Black peace. What comes to mind when you hear those words?

When I first heard that the theme of this year’s Storymoja Festival was to be ‘Black Peace’, I wondered whether there was a connection to the African American’s ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement. Or at the very least, a customization of it that would fit our culture. Later, I asked myself, does it matter really? I think not.

Many parallels can be drawn from the theme ‘black peace’. The most obvious one is this. Kenya is in her second election year since the unfortunate post-election violence of 2007/8. That state of unrest and violence shook many Kenyans to the core. I believe many of us did not think we were capable of such heinous acts to one another.

Peace can be elusive. Particularly so when we take it for granted.

Peace. Dictionary definition. ‘The normal, non-warring condition of a nation, group of nations or the world’. There’s also these two other definitions:

• A state of mutual harmony between people or groups, especially in personal relations
• The normal freedom from civil commotion and violence of a community; public order and security

 

More often than not, when we speak of peace, we think about keeping the peace in the nation or the world. How often do we consider peace within our homes? What about peace within ourselves?

To me, ‘black peace’ refers to a state of mutual harmony between black people. A state of being that allows me to be who I am, whoever I consider that to be, and do so in a state of mutual harmony with others. If for one reason or another, mutual harmony cannot be reached, then a state of harmony within myself is just as relevant.

Peace within matters. Peace without can be of no use if we do not live within a state of mutual harmony within ourselves. And how exactly, pray tell, can we have peace within ourselves when we keep being told we’re  not black enough?

What does being black enough mean? If I don’t speak my mother tongue, why does that make me less African?

Art is a form of expression I enjoy learning from. Yet I cannot ignore that even in artistic expression, being black enough is a matter that gets called into question.

All the more reason I am excited to see how the 2017 Storymoja Festival expresses what society desires. A way to find peace within ourselves even as we expresses our most dilute ‘blackness’. A way to understand black peace.