Someone once paused and questioned their reality: Am I real? Do the things I see truly exist? Is this all a dream—or perhaps a simulation? Such questions often mark the beginning of an inquiry into the self, a journey to explore identity and existence. See the Story of this 16th Century local man ?
At the heart of this journey lies one question above all others: Who am I? And naturally, it is followed by Where am I?
Me ni nani? Na niko wapi? – sounds like a typical Kenyan police inquiry. But in truth, these questions strike at the heart of human existence.
Who Am I and Where Am I? The Kenyan Perspective
For many Kenyans—indeed, for people across the globe—the answers to these questions are pre-written by the societies into which they are born. These societal scripts provide a ready-made identity. They urge us to fall in line, to sing along without question. The major influences shaping these identities in Kenya include African traditions, Middle Eastern religions like Christianity and Islam, and Asian philosophies. Each offers its followers a structured framework to answer Who am I? and Where do I belong?
In the case of Waiyaki(made up character from yours truly Ngugi wa Thiong’o), being Kikuyu and Christian gives Waiyaki two sets of answers. “As a Kikuyu, I am a part of the nerve endings that join others, connecting to the spine of Gikuyu and Mumbi, our ancestral parents. As a Christian, I am a child of God. And then, of course, I am also Kenyan, shaped by the post-Berlin Conference borders that carved out our nation.” These are the templates available to locals—identities we can draw upon whenever those existential questions arise.
The Inner Voice: Knowing Yourself Beyond Society’s Labels
But hako ka feeling—that deeper awareness within you? That sense of knowing yourself in ways that no one else could possibly grasp? Even when you lie to the world, there’s an unshakable part of you that knows the truth. I think Kasongo deep down anajua ni role anaplay just like all presidents before him ya kuplease imprelialist. anyway back to the main kamukunji This inner voice often whispers, I know who I am. It can feel more authentic than the templates we inherit.
Yet, trusting only this self-awareness is fraught with its own limitations. After all, our perspective is bound by the brevity of our lives. Not long ago, we were children, and before that, even our consciousness hadn’t fully arrived. In those vulnerable stages, we looked to others—parents, guardians, storytellers—to help us piece together the thread of our existence. Their stories, their histories, form the foundation of our own.
The Staircase of Identity: Connecting Past and Present
Identity, then, is a staircase—a continuous thread connecting the present to the past. It begins with you, extends to your parents, their parents, and beyond. In Kenya, this staircase moves through parents and family, merges into clans, then into tribes, and finally larger groups like the Bantus, Cushites, and Nilotes. Beyond that lies the collective identity of humanity itself, where all distinctions blur into a single, universal species.
Why Go Back? Lessons from Our Ancestors
Ati naistretch?—do we really have to go back this far to understand ourselves? The answer, surprisingly, is yes. For instance, consider the common male sexual urge for multiple partners. If you are a man seeking to deeply understand such feelings and what drives them, your father might not hold the answer. However, a broader view—perhaps one informed by a psychology or big history class—reveals that these urges are universal across races, not unique to one man or family. They are shaped biologically, inherited through genes passed down from ancestors for whom such behaviors were crucial to survival. Back then, successful reproduction and producing many offspring were deciding factors in the survival of our species.
To truly answer Who am I?, you must embrace this journey. You must reach back through the layers of time, through the familiar and the distant, until you find the place where your story and the story of humanity become one. Only then can you grasp the richness of your identity. Bookmark this blog as we are already on this journey and we can explore the Kenyan past together.