Ethnography, Essays, and More
Kenyan Marriage Bureaucracy
I’ve been married twice in my life; the first time was to another American in a courthouse ceremony in Virginia, and the second (final) time to a Kenyan in Kenya. The two processes were entirely different and worthy of documenting here. Note that in both instances, it is a civil marriage that is discussed and not the greater cultural traditions of religious ceremonies or tribal unions.
White in Kenya: Privilege, Perspective, and Positionality
“Mzungu! Mzungu!”
The call rings out as the sun dips behind the hills of Kapseret, Kenya. A group of men are stacked precariously onto a boda boda, zipping past while waving their arms like they’d just passed a celebrity. I wave back. It’s become reflexive. “Habari yako?” a chorus of schoolchildren calls from behind a chain-link fence, their faces pressed between the bars. I respond, “Poa,” and we continue walking. They clutch at the fence, not ready to lose sight of me.