe in pain at the hospital
and Oh!

Twas after being defiled
By a man in the name of 'daddy'

It brought me such sorrow
That we've ignored this morons
Who are encouraged to narrow us
Down to cunt hatred
That we fight each day!


That we let
Psychos in men
Rape the life out of us
Keep reminding us that
We are an endangered species
Because we will always carry out 'cunts'
Wherever we go!
By K8 Kamunde
All Rights Reserved




















BROKEN EVIL

I await you my love
My hands wide open
My pores are clogged from crying
The desperation of your leaving me
Do not keep me waiting much longer

I know loving you
Loving me
In this society is not easy
Mama wants you to get married
I’m looking to take you away and make you mine
But I have to beat the odds

The endless expectations
The men that keep lurking
To propose
It vexes me
That they have such guts
They should know I exist
But you won’t let me love you anymore

You have distanced yourself from me
My phone calls go unanswered
My messages thoroughly ignored
As I sit tensely and wait
Hopefully…
The clocks tick and I wait
Night falls, I wait
Dawn comes, I wait
Nothing!

Your hostility is beyond contempt
Your indifference painfully pierces me deep within
Leaves large black marks that I’m trying to clear
And yet
You don’t even care
You don’t take a minute to imagine what I am going through
While you sit in cafes’ and perch your laps on men’s waists
And dig up their crotch

Flirt and exchange evil stares
While you lie that you’re coming home to me!
I make us dinner and wait
It’s time to sleep
 I wait
You’re not even apologetic
You let me have this thoughts running
Through my mind
Call me ‘stupid’ coz you know I’m not
Tell your friends how bitchy your girlfriend is
While you know it is you that is
But I don’t put it to heart
Because I love you
Can’t you see?

By K8 Kamunde
All Rights Reserved.

Friday, April 15, 2011

Home...


My love
I am flying all the way to you
I am so glad this time has come
I have always hated goodbyes
I felt this attachment as soon as it hit me that I was leaving HOME
To Sao Paolo for about 10 days
and forgot how emotional I became immediately I got there
All I wanted was to be back home to...
My motherland Quenia

My love
The woman I always smile whenever I think of her
The woman I always wanna' be laid by
The woman...just like me
The woman, who takes my breath to higher heights

You
The one I love
I keep you on the palm of my hand
You, one with a heart
Touch me deep within and melt me
I hold onto your memory like my doll
While this South African Airway plane flies me closer home
Closer to you

I need to be touched
I need to be loved
Not just by any woman
But by YOU

Not just any woman
You always treat me right
You know what you want
and so do I
Not just any woman
One that determines her destiny
If I'll have to wait for you
Then I'd be more than glad to make the sacrifice
If I have to wait

I love you
You've given me YOU
I appreciate it
I wish you appeared in every yawn I make
So that I'd kiss you
If only for a moment
If not forever

To appreciate a woman who's beautiful inside out
To appreciate our uniqueness, our diverse sexualities
To respect those of others
Love is this and more to me
It is everything and more than any woman has ever wanted from another
Love is loving someone as awesome as you!

By K8
All Rights Reserved.


Saturday, April 2, 2011

We Are A Nation of Daughter-Killers, Affirms India’s 2011 Census

Good evening,

I hope you are doing well. I am sitting in this room, checking my mail...smiling at the good news, frowning and shedding tears over the sad that I have no control over. This is one of the latter. I am a woman who is grateful for the far I have come and thankful to God for the gift of life. I am fast approaching 30 years in the next few months and when I read about how new born babies (girls) are killed in one way or another, from whichever country from within the globe, it breaks my heart and shatters it to pieces.

Those young ones would have grown to become such a powerful force to reckon with in regards to whatever professions they would have gotten into (even if they ended up being housemaids!) They are women. Women are born to make an impact in society, to be the voice of hope for the world... They are the beast of burdens, we   go through child bearing and all... But know what? We are the chosen ones, we are SPECIAL in every way possible and the feeling of being WOMANLY flows through our veins and make us feel wonderful (I am not implying that being male feels otherwise).

It means that we have to come out and stand as one, empower one another and go to extra strides in ensuring that the value of being a woman is restored, respected and restored and not mutilated.

This is one article WE should ALL read and start a conversation around. It may be happening so far from home, but it is one that affects us in one way or another. Could it also be happening in Kenya (in communities that believe that giving birth to a baby boy calls for goat eating ceremonies unlike when a girl is born and the community is in mourning)?

What about girls who due to community beliefs and customs of the stay out of school during their monthly periods because they are looked at as 'dirty' and should not mingle with anyone? Aren't they being deprived of their right to education? If their parents are impoverished and cannot afford to buy them sanitary towels, cotton or even improvise cloths so that their daughters can continue go to school and stay clean...what are we doing about it?

What about girls that get raped by their neighbors and again due to poverty their parents agree to 'out of court settlements' to avert shame and get some money or materials out of it? Are we aware that in Kibera slums (and am sure several other areas, these are daily occurrences)? For the aggressive/single parent mothers whose girls are abused, they approach an institution to get some form of support in prosecuting criminals. They are made to sit on benches for months, in the promise of getting help that never actually comes. They give up and get back with their lives, only to later find out that their daughters got infected with Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI's) and HIV amongst others and they have to grapple with the strain that comes with taking care of them and get financially and emotionally drained!! What is the Government doing? What are we doing?

