So most of March I was thinking about my grandmother Nyamwire, my dad's mom. Considering she's been dead for a long time, some of my uncles freaked out when I told them she was visiting me in my dreams. I was told to go and pray, blah, blah, blah. To which I replied that I'm trying to decolonise my mind and to stop listening to the demonising of everything traditionally African. Before colonialists arrived, I told them, our religion depended highly on contact with the dead. One of my uncles was so shocked by all this that he just changed the subject. But a cousin of mine was very intrigued and she told me to keep listening and see if maybe grandma had a message for us. A week later I went on a writing retreat in Lira and embarked on my first feature film. There is a character in the story who's the backbone of the protagonist and a symbol of love and protection. I was struggling so much with her back story because she's a Munyankore woman who lives in Buganda. I di...
YOU AND I. Let’s start by stopping and looking around: There is no one watching. And even if they were, Let’s just let them watch And go on ahead. Let’s ask some questions, and give each other answers. Let’s clear our doubts, it’s only fair. Let’s not be afraid of talking and asking. We are yet so young, we need no wrinkles. We are frightened, some times, I guess, But let’s just break free Like rain from clouds. Let’s chat about our past, And dream about the future. Let’s tell each other stories, we’ve just began. Let’s not make the mistakes our forefathers made, Let’s not regret, we know what we want. Let’s not be fixed to the rules of the past, Let’s craft our own rules and break them if we like. Let’s dart to the square, when we hear the drum, Let’s drum ourselves when the drummer gets weary. And let’s dance to the drums when our hands get tired. Let’s grab a taxi away from town. Let’s stroll on the hushed path and feel the co...
My friend Kart and I are in a park, with many other people. We're watching her son who's playing with fellow boys his age. The park is surrounded by forest on each side. A few hours into the day, someone from the family of Kart's son's father shows up to check on him. He says he wants to take some pictures with the boy, and he does. Then I ask Kart to join them so I can take pictures of them all together. At first my phone camera is working but branches and other things are blocking my view, and I'm unable to capture their faces properly. So I change position and move at the edge of the park, next to the forest, to get a better angle. My phone camera seems to have a problem because every image now turns out to be an extreme closeup of an arm or a flower or something. I'm unable to frame a picture where the three of them are properly seen, even if they're actually making effort to pause in such great ways. Then suddenly I hear something moving moving next ...
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