Home / Art-And-Culture

Tribute to Zarina Patel by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o speaking at Eastleigh High School in 2015 with Zarina Patel in the background.

By Eastleigh Voice Reporter | 28 Apr 2024

You, sister Zarina Patel...You always marched step by step with all seekers of justice.

Zarina you have left us

To be with us always

Keep reading

Curtain falls on Kenyan author and rights activist Zarina Patel

You were there when workers marched for adequate wages

You were there when peasants marched to defend their lands

You marched with all who march to demand adequate shelters

You marched with students rejecting education for sale and profit

Who demanded education for self-confidence and pride in us Kenyan people

You, sister Zarina Patel

You always marched step by step with all seekers of justice.

The late Zarina Patel.

Zarina, you remind me of Gama Pinto

Assassinated because he warned us against neo-colonialism

Zarina, you remind me of Makhan Singh

The Founding Genius of Trade Unionism in Kenya

The first Kenyan to be “deported” to Kapenguria

The late Zarina Patel is pictured with the late Mukami Kimathi, the wife of Dedan Kimathi.

Because in 1948 he said Kenyan people could govern themselves

Zarina, you remind me of Desai who in 1920 worked with Harry Thuku

Who became the link between Gandhi’s Indian Congress and Marcus Garvey’s movement

And that was why the British Killed Nyanjirũ Mũthoni na 150 Workers

And deported Harry Thuku to Kismayu

And then brainwashed him…

Thus breaking the link between Asia, Africa and Black America resistance…

Zarina let me stop there because I don’t want tears to flood my face

Because I know you would want us Not to Cry for your body departed

But to cry with all those fighting for justice

Marching with all the workers and peasants of Kenya, Africa, Asia and the world.

Zarina Patel your body has returned to the elements

Fire, light

You will always be the sun shining in all our struggles for Justice

Zarina you have left us

To be with us always

See the fire

See the light

Thank you Sister Zarina Patel