AZMA DESIGN INFO
About Shujaa
SHUJAA : a Swahili word which means HERO and/or WORRIOR.
This design is a commemoration to ALL the brave men and women who fought and died in the liberation struggle for our land from the crushing oppression of the British imperialists. Our intention was to include everyone who played a role in the freedom movement and to let them know that they are not forgotten. After all, is it not an Afrikan belief that our ancestors are still with us?
The word HESHIMA means RESPECT, and ULINZI means to DEFEND.
These are principles that the colonialists denied Kenyans of, and the reasons that a group of men took it upon themselves to do something about it for posterity's sake. Land is one of the most precious of possessions to ALL Africans. The soil in Afrika is probably the most fertile on the planet. It is the source of our livelihood and, as the colonialists came to discover, Afrika is rich in all manner of raw materials.
The letters, KLFA (though in rather small print) play a major part to this pictorial story.
They stand for KENYA LAND FREEDOM ARMY. What was the KLFA? Despite our being taught about this incredible organization in our history lessons, few remember that it was the military arm of the Mau Mau Movement. It was extremely well structured with regards to its modus operandi. It consisted of the Mau Mau Central Committee which was the overall decision making body of the Movement. The KLFA was the armed wing of the organization. Wherever there was a battle to be fought, it was the KLFA that were called upon. They fell under the command of General Mathenge wa Murigi. His deputy was General Enoch Mwangi. It was founded in 1952 and terminated at the advent of independence.
During its inception its primary duties were:
to help the Central Committee in politicizing and educating the oppressed masses in order to deepen their anti-imperialist nationalism;
to eliminate the internal and external enemies of the Movement and to organize intelligence agents to infiltrate the colonial machinery;
to recruit Kenyan youth into the resistance Movement, particularly to persuade them to join the Mau Mau armed forces;
to collect funds from cadres and general membership. It also organized a KLFA special unit whose task was to fund the clandestine revolutionary Movement through robbing the colonial financial institutions and foreign and domestic businesses; and
to give military training and ideological education to Mau Mau leadership and its leading cadres.
(Extracted from Maina wa Kinyatti's book Mau Mau: A Revolution Betrayed)
There is a wealth of information about the Freedom struggle and the people who took part in it. This information is out there. For those in the United States you are blessed to have The Mau Mau Research Center in N.Y. and its founder, a true Son-of-the-Soil, Maina wa Kinyatti, as a direct point of reference. For us in Kenya, needn't go far to find survivors of this tragic period in our history. We have included a list of recommended publications to choose from on this subject.
Recommended reading:
-Mau Mau: A Revolution Betrayed by Maina was Kinyatti
-Dedan Kimathi: the real story by Sam Kahiga
-The Gikuyu and the White Fury by Henry Muoria
-The Trial of Dedan Kimathi by Ngugi wa Thiong'o.
About Kenya
KENYA 63 : This design was inspired purely by our love for this land and its people.
We decided to go the more urban, modern style. We felt that it would have a wider reach this way.
Some related info about KENYA.
- Capital city: Nairobi.
- Current President: His Excellency Mwai Kibaki.
- Prime Minister:Raila A. Odinga
- Ruling Party:Grand National Coalition
- Population: Approx. 34 million.
- Economic activities: Tourism and agriculture.
- National language: Kiswahili.
- Ethnic dialects: 46.
- National carrier: Kenya Airways.
- The people: Warm, friendly, hospitable.
- Tourist attractions: Game reserves and National Parks e.g. the Masai Mara hotels and lodges e.g. world renowned Treetops in the Aberdare game reserve, and our famous beach resort/hotels in Mombasa. Famous for: our long distance athletes, fantastic weather, arresting landscape, award winning beers, beautiful women, hard working citizens, F1 & F2 (u better ax' somebody!), nyama choma (roasted goat meat), Sheng (our local slang), beautiful women (not again by mistake), and much more.
