Until Everyone Is Free

09/04/2024

Episode 3 is out, wherever you find podcasts!

In this episode, we discuss the labour theory of value and unpack the country's obsession with jobs, jobs, jobs—even if those jobs are exploitative.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IvSenFNXEg&ab_channel=UntilEveryoneIsFree

08/03/2024

Episode 1 is now live, anywhere you find podcasts! (English captioned video forthcoming...)

In this episode, we ask, what happened to unions in Kenya? We begin in Mombasa where, in 1947, workers staged a general strike. Over 10,000 people gathered in a field they called Kiwanja cha Maskini and demanded dignified living and working conditions from the colonial administration.

Today, the Mombasa port is being contested for privatisation. Dockworkers seem to have no power over their fate, no voice or choice beyond entreating politicians to act on their behalf. What happened? What happened to the militant, powerful unions of the pre-independence era? How did we get to today, where the image of "workers unions" in Kenya conjures images like that of COTU, where union leaders seem to be a part of the capitalist elite they were meant to oppose?

Season 2 of Until Everyone Is Free was made possible with the generous support of Hivos' ROOM grant.

04/03/2024

Here at "Until Everyone Is Free," we are here to talk about power and freedom. Our last season focused on the life and work of Pio Gama Pinto, who organised various movements that paved the way for independence in Kenya. We remember Pinto so that we can understand how Kenya got free without its people getting free… in other words, why independence is not the same as decolonization.

In this season, we will keep our eyes on the labor movement that socialists like Pinto supported. What happened to organised labor in Kenya? Why did workers remain unfree?

Our first episode drops in just a few days! Subscribe to our channel or find UEIF wherever you get podcasts!

Season 2 made possible through the generous support of Hivos

11/12/2023

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08/11/2023

At "Until Everyone Is Free," we're here to talk about power and freedom. Our last season focused on the life and work of Pio Gama Pinto, who organized various movements that paved the way for independence in Kenya. We remember Pinto so that we can understand how Kenya got free without its people getting free… in other words, why independence is not the same as decolonization.

On 7 October 2023, Hamas launched an offensive attack on Israel, killing over 1,300 Israelis, over 1,000 of whom were civilians. As of Nov 6, Israel has rained over 18,000 tons of bombs on Gaza, committing war crimes and committing genocide on Palestinians. As of Nov 6, more than 10,000 Palestinians have been killed, including over 4,000 children. It is impossible to count how many have been killed because the genocide has not stopped. The death toll continues to rise—as much of the western world cheers Israel on.

Many people around the world shake their heads, asking “Why can’t we humans just make peace? Why can’t both sides stop fighting?” Many Kenyans have this attitude too, and many simply feel that this is a very complex history with no end in sight.

This attitude is shameful and morally bankrupt.

Kenyans should remember that the Kenya Land and Freedom Army, or Mau Mau, were also called terrorists for their violent resistance. There was violence on “both sides” then too. But most Kenyans seem to understand why the side fighting for their own freedom chose to do so. Kenyans should support those fighting global imperialism, which also oppresses us.

We created this special episode to help Kenyans understand the parallels between the fight against settler colonialism here and that in Palestine. We dedicate this episode to Palestinians who are teaching us every day what Dedan Kimathi said: “It is better to die on our feet than live on our knees.”

At "Until Everyone Is Free," we're here to talk about power and freedom. Our last season focused on the life and work of Pio Gama Pinto, who organized variou...

20/10/2023

10/10/2023

Join Kenyans in expressing our solidarity with the Palestinian people. Saturday 14 October at Cheche Bookshop and Cafe. Bring a candle.

06/10/2023

The UEIF team just got more fly. Wairimu Gathimba—a writer, cultural worker, Kenya Organic Intellectuals Network member, and community organizer at the Mathare Social Justice Centre—will be joining us.

As a feminist and Marxist, Wairimu will bring a crucial feminist perspective to the analysis of labour theory at UEIF. Wairimu believes in the importance of using narratives to help advance social justice; her writing has been featured in the Elephant, This is Africa, and Ukombozi Review, among others. Join us in giving her a big welcome!

26/06/2023

«Pio Gama Pinto voulait voir les peuples libres de toute exploitation...Je voulais que les Kenyans comprennent cette histoire, qu’ils se l’approprient. Son parcours ne doit pas rester dans les livres, il doit exister dans la mémoire collective.»

—Stoneface

Qui est Pio Gama Pinto ? Comment ce journaliste a participé à la lutte pour l’indépendance du Kenya ? Et pourquoi a-t-il été assassiné ? C’est ce que tente d’expliquer une exposition à Nairobi. Une collaboration…

28/02/2023

This Sunday, 5 March, we will be a part of the Pio Gama Pinto Exhibition opening day at the Nairobi Gallery from 3pm. Admission is free on opening day but the exhibit will continue through May!

24/02/2023

58 years ago on this day, Pio Gama Pinto was assassinated.

We remember not only so that Pinto's work and legacy will not disappear, but so that we can continue his struggle in Kenya today.

On this day in 1965, Pio Gama Pinto was assassinated.

The nation was in shock. Kenya had not even been an independent country for two years. A freedom fighter was killed—by his own government. So this, people understood, was how power would be wielded in our new "free" Kenya.

Pio Gama Pinto totally embodied solidarity.

Everywhere you looked in Kenya's multifaceted struggle for liberation—Mau Mau armed resistance, land justice, radical journalism, trade unions, international organizing—he was there.

We don't even know the full extent of Pinto's work, because so much of it he did completely anonymously.

Pinto once told a young economist who was interested in getting involved: "Never underestimate how much you can contribute if you do not seek ownership of your work."

20/02/2023

When we began this project, we could not have imagined that there could be space for a sheng' history of Pio Gama Pinto's life and work in a Kenyan museum.