We are still women, we should be there for one another. It does not mean that if we are not directly affected by an issues then it is none of our business. Well, we should make it our business because in generations to come, that may be your daughter going through the same. We should watch out for one another and challenge the fact that, 'women are each other's enemy'. Anyway, am just pondering...

I have said enough, let's take an e-trip to India and know what's happening there! I am looking forward to your very worthy comments! Lots of Love and thank you for the continued support.
Kiss
K8


APRIL 1, 2011
Photo Credit: Joel Dousset©. Copyright, All Rights Reserved.
“We detest daughters! We hate them so much that we kill them before birth.  And we kill them after birth!  We kill them as they take their first breath.  We kill them while they are suckling infants.  We kill them as they learn to walk.  We kill them as they learn to talk and say ‘mama’ and ‘baba.’ We kill them as they learn to smile and trust, and love, and ask for their favorite foods – mangoes or sweets.  We kill them as they learn to play with their friends, and listen to stories about fairies, princesses, and far away dreams.  We kill them because we hate them.  We kill our daughters in the millions.”
This is the message that India’s, just released, 2011 census data sends out.
The data reveals that in the age group 0-6 years, the gender ratio is 914 girls to 1000 boys.   Which means that for every 1000 boys, there are at least 86 girls under the age of 6 who were killed before or after birth.
This is the lowest gender ratio recorded since India’s Independence in 1947.
What is important to note here is that this data is not just about the systematic prevention of birth and continuity of females through sex-selected feticide, but it is also about the widespread and systematic killing of girls who are 6 years and under.  How are these girls being killed?
NEGLIGENT HOMICIDE
It has long been known that little girls in India are often deliberately subjected to hunger and neglect.  It is a cruel form of torture, for often it is how a family vents its anger on the daughters for being born as girls. Many are dying of malnutrition and/or starvation.  If a girl falls sick, the family often will not take her to the hospital or buy her medicines.  A 2007 UNICEF report affirmed that girls under-5 years in India had a 40% higher mortality rate than boys the same age.   This essentially is negligent homicide.
HOMICIDAL VIOLENCE
A 2011 report on a study conducted jointly by the Indian Council of Medical Research and the Harvard School of Public Health confirmed that girls under 5 years in India were dying at an abnormally high rate because they were being subject to inhumane violence at home by their families.  The study observed that girls were 21% more likely than boys to die before their 5thbirthday because of violence.  And infant girls, who were one year and younger were 50% more likely to die because of violence than boys that age.  The head researcher commented, “Shockingly this violence does not pose a threat to your life if you are lucky enough to be born a boy.”
PRE-MEDITATED MURDER
Female infanticide has a long history in India, and chillingly each region has had its own established, traditional way of killing infant girls, methods that include drowning the baby in a bucket of milk, or feeding her salt, or burying her alive in an earthen pot.  In a study by the Registrar General of India published in 2010 in the medical journal “The Lancet,” a curious factor came to light.  Girls in India of the age 1month to 5 years were dying of pneumonia and diarrhea at a rate that is 4-5 times higher than boys that age.  The study makes a critical observation — that the skewed survival rates for girls are a reflection on social bigotry against girls.  But real question is what accounts for this abnormal difference in rate and why these two medical maladies in particular?
The answer is provide by author and journalist Gita Aravamudan, in her book Disappearing Daughters (Penguin Books, 2007), which is based on her research from more than two decades of field investigations of female infanticide and feticide in India.  She observes that old, traditional methods of killing infants can be immediately detected in case infanticide is suspected and an police investigation is launched.  She says
“[To avoid arrest] families adopt more torturous methods of killing [infant girls]…Female infanticide I found had become more ‘scientific.’ Inducing pneumonia was the modern method. The infant was wrapped in a wet towel or dipped in cold water as soon as it was born or when it came back home from hospital. if, after a couple of hours, it was still alive it was taken to a doctor who would diagnose pneumonia and prescribe medicine, which the parents promptly threw away. when the child finally died, the parents had a medical certificate to prove pneumonia.  Sometimes the infant was fed a drop of alcohol to create diarrhea: another ‘certifiable disease.’ (pg.22)

NB: Sorry for the very long posts guys!

Source: http://genderbytes.wordpress.com/2011/04/01/we-are-a-nation-of-daughter-killers-affirms-india%E2%80%99s-2011-census/

Friday, March 18, 2011

DISS RHYTHM

Is it me or should the 'bitchy' side of me be blamed on the year 2011? When I wrote this I thought that I was going through one of those days... but in a span of about a month I have been writing the same weird s***! The latest ones are two of my rock vibes that are all 'i don't care' kind of songs. Think about Pink's 'So What?' That's exactly what I'm talking about guys... It's pretty worrying and am sure am gonn' do something 'bout it. Are there any friendly counselors that could reach out to ME? LOL!


'It's been a while,' as Staind put it. The months are getting hectic by the hour and am loving waking up to each day. I have been quiet, well, not entirely because I got this for you and hope you love it! Kisses



Stop watching this heart beat
While you helplessly mime the heat
That beats the crap out of me
Am in and that means deep
And Oh! I love cumin seeds…

What d’ya do when
She discreetly dates O’mien
Kisses Glen in the open
Beside the bench
Where’s home for all stench
And all you do is pretend the shit ass vibe’s cool?

She acts like this window’s full of glue
Fuck! My mood’s turning blue
From cunt hatred that you
Spewed and mashed and grew
On every corner of my room

I’m bleeding from joy
I’m loving this new toy
Go to hell and damn you boy
Time’s up for you hey!
Spit is bits you need to eat…

K8's