UNDUGU means BOTHERHOOD/BROTHERLINESS, AMANI means PEACE and UHURU means FREEDOM. The number 63 represents the year Kenya attained independence.
About Tembo
We are not going to pretend and get all deep and philosophical about this design.
It was made for rugby loving, funhaving, beer guzzling fans.
Any resemblance of this design to anything you may have seen is purely coincidental.
Having said that.... TEREMSHA TEMBO (DOWN THE ELEPHANT)!!
TEMBO is Swahili for ELEPHANT.
Caution: Please drink responsibly. Don't drink and drive, drink and think.
About USA [ United States of Afrika ]
We are not going to unite because we are black, but because we identify with the legacies of black people : Juan de Dios Mosquera.
Before the advent of the Berlin Conference in 1884-1885 where Afrika was divided amongst the European nations like so much cake in what became known as 'The Berlin Act', Afrika was one unified entity, borderless, unencumbered in movement, a diverse people, living amongst each other and nature.
We knew who we were; we had (and still have) a rich and colourful culture and heritage, highly intelligent and profoundly spiritual. We are the most ancient of cultures. All this, the European Colonizing Nations tried to debase and erase.
From this period until present day, our beloved continent has never been the same. We have been transformed into a divided people, suspicious and resentful of our diversity, and this division has been, and continues to be, influenced by those with vested interest in this land and its possessions.
But there were a few who understood that our survival rested in our unity. These few included the likes of the Afrikan American thinker and scholar W. E. B. DuBois, the organizer of the first Pan-African Congress in 1919. From this point on the advocacy for a United Afrika became the rallying cry. The voices of the Trinidadian radical George Padmore and Indian revolutionary Shapuiji Saklaatvala were heard.
The giants of Afrikan Unity like Kwame Nkurma, H. M. Haile Selassie I, and Mu'ammar al-Quathafi argued, and some continue to argue their cases from the podiums of Congress. Jomo Kenyatta and Patrice Lumumba were not to be left behind.
So, why are we not united? The failure of this vision rests squarely on the shoulders of some of our short sighted leaders. They're inability to translate words into action has left us at this crossroad for far too long. Europe has united. The USA, Canada and Mexico are in the motions of uniting, while we continue to "talk".
'Only a united Africa can redeem its past glory, renew and reinforce its strength for the realization of its destiny.
We are today the richest and yet the poorest of continents, but in unity our continent could smile in a new era of prosperity and power.'
- Kwame Nkuruma.
What are we waiting for?
Our Roots
Our strengths as a people are as a consequence of our past & those who have gone before us, they who have made their mark in Our-story & built the foundation for us.
They are the reason & the cause for us to forget not 'Our Roots' - who we are, where we came from & where we are headed.
...I have come to stay, not to be blown balloon in the crazy chilly
wind of Babylon ,
but to stay strong in roots that made me thick
I have come to stay like tomorrow
Without end.
I have a past, my past is my life
The mother of my future.
Like every other journey to the peak
I am ready to take care of the
ups & downs,
to be loved and cherished in the crown of my heritage
I have a past.
Heritage by;
'Chidi A. Okoye'
About Binti
BINTI : This design is for our beautiful black mothers, daughters, and sisters.
It is our way of telling them that we love and appreciate them for whom and what they are.
In today's changing world, our Afrikan mothers/sisters are being poisoned with the notion that in order to be accepted by society and to be regarded beautiful one has to have a light shade of skin. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Afrikan skin was designed by the Creator to the highest specification. It contains Melanin, the pigment that gives Afrikans their distinctive dark skin colour. There are many skin tones to be found in Afrikans peoples, from what is sometimes described as 'blue-black' to the very fairest of skin tones. This is a natural occurrence amongst Afrikans. Melanin also enables us to withstand the scorching sun w/o the use of sun-block creams. Additionally, Africkan skin ages very well.