We are beyond proud to share our work on Pinto's work and politics at The Pio Gama Pinto Exhibition, which will be taking place at the The Nairobi Gallery. Join us for the opening ceremony on Sunday 5 March at 3pm.

16/02/2023

Join us in honoring Pio Gama Pinto on the 58th anniversary of his assassination. We celebrate his work and ideas with music, poetry, and theatre.

26 Feb at the Nairobi Gallery from 12pm

26/10/2022

It is with great sadness that we receive news of the passing of Malusha Marie Charles (1960–2022). This photo of Emma and her daughters was taken before her 90th birthday.

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(The following text taken from her memorial page)

Malusha Marie Charles passed, or as she referred to it, “Graduated”, on her terms after over four years of living with pancreatic cancer on October 23rd, 2022, surrounded by her loving family at her lake home in Bobcaygeon.

Marie was born on February 9th 1960 in Nairobi, Kenya, to Pio and Emma Gama-Pinto (Dias). She immigrated to Canada in April of 1967, landing in Montreal before settling in Toronto shortly thereafter where she grew up alongside her two sisters under the care of her mother, Emma, and her beloved grandmother, Mummagrand (Linda). Marie earned her Bachelors of Science degree at the University of Toronto, where she met her husband and life partner Andy, later earning her Masters in Speech and Language Pathology at the State University of New York. She pursued a career in Speech Pathology at the Durham District School Board as well as the Toronto District School Board, making many lifelong friends along the way.

Not one to sit idle, Marie planned our family’s projects from renovations, to moves, and our much celebrated annual vacations. Her last project was planning her Celebration of Life, this November 4 2022.

With a smile and energy that could light up the universe, her cup was always full. Always one for adventure, Marie made it to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in her 50’s, swam with sharks in the Caribbean, as well as skied the slopes of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, Alberta, and British Columbia. Later in life, she developed a passion for golf in which she naturally excelled. As a tribute to her zest for life and golf, Marie’s home course, Eganridge, planted a beautiful red maple tree in her honour. Marie and her family were touched to participate in the planting ceremony the day she “graduated”.

Marie is remembered by her loving husband, Andy, her children, Brenna (Andrew), Victoria (Adam), and Mitchell (Michelle), sisters, Linda (Leo) & Tereshka (Jocelyne), as well as grandson Archer.

https://mountpleasantgroup.permavita.com/site/MalushaMarieCharles.html?s=110

13/10/2022

So excited for the launch of Sam Gathanga’s book on Mathare’s history of political resistance!

Friday 28 Oct at Mathare Social Justice Centre - MSJC. Books for sale via Ukombozi Library.

01/09/2022

We created a special episode for The Development Myth, a
Africa Digital Heritage project that revisits Walter Rodney's landmark work "How Europe Underdeveloped Africa."

Join us this Saturday 12-5pm at The Book Bunk Makadara for a listen! RSVP required:
https://africandigitalheritage.org/unraveling-the-development-myth/

50 years since the publication of Walter Rodney's critical work How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, African Digital Heritage together with Savvy Contemporary, bring you an audio archive of radical and creative Kenyans disentangling the myth of development. The Development Myth - a project curated

01/06/2022

New episode out!
An independent Kenya where Kenyans are free only to choose between paying school fees and hospital bills is one that is not free at all. Pinto understood that Kenya's decolonization is incomplete.

Find Episode 6 wherever you get podcasts.
https://youtu.be/NJaV985Z8Ig

16/05/2022

This Saturday! Catch UEIF host Stoneface at The Book Bunk’s Eastlands Library in Madaraka. He’ll be speaking about decolonizing Kenyan history through culture and art.

Register here: https://thebookbunksurvey.typeform.com/to/mbdisIHH?typeform-source=t.co

01/05/2022

Happy International Workers' Day! No better day to announce SEASON 2 is coming!
We're talking about labor unions in Kenya.

Season 2 will be written/produced by Felix Omondi, and Stoneface will be joined by new co-hosts.

"The only effective answer to organized greed is organized labor." —Thomas Donahue

24/02/2022

On this day 57 years ago, Kenyan freedom fighter Pio Gama Pinto was assassinated.

On this day, we remember his legacy. Down to imperialism, everywhere. Power to the people.

Long live the spirit of Pio Gama Pinto.

23/02/2022

Tomorrow is 24 Feb. It was on that day in 1965 that Pio Gama Pinto was assassinated.

Now more than ever, we must never forget leaders who fought for liberation from both colonization and poverty. Join us at his grave (Murumbi Peace Memorial, City Park) on Thursday 24 February, 2022 as we honor his legacy.

17/01/2022

In our latest episode on the Kenyan trade unions that paved the way for anti-colonial resistance, Felix and Stoneface ask: What does it mean when we say "slaves to wage labour" or "slaves to the cost of living?" How do we get free from it?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zv05zi4LMKo

13/01/2022

New episode up! We're talking strikes. Specifically, the Nairobi General Strike of 1950.

When the unemployed, gainfully employed, landless, criminal of Outcast Nairobi banded together to bring the colonial capital city to a standstill. Find this episode anywhere you get podcasts or view the subtitled version on YouTube (link in bio).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zv05zi4LMKo

26/11/2021

What was the creative process behind Until Everyone Is Free? Why is political education important? What other histories of resistance in Kenya, besides Pinto's story, have been erased or sanitized?

TODAY 5pm EAT (9am EST), we speak with Daraja Press. It'll be a great chance to ask questions about Pinto himself, how we produced the podcast, and what the political significance of this exercise is.
https://youtu.be/0v-JTAG8kWc

I talk with April Zhu and Stoneface Bombaa about archiving lost/erased histories of resistance in Kenya through the production of podcasts and radio in Sheng...