Greetings, TGHP friends!

I’ve been a bit of a recluse these past couple weeks. As I recently told a friend, “I’ve been too distracted doing the work to talk about the work I’m doing.” She assured me that it was an excusable distraction.

But in a world that’s starting to expect hourly progress updates (thanks, Twitter), I fear that my online absence is mistaken for indolence. That is not the case, but I will try again to maintain a potent virtual presence over the next couple months.

First, Daytona was an amazingly productive work space for me. I’ve completed approximately 70% of the transcriptions with The General. It is a long and tedious process, but I reap great rewards reconnecting with the material.

Second, earlier this month, I visited one of my favorite mentors – author and Professor Theodore Rosengarten – in McClellanville, South Carolina. He and his wife, Dale, requested a “Kenya debriefing session,” and I jumped at the opportunity to retell all of my stories to a relatively new audience (most of my family and friends have cut me off already). They were excited to listen to The General and watch some of my videos – a tour of the tea farm, a church service, the family reunion.

They encouraged me to keep my head down and finish the transcribing. “Dr. Ted” believes that once I read all of the transcriptions, an appropriate form will emerge to organize the material. It was wonderful to receive their guidance and support. Although it’s nice to hear my parents tell me how smart I am, Dr. Ted and Dale gave me a great deal of confidence that the work I’m doing is important – and mostly, they think that I can do it.

Third, my good friend Katie invited me to speak to her Global History summer school class last week. She teaches at a high school in Brooklyn/East New York. I told her that I only accept speaking fees in livestock, so she bought me a hamburger, and we called it even. She requested that I talk about Imperialism in Africa and the Kenyan Independence movement, but the kids wanted to hear more about life in Africa and how you could possibly bathe without a shower. I tried to strike a healthy balance between what might appear on their exam and what they found interesting – always a delicate dance.

I think they learned something and provided me with some good insight (”Instead of taking that gikama shit, I’d just climb a tree and run away” – said one 17-year-old boy in response to a story about the General’s father being accused of adultery and carrying the red-hot iron brick to prove his innocence. I thought the student might want to reconsider the order of events, “running” before “climbing a tree” but commended his idea.).

Katie was delighted with how the presentation went. She did get a little nervous when I started with, “In 1940, African soldiers fought with the British against the Japanese in World War II. There, they learned that the same bullet that would kill an African also killed a white person. For the first time, they realized the Europeans were vulnerable and defeatable.” All-in-all, a very good experience.

Forth, apologies for this very long blog. I will wrap up now and hopefully do another one within a week’s time. Hope everyone is having a lovely summer and doing their part to preserve a little piece of culture and history.

Sending good thoughts – Laura Lee/Nkirote