The streets of Nairobi were beginning to get new entrants. Here they were, with placards, smartphones at arms' length and printed T-shirts adorned, waiting for other youngsters to be given green light by their parents to begin their march to parliament, demonstrating what they termed as additional punitive taxes. The teenagers, who had just recently crawled out of the concealed wings, were getting scorched by sun and gathering enough courage to face the daunting task of confronting the men in blue.
And here they were on an unlikely place, far away from their native digital space; no umbrella to shield them from the elements, no parents to complain to, no baby-crying. They were on their own like stray cubs, ready to face a taste of the rough world. Cameras that had been trained on them screened plenty of scrolls through the phone with well-manicured nails. Ready to tiktok every moment. What they see, they express; what they think, they say. The naturals were behaving naturally, gloriously so.
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The police, deside the water cannon truck, on the opposite, barricaded the major road, patiently waiting for any kind of provocation. Some on horses roam across the streets, receiving sharp ear-piecing boos and screams from the newest crop of protesters. It didn't stop there, either. The scene had been set, and while for the first day the demos were peaceful and organised, it turned out a little chaotic on the second day. In the next five minutes, police and protesters locked horns. They were mad at police. Mad at whoever dared them stop picketing. It was not an easy job-done by the uniformed; they had to sweat. But, it's safe to say the protests were peaceful except for a little unnecessary police's spraying of purpled-colored water and throwing of teargas. And which, unfortunately, rendered one Rex Masai lifeless (may his soul find eternity and justice be delivered on time).
But who, in their wildest sense, would have thought that Gen z would be the likely 'revolutionaries', the third liberators that the world needs? I never even had a flush of thought about it though I boarder them. To quickly recap, the protests contrasted the previous demos that had been held over yesteryears. The usual picture of a protester was someone with a ragtag figure, wanted, jobless, bored with life and probably smoking weed. In that case, the demo is hierarchical, with the usual payroll master being a politician desperately cornering the government to listen the cries of the people. Okay, his interests.
Contrastingly, gen z, clad in sneakers and neat-looking, lacked the structure in their protests. They erupted out of the blues, shouted their hearts out and were neither led by anyone but by themselves. The demos were largely decentralized, people-centered but united by a common cause; #rejectthefinancebill. What started as a hype online quickly materialised on the streets.
Gen Z have always perplexed everyone, from the shopping world and now into the muddy politics. Known for expensive tastes and thin wallets, they're woke, rarely leave their room, and complicated. They spent the better part of their time hibernating within the digital world, pricing for convenience and seamless interaction. For them, the self is the place to be; the place to experiment, test, and change. And picketing was such one to experiment. These digital natives are always in search of identity, yearning for freedom of expression. They're communaholic, identifying causes that they can fight for.
Some of you would question the adjective 'normal' when applied to these walking paradoxes. Elders have had to discern them with misconceptions, badly branding Gen zers as 'soft,' 'too cuddled', lazy, and unwilling to grow up. But, these protests are proving to adults that they're not a bunch of false smoke. They breathe fire. Their voice is craze, tantalizing, truthful, communal, meaningful. Gen zers grew up when the world was already experiencing economic meltdown; financial crises, climate change, geopolitical conflicts, pandemic.
The world of Gen z is thrilling. Their expression is punctuated with a lot of emojis and a healthy dose of existential angst over everything from climate change to the price of vintage mum jeans. Apparently, the too much perplexed have had to misjudge them that their major worry is battery getting low and missing internet. That's too much belittling they have had to endure. Some thought "oh their protest is just a vibe." But, who would have thought that Gen zers would get out of their virtual world and connect to the physical communities?
Recently, when one of their own, TikTok star Brian Chira died as a result of accident, these TikTok clan showed overwhelming solidarity. Barely hours after the incident, they collected over $38000 within 2 days. And even during the funeral, thousands of Gen z lined up their music-banging Subarus and brace the muddy roads of Kiambu rural areas just to bid him the final send off.
Whether they're right or wrong, Gen Z set the precedent of how picketing should be for everyone to follow. And, the message was clear; show us what you've done with taxes before we would give more. Kenyans have historically had no problem with tax collection. They have a problem with how taxes are being used.
And maybe, just maybe, these naturals will teach the old dog new tricks. After all, who knows how to break the internet better than a teenager with a smartphone?
NB/ I hope the one who dispossessed the horse from the police knows how to feed her. Lol
An informative post Edwin , I saw this on the news the other day. Kudo's to the Gen Z.
I wonder If TikTok, or whatever app they use, will inspire them, and make them realize that it will be their world and they should learn how to make it the best they can, or they will just use it to numb their brains and detach from reality, becoming helpless and hopeless. Probably some of each.