What I Think About What Other People Say (WITAWOPS)

Kenya’s first president, Jomo Kenyatta and the Duwamish tribal may have had different conquerors, in different centuries, and on different continents, but did they have one thing in common? Did they sell out their neighboring tribes?  "The Great Chief above who made the country made it for all." — attributed to Chief Seattle (Si'ahl), Point Elliott Treaty negotiations, January 1855 “Mau Mau was a disease which had been eradicated, and must never be remembered again.” — Jomo Kenyatta, 1962 Made by ChatGPT, July 2026 What do I think Every colonized people needs a Kenyatta or a Si'ahl … or Mandela, Gandhi, and Jinnah. These revered leaders bravely step forward, distancing themselves from the freedom fighters to put their marks on the paper the colonialist hands them. In doing so, each buys his own people a seat at a power table. History rewards him with a country or city named after him. But history is less kind to the neighbors he signed away in the process. Is this pro...

I never parroted the obligatory land acknowledgments. Everyone opened with one: teachers, presenters, even meeting participants doing introductions. I didn’t get the point. I always wanted to ask, “That’s nice. So… are you giving the land back?” But I held my tongue. Instead, I’m unpacking these statements through the WITAWOPS lens: What I Think About What Other People Say. Let me know if this resonates — or just makes you uncomfortable. Image by Freepix My Disclaimer (or Bias, if you prefer) I grew up in Kenya — on land taken by white settlers and later sold to brown Indian-Kenyans like my family. Now, I live just outside Seattle — on land taken by white settlers and sold to brown Indian-Americans like... also my family. In both cases, the land wasn’t bought from the pre-colonial residents. So yes, I’m complicit. And no, I’m not pretending otherwise. Let’s get into it. What Do I Think: Let’s start in Indiana — my first U.S. home. From Indiana University Indianapolis : “IU Indianapolis...