VPSA: Value, problem, solution & action;

What we value the most is our tribe, our people,

We forget about our country,

And the cultures that standout.

I value how one country carries 48 tribes,

I value how one country carries different people of color.

Tribe and racism eat us from the roots,

Inter-marriages may be sophisticated but not impossible,

But how does inter-friendship hurt us?

From when we are young up to the age of 18 we have friends from all over its funny how we suddenly realize Mutiso is a Kamba and Mungai a Kikuyu.

Who breaks the seal off our eyes while matching to adulthood?

Employment turned to a game of tribe,

Friendship is a bet of the tribal group,

To live or to die is based on your skin color.

It breaks my heart, the decay in our values,

How a Luo, a kikuyu and a Kalenjin are political enemies,

Yet we dine together, bring up our kids together.

I have heard of people shunning to call their kids names from their tribes,

For they believe they are from one country, zero tribes.

This is deep in so many levels, I get that we are hurt due to tribalism

And ethnic conflicts. Some of us have lost families, homes, our lives

Turned upside down due to tribal clashes. The question I put forward is,

Discrediting, disowning, denial, leaving behind and forgetting our cultures,

Our tribe, our languages is it the road to breaking tribalism, ethnicity and racism?

How deep are the roots? Or how soiled is the water we drink from?

That we are unable to uproot and condemn tribalism but still uphold different beautiful cultures.

How soiled are we that we are unable to cleanse our systems and just love how Meru and Kalenjin’s have a beautiful accent,

How Kikuyus have an amazing struggle with the l and r, while the Luos struggle with s and sh.

All this is beautiful the different foods, clothes, values, and teachings in our cultures.

Let’s kill tribalism but not our tribes,

Our ancestors lived together, it was not easy but they found a way to live together.

One community or tribe does not have to be extinct for the other communities to have peace.

The beauty of life is that there are common grounds we can step on together, we only have to figure it out.

The beauty of life is in the different colors we put on,

Let’s kill ethnicity but not the ethnic groups.

Let’s kill racism but not the different races,

For there is beauty in our differences.

Tribalism > prejudice <Racism,

All linked by ignorance and fear,

Exploited by those who want

To divide & rule our society.

MaryMwas ❤