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What An African Woman Thinks

• November 10, 2008
• 23:19

  So You Want to Be Famous?

   » ‎ What An African Woman Thinks
  I was over at The Root, reading Kim McLarin’s piece on Michelle Obama, the First lady of the United States and this anecdote told to her by some former Clinton staffers caught me by surprise and made me laugh out loud and pity the first lady all at once:
  
  

  In trying to get a sense of what Michelle's new life might be like, I called Ann Walker Marchant, who was a communications adviser in the Clinton administration. She recalled for me a moment when she and her roommate, Capricia Marshall, the White House social secretary, received an urgent 4 a.m. call from the White House usher's office. Mrs. Clinton, it seemed, had risen early and gone to the kitchen to make some eggs.
  

  "Everybody was freaking out," Marchant said. "'She's in the kitchen! She's in her bathrobe. Should we go in? What should we do?' One minute you're out there campaigning and then, all of a sudden, you're there and you want to make some eggs and people are making phone calls about it."

  It's my window, but I don't own the view.
• 12:30

  The Worst of Nairobi, The Best of Nairobi

   » ‎ What An African Woman Thinks
  I visited with a friend who runs a food outlet in Nairobi today. I listened to horror stories of regular harassment by bully city council employees who descend like vultures on her business soliciting bribes on threat of arrest for violation of obscure city bylaws she knows nothing about. I left really angry at all the roadblocks that stand in the way of small businesses, in Nairobi, as if it isn’t hard enough to survive without the system tripping you up all over the place. I was frustrated in particular, because I wanted so badly to do something about it but I couldn’t think of anything I could do that would make a difference.
  
  Then, as I was leaving, I found someone had double parked behind me and gone off to I-don’t-know-where. I had to manoeuvre my way out through this really narrow space between this big-bodied car on the one side and an intimidating protruding cement structure on the other side.
  
  As I braced myself to attempt the feat, passers-by, seeing my predicament, gathered around me and without my soliciting their help, began to guide me. Through the rear view mirror, I saw a young woman approach my car and paused to give her way. She declined to pass, offering to be my eyes instead, to help me steer through the narrow space.
  
  It was an intense five minutes or so, with much wincing and many sharp intakes of breathe. But, I made it. Eight or so Kenyans, strangers to me, stood around, smiled their relief, cheered, and then went their merry way on to their business.
  
  Nairobi makes me so mad sometimes I could throttle it with my bare hands. And then again, I love love love Nairobi.It's my window, but I don't own the view.
• 11:03

  R.I.P Mama Africa

   » ‎ What An African Woman Thinks
  Miriam Makeba passed away last night.
  
  It's the definitive end of an era for those of us who grew up listening to the haunting, soulful sound of her music as she gave voice to the struggle of black men and women during South Africa's apartheid era.
  
  I still recall, wistfully, how she and Winnie Mandela occupied the same lofty space in my young impressionable mind, revered as strong women, freedom fighters, voices of the struggle, valiantly taking their place at the battlefront, fighting for the soul of South Africa.
  
  She lived a full life, she made her mark, she leaves a rich legacy.
  
  Africa salutes you, Miriam Makeba.
  
  Rest in peace.It's my window, but I don't own the view.