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muhavipi's review against another edition
4.0
An essential read for any student of East African tribal customs and anthropology.
spacestationtrustfund's review against another edition
2.0
Liliʻuokalani, the last queen of Hawaiʻi, wrote a book in 1898 that served essentially as an impassioned plea to American and European colonisers to spare her people. The book was not written with the intention of being read widely by actual Hawaiʻians but rather uninformed foreigners who viewed indigenous Hawaiʻian culture as "primitive," "underdeveloped," or otherwise "inferior" to their more highly civilised white heritage and responsibilities, i.e., conquering the Hawaiʻian islands. In her book Liliʻuokalani describes her own education and duties, her diplomatic socialisation amongst high-society white culture, and, in short, the various reasons the Hawaiʻian people were "advanced enough" to self-govern. Liliʻuokalani's attempts to prevent American seizure of the Hawaiʻian islands ultimately proved futile, and the queen herself was forced to abdicate after the (illegal!) annexation of Hawaiʻi, spending the remainder of her life in relative poverty until her death in 1917.
Jomo Kenyatta's book reminded me a lot of Liliʻuokalani's book in its treatment of Gĩkũyũ culture. The Bantu Agĩkũyũ ethnic group, currently accounting for over 17% of the total population, is the largest in Kenya; Kenyatta, as the first president of the independent Kenyan government, had a vested interest in demonstrating to outsiders that the Kenyan people (Gĩkũyũ as well as the many other ethnic groups in Kenya) were capable of subsisting outside of British control. Whether or not Kenya under Kenyatta's leadership was truly better off isn't something I'm comfortable opining about, but I'd suggest reading something by Jaramogi Ajuma Oginga Odinga, such as his autobiography, Not Yet Uhuru, if you're interested in learning more about the political and social struggles in Kenya directly following its independence from British colonialism.
Jomo Kenyatta's book reminded me a lot of Liliʻuokalani's book in its treatment of Gĩkũyũ culture. The Bantu Agĩkũyũ ethnic group, currently accounting for over 17% of the total population, is the largest in Kenya; Kenyatta, as the first president of the independent Kenyan government, had a vested interest in demonstrating to outsiders that the Kenyan people (Gĩkũyũ as well as the many other ethnic groups in Kenya) were capable of subsisting outside of British control. Whether or not Kenya under Kenyatta's leadership was truly better off isn't something I'm comfortable opining about, but I'd suggest reading something by Jaramogi Ajuma Oginga Odinga, such as his autobiography, Not Yet Uhuru, if you're interested in learning more about the political and social struggles in Kenya directly following its independence from British colonialism.
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