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Postednon October 20, 2013
Postednon October 20, 2013n
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nTodaynis a national holiday that celebrates all those who contributed tonKenya’s independence. n
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nOctobern20 used to be called Kenyatta Day for the first president of the nindependent Kenya.
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nThe date was chosen to commemorate thendetention of Jomo Kenyatta and five other “freedom fighters.”
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nIndiscovered that some people have strong negative feelings aboutnKenyatta, who did many good things but also many bad things, and theynwere very happy that the name of the holiday was changed. Othersndisagree; they point out that the name Kenyatta is an important namenin Kenya’s history, and they argue that it should have continued asnthe holiday name. (Jomo Kenyatta’s son Uhuru Kenyatta is the currentnpresident of the nation!) Some people think that the holiday shouldnbe expanded and renamed Mau Mau Week, after the freedom fighters ofnthe 1950s who were ruthlessly put down by British troops. Apparently there is some disagreement about whether or not Kenyatta was a member of Mau Mau.
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nInpersonally rather like the name Mashujaa Day, which is “Heroes’ Day”nin Swahili. I think that allows people to celebrate those they feelnwere truly heroic, and to honor heroism itself…also, this name acknowledges thenimportance of the Kenyan outlook on its own history by using Swahili over English.
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nSpeakingnof names…
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Kenya-the-nationnis named for Mount Kenya, which is the second highest mountain innAfrica, after Kilimanjaro. Even though this 17,000-foot mountain is just south of the equator, there are 11 small glaciers on its flanks,nand it was covered by an ice cap for thousands of years. The name ofnthe mountain used to be Kirinyaga, which means “mountain ofnwhiteness,” but the British colonizers couldn’t say that namenproperly, so it was simplified to Kenya.
Kenya-the-nationnis named for Mount Kenya, which is the second highest mountain innAfrica, after Kilimanjaro. Even though this 17,000-foot mountain is just south of the equator, there are 11 small glaciers on its flanks,nand it was covered by an ice cap for thousands of years. The name ofnthe mountain used to be Kirinyaga, which means “mountain ofnwhiteness,” but the British colonizers couldn’t say that namenproperly, so it was simplified to Kenya.n
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nJomonKenyatta must have created his name from his nation’s name, becausenhe was born Kamau wa Ngengi. And at the time of his birth, his nationnwas called British East Africa! n
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nLearn more about Kenya in this and this other earlier post.
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nAlsonon this date:
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Bridge Day
Bridge Day
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nArchitectnChristopher Wren’s birthday
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nBaseballngreat Mickey Mantle’s birthday
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nPlannAhead:
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nPlannAhead:
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Checknout my Pinterest boards for:
Checknout my Pinterest boards for:
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nOctobern holidays
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nOctobern birthdays
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- Historicaln anniversaries in October
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nAndnhere are my Pinterest boards for:
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nNovembern holidays
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nNovembern birthdays
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- Historicaln anniversaries in November
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