The numerous skin lightening creams that are advertised are hazardous for the skin. It is purported that they contain many harmful chemicals that are detrimental to ones health. Don't just take our word for it, check the ingredients of these products on the internet and verify for yourselves. Needless to say, it goes against nature. Furthermore, in what has come to be known as 'a male dominated world', it is women who are the pillars of society. It is well known in Afrikan society that it is women who establish the home. And a good home is the foundation of a well grounded family, and by that extension, a strong community, nation, etc. Binti means DAUGHTER and/or SISTER.
This design is for you. It's our way of saying that we love you. You are black. You are strong. You are beautiful. Love the skin your in.
About Mrembo
QUEEN NEFERTITI and QUEEN MAKEDA (the Queen of Sheba) have gone down in the annals of history as two of the most beautiful women that ever were.
These were the women of antiquity who captivated what would be regarded today as global headlines. They were outstanding women of character in their own unique ways.
Queen Nefertiti's beauty (her name means "the beautiful one has arrived") was so stunning that it was immortalized in a bust that is today at the center of a stormy dispute between the museums of Egypt and Germany . The Egyptian's want it back but the German museum curator claims that the museum of Cairo does not have an indoor climatic environment to house the bust. This is a typical baseless excuse for such timeless works of art not being repatriated to there rightful home, weather they crumble to dust or not.
The Abyssinian (Ethiopian) Queen Makeda, the renowned "Queen of Sheba" is yet another Afrikas' beautiful women. When King Solomon saw her he declared his undying love for her and as a result of their affair she bore him a son. It was believed that the late Emperor Haille Selasse I of Abyssinia (Ethiopia) was the descendant of King Solomon by virtue of this union, hence his reverence by the Rastafarian movement.
In Islam, Bilal conceptualized what Muslims believe about Paradise, one of the promises to the faithful male being "Hur-al-Oyum" (Black-eyed daughters of Paradise ; African Virgins). These are the "seventy-two lustily beautiful creatures" that are promised to every male believer, who himself will possess eternal youth and vigor. Such was the pursuit of the African woman (Dr. Josef Ben Jochannan, The African Origin of the Major Western Religions).
And yet these women were not mere faces to look at, they were also powerful leaders! Queen Nefertiti was the wife of Amenhotep the IV (later to become Akenahten), the Pa-Ra (mispronounced "Pharaoh" by the Greeks) responsible for the worlds first monotheistic concept of God, hundreds of years before the advent of Moses.
Queen Makeda reigned supreme over an empire that ranged all the way from Central Afrika all the way to the Ganges River in India , Asia (Dr. Josef Ben Jochannan, Black Man of the Nile and His Family, page 229).
Examples of these women can be found everywhere in the continent of Afrika and in the Diaspora. They are our mothers, sisters, aunts, cousins. You will see them everyday walking in the streets and in the countryside. They are CEO's, soldiers, doctors, lawyers, hairdressers, ministers, activists, models. They are strong, black and confident. They are the backbone of the home!
Man will forever be in awe and pursuit of them. They say; "we can't live with them, can't live without them." But one thing is certain, without them we, both men and women, would not be here. There will always be beautiful women, and no matter how beautiful they may be, like the Swahili say; "warembo bado hawajazaliwa" (the beautiful ones are not yet born).
Mrembo = Beautiful. 7
About Nubian Queen
The Kingdom is possible because of the Queen. The king is the King is the Sign... the Queen is the Symbol... - Warren Blakely.
The context of this design embraces a global idea of the Afrikan woman as opposed to a geographical concept. It portrays the significance and influence the black woman has had since yore.
Close reflection of Nubian and Kemetic culture & history will show that women played an important role. Unlike the rest of the world at the time Women in Nubia and ancient Kemet exercised significant control. Throughout ancient Afkrikan History Women were portrayed as bearers of the offspring of the gods.
Today Nubian women have a different experience. Nevertheless, Nubian Women fulfill a demanding & unique series of roles.
In Africa the woman's place was not only with her family. She often ruled nations with unquestioned authority...(Dr. John Henrik Clarke).
We salute the Afrikan woman, our Nubian Queen!