Correcting ‘big lie' about Gedi Ruins

Gedi Ruins in Kilifi. PHOTO | LABAN WALLOGA | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • I was deeply bothered and angered by a recurring instance during my travels in Kenya: the attribution of Kenya’s Swahili ruins to the Arabs and the presentation of native black Kenyans as passive participants in what is one of the most defining heritages and cultural markers of East Africa and the continent as a whole.

  • Tour guides at Gedi even went so far as to tell me that the only influence black Kenyans had in the history of Gedi and other Swahili city-states were as slaves and that is because they, in his own words, “were not strong people”.

I recently visited your beautiful country from June 16 to June 28. I loved every minute of it! There are no words to articulate the impact of the motley of experiences I had.

Enjoying nyama choma at Carnivore; the Kenya National Archives; the Nairobi National Museum; Nairobi National Park; Fourteen Falls; jumping with the Maasai; reading about the ancient urban settlement of Thimlich Ohinga; interacting with the hospitable Kenyan people; and visiting Gedi are among the many experiences that have enriched my life beyond compare.

However, I was deeply bothered and angered by a recurring instance during my travels in Kenya: the attribution of Kenya’s Swahili ruins to the Arabs and the presentation of native black Kenyans as passive participants in what is one of the most defining heritages and cultural markers of East Africa and the continent as a whole.

Tour guides at Gedi even went so far as to tell me that the only influence black Kenyans had in the history of Gedi and other Swahili city-states were as slaves and that is because they, in his own words, “were not strong people”.

The two tour guides—both black Kenyans—stated that the city of Gedi was an Arab town even though evidence to confirm this is nonexistent.

The Arabs made no mention of Gedi in any of their writings. As far as some archaeologists are concerned, the Arabs did not even know about Gedi and the presence of Arab script was done by the Swahili people due to them being Muslims.

Second, in the Gedi Museum that is located near the ruins, it states affirmatively that while Persians and Arabs had significant influence in the development of Swahili city-states, the origins, rulers, and inhabitants remained dominantly African. This contradicts what the tour guides told me.

The Swahili coast was home to a bustling trade network that preceded the arrival of Arab settlement, according to the Greeks during the 2nd century.

DISPROVE MYTH

There are many, many anthropological records and studies that disprove the myth promoted by racist Europeans who did not want to believe that Africans and Africa had many prosperous and advanced kingdoms and settlements.

I am fully aware that the term “Arab” does not refer to a race and that there are indeed many black Arabs as there are white ones.

I am also aware that Kenyans do not have the same long history of institutionalised racism and discrimination that many countries in the Americas do in spite of the shared history of colonisation and slavery.

There is a long history in the United States as it pertains to black history of whitewashing the grand accomplishments of black people and attributing them to white people.

This happens in all areas including inventions, music, cuisine, fashion, language, medicine, research, and ancient African history.

The message that black people are sent in the Americas (North and South) is that black people have no history; Africa was uncivilised prior to the arrival of Europeans and white skinned Arabs; and that we, black Americans in North and South America, were lucky to be taken from the continent, we were saved from the wasteland that is Africa. That is what we are indirectly taught to believe.

Now, when you have black Kenyans spouting the achievements of Arabs when, indeed, the achievements are those of black Kenyans, you are supporting that racist message and indoctrination.

I am not asking for black Africans to be given credit for something in which no evidence exist.

No, there is overwhelming evidence that the Swahili city-states, while influenced by outside cultures, were still primarily the work of black Africans.

It is in your very own museums!!!!! Please Kenya, do not allow your history to be whitewashed, and send the message to black Kenyans and black people beyond that we were only slaves, subjugated, and nothing more.

There is overwhelming evidence from the sketches, documentation, and first-hand accounts of the Portuguese, English, French, Indians, Chinese, Greeks, and Arabs talking about the splendour of ancient African kingdoms and city-states.

Please address this and ensure your tour guides are aware that Swahili culture is primarily the influence of black Africans.

The confidence, self-esteem, and psychological well-being of black African children is at risk.

If this is not done then I cannot, in good conscience, recommend any black person to visit Kenya’s historic cultural sites if all they are going to hear is that it is the product of white-skinned Arabs.