milayetu

She made numerous trips to Maryland via the Underground Railroad, to make the necessary preparations to free slaves. The underground railroad was a series of loosely connected routes which included paths, roads, tunnels, barns, houses and waterways. They were used soley for the purposes of freeing enslaved persons. This is one of the shelters in the underground railroad used to provide shelter for slaves on the run.

The white strips were the major Underground Railroad routes.

One her first trip she escorted her sister and two of her sister’s children to freedom. She took a second trip to rescue her brother and two other men. On her third return she went to rescue her husband, only to find that he had married another wife. She decided to look for other slaves who wanted freedom and escorted them. By 1860, Harriet had made 19 trips to the slave country, including one especially risky and challenging journey to rescue her 70-year-old parents.

Her strategy was fairly simple. She and her “fugitives” normally started their journey on Saturday night, since runaway notices could not be placed till Monday morning. She even had a drug that she would use on babies to stop them from crying especially when hiding from slave hunters. She also carried a gun, which she used to protect and threaten the fugitives especially those who threatened of giving up and going back. She had a simple rule to those whom she helped escape, “Death to any who talked of giving out or going back”. She believed in killing traitors for she knew a traitor who is alive is more dangerous than one who is dead.

'General Moses' in one of her trips

Her strong personality and determination forced obedience from her followers, of whom she had many. She was their ‘Mosses’ and was there to free them from captivity. She sometimes dressed as an old woman or a man to hide her identity. She sometimes travelled South to deliberately throw the slave hunters off track. She had coded messages that she used to tell her followers when it was safe to come out of their hiding places and move on. She was commonly and fondly referred by her followers and equalls as 'General Moses'.

By 1856, there was a reward of $40,000 upon her capture. But this did not deter her activities. Though illiterate Harriet was able to outsmart her opponents. Of great assistance to her was the then US senator and former New York state governor William H. Seward and his wife. They provided a home for Harriet’s family. They later so ld their house to Harriet at a small fee, and the home became a base for her operations.

During the outbreak of the civil war (1861-1865), Harriet served as a soldier, spy, scout, guerilla leader and a nurse for the union army(The union army advocated for the emancipation of slaves). One of her most spectacular missions during the war was when she piloted a colonel and his black troops(she was the first woman to ever command and army). She ended up rescuing 756 slaves.

After the war, Harriet returned to Auburn New York and a married man called Nelson Davis. A man there in the same army during the civil war. They built a house in South Street, near their original house. That house was demolished in 1944, on orders from the city council. The house was later rebuilt in her memory in 1953, under the auspices of the AME Zion church. The original framework of the building remains the same.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It's the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can't see.
I say,
It's in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need of my care,
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

The president of Kenya hon. Mwai Kibaki on Sunday the 18^th of February 2007 unveiled the long awaited and fought for statue of the late Dedan Kimathi, fifty years after his death. Dedan was a Mau Mau warrior that helped fight for the independence of this country. It is one of the steps the government has taken to prove that it is determined to honour our heroes.

There are many stories that are said about his man. In fact there are so many that I do not know what to believe anymore. What all this stories have in common is that he was determined to free this nation. So determined was he that he was not afraid to step on the toes of his own people in the process. Just like the first president of this country, Mzee Kenyatta, he was a strong leader, dictator-like (for lack of a better word).

Sam Kahiga has attempted to write a documentary novel on Dedan Kimathi in his book, Dedan Kimathi; the real story. He builds his story from Kimathi’s documents some of which he claims have never been published before.

Nevertheless the book is intriguing. It portrays the intricacies of the war and divided loyalties. It shows just how much people wanted their freedom and the lengths they were willing to go. It showed the strength and the weaknesses of the struggle. It also shows the role women played in the fight. The book does not talk much of Dedan’s childhood but talks a lot about his life in the forest, and climaxes with his arrest and death. You will keep turning those pages. It evokes love, laughter, pride sadness and even disappointment.

Life for fighters in the forest as vividly described by the author was very challenging. Dedan is portrayed as a very cool and organised leader in the forest. He was not known for holding the gun and shooting, but he organised others to do so. He had some kind of government in the forest, and was determined to make his role as a leader known. This did not go well with some of the fighters especially those who were much older and experienced than he was. The book also shows the kind of relationship he had with the famous Stanley Mathenge, the rivalry between the two. Dedan believed in the importance of education and used this aspect to appoint other leaders. He also knew the importance of solidarity in the struggle and tried to avoid confrontation. But when pushed to the limit sometimes a man becomes desperate, and it is in this desperation that some make mistakes that may end up causing their lives. When some out rightly refused to be commanded by Dedan he had them arrested. Yes! In the forest according to Sam Kahiga, Dedan had a cell made for his own people. This led to further division among the people and by the end of the story Dedan is betrayed by his own people.

At the end of the story one is left to wonder would Kenya have handled such two strong leaders; Mzee Kenyatta and Dedan Kimathi. Nevertheless he was a man to be admired. It is a book worth reading, whether the story is true or not, well I guess we may never know but this is what is said of the book;

“In this documentary novel, the author, after detailed research, gives us a fresh and convincing portrait of the Mau Mau hero along with his followers, both men and women. For the first time we have a credible flesh-and-blood Kimathi.”