Binyavanga, the brave and independent

Today, we think of the men and women who won our Independence for us. There is State Independence, there is professional independence, and there is personal independence – and the stricken founder of our post-millennial Kenyan literature, Binyavanga Wainaina, embodies all three. Allow me to explain.

In an era where body image is everything, from the ‘Big is Beautiful’ movement to the ‘big is bothersome’ hate talk (fuelled by some weekend columnists), and with all sorts of programmes like ‘The Ultimate Challenge’ on KTN television, a lot of folks could well learn from Binya’s battle of the body.

He wore his weight lightly, threw it around, figuratively speaking, by which I mean he developed a high sense of confidence and self esteem, even if weight was something he had struggled with from childhood, and we all know how cruel kids can be.

Then there was Binyavanga’s battle over his own mind and career space. Designated by his dad to study accounts, Binya rebelled while on study in South Africa, and for a decade, lived the lonely life of the ‘makwerekwere,’ letting his ‘weakness’ for food become the foundation stone of his writing (he wrote small recipe and cookery pieces in some South African newspapers).

That just goes to show that any and every dream begins with you taking that one small step, that will launch you into your journey of a thousand miles.

The battle for ‘books’ by Binya began in earnest in the year 2,000 AD, after he had to return from SA to Kenya for his mom’s burial. Now 30, Binya knew time was running out for him and in desperation, did everything he could in straw-grasping, including entering the Caines’ short story writing competition whose modest winnings gave him seed money to found Kwani?

In the early oh-ohs, that style of our ‘new writing’ became a source of opprobrium by the Campus canon, never mind that now we have the Chris Wanjalas, Henry Indagasis and even critics like Egara Kabaji with us, not to mention the younger literary guns like Dr Tom Odhiambo of the UON.

‘How to Write About Africa’ was Binya’s next step in the ‘war for the soul of this darkest of continents.’ Savour his opening salvo in that salacious but eye-opening essay: ‘Always use the word ‘Africa’ or ‘Darkness’ in your title. Subtitles may include these words – Zanzibar, Maasai, Zulu, Zambezi, Congo, Nile, Big, Sky, Shadow, Drum, Sun, or Bygone.’

In that younger era, Binya nurtured the likes of Billy Kahora, myself and even Chimamanda Adichie, with whom they remain very good friends. Once-upon-a-time in Montreal, I was very proud of the way Wainaina argued the case for ‘African literature’ at the Blue Metropolis, passionately, eloquently.

Then came the time at the very start of last year when Binyavanga ‘came out’ and went on Jeff Koinange’s show and told the world that he was gay.

Whatever we heterosexuals think, that was a battle for his soul and those who have chosen, or been born, into that ‘alternative’ lifestyle. It was also incredibly brave.

Now Binyavanga, our buddy, is in India after a stroke and facing a battle for survival. My own late mother suffered a massive cerebral episode in 1980 but lived and brought us up with her handicap for 15 years more, and those being the big, dark, bygone years when strokes cast darkness over the sky like sun shadow over the Nile/ Congo/ Zambezi, if she survived, I do believe that Binya in 2016 will thrive.

Somewhere in India, there is a Kenyan called Binya who deserves a state award of some sort.

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