Live and let live: Time for Kenyans to stop 'locking people in boxes'

An aerial view of Nairobi City [Wilberforce Okwiri, Standard]

“Your name betrays you” is a nightmare to many.

The fear of being rejected because you go by a particular label that is associated with particular mannerisms is a hurdle many have had to jump over. There is so much to the tags that we use to label each other.

Be it along the lines of gender, race, nationality, ethnic groupings and clannism. It is a common occurrence for one to be traced back to the doorstep of your ancestral homes simply through the surnames. It is an exciting yet confusing experience.

The ability to identify with something greater than you is a natural aspect of being that is triggered by these experiences. However, how about those who do not identify with the groupings they found themselves in? Are they not justified to be? Why does society feel the need to lock people in boxes?

A continuous process of introspecting our value systems by evaluating what informs them and monitoring how they serve the collective, is of necessity. The standards by which we hold ourselves accountable inform how we are represented. Accepting less and dumbing down a regressional inlet that takes us down to the gutters of ethical fading. Perhaps, it is the diabolic approach to issues and situations that undo progression. Preaching water and drinking wine, yet whining when others do as we 'pretend not to,' is the crossroads at which power is given away. Value systems modeled around the confines of zero empathy and lack of appreciation of divergent privileges only serve but a few. 

Living and letting live allows for humane experiences to thrive. There is a need to acknowledge, "uncomfortable truths". The truths that are too hurtful and too dehumanising. Hand-me-down "truths" have long stereotyped and marginalised others along the lines of tribe, economic status, gender, nationality and race. Raising awareness of our individual contributions to these stereotypical acts is perhaps the gateway to re-tracking the social misgivings.

Building bridges could be strategic but not without mending the broken trust between the people, their leadership and the system. Wanjiku's hesitation towards the call to bridge their realities calls for the readjustments in the wheel of fortune to accommodate both the have and hav-nots.

A definite pre-requisite to harmonising the collective is ingraining the sense of belonging and ownership. This enhances our abilities to appreciate, learn and embrace those that share their truth. Bashing and trolling the likes of Makena Njeri who walk, speak and live in the truth of their humanness by taking a stand on their identity only constricts the essence of our being. Makena's TedTalk elaborates why different is not necessarily evil. Instead of preaching to the choir perhaps learning our individual modus operandi could loosen us and fast-track our growth process.

Deconstructing our value systems to fit different human existence enlightens engagement. An engagement that values and prioritises individual experiences, accommodates and appreciates the different representations of the collective. Revising our social contracts is eminent in achieving unity, peace and liberty. Regrouping is crucial in defending, amplifying, and equalising the anthem of the republic. A just republic that never hoodwinks the incapacitations of the system. A republic that is humanely just.