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Many of the first resistances against colonialism in Kenya were primarily led by women. We are learning more about Mekatilili, but also the 1922 Kikuyu women's riots against Thuku's arrest in which 3 women were shot and killed by the British. https://twitter.com/KResearcher/status/1294716231833067520
My theory is that women get written out of anti colonial histories because 1) colonisation was a projection of power from deeply patriarchal societies who couldn't fathom women's political agency. Couldn't comprehend women as political leaders (despite Victoria).
Bertrand Russell once wrote "Marco Polo never noticed that Chinese Women had tiny feet". He never wrote about foot binding because it was a thing that happened to women, and he simply wasn't looking at what women were doing. Same applies here - they simply weren't looking.
But also, they needed to create an enemy in their minds that was "worthy". Despite the contributions of working class and poor women in England for example, you still see literature dominated by the idea that war is something that men do. Leadership is for men: women follow.
2) the generation of people who wrote Kenya's colonial and early post colonial history were primarily men, educated in patriarchal mission schools, being further trained not to see the contributions of women to their political lives. The patriarchy is a feature, not a bug.
Most Kenyan societies had division of labour. Men worked, women worked. Very, very few societies (primarily in coastal city-states) had a class of women who never worked outside the home. But look at how the first independence generation interpreted the role of women in society.
So those men and the missionaries who taught them are looking at colonial politics and not seeing women's work. We know for instance that there was at least one woman in the Kenyan delegation to Lancaster House. But they write about her as if she was primarily a secretary.
Kenya's first African female mayor was elected in Kisumu in 1965. She's written out of most contemporary histories in favour of "The first African woman mayor of Nairobi" formulation, elected 5 years later. Why? Whose politics does that serve? Whose view of power is advanced?
"Until the lion learns to write, tales of hunting will always glorify the hunter". It's a cliche for a reason. Read women's histories. Learn women's histories. Teach women's histories.
