In Kenya we want deaths which will change things, that is to say, we want true sacrifice. But first we have to be ready to carry the cross. I die for… - Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

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In Kenya we want deaths which will change things, that is to say, we want true sacrifice. But first we have to be ready to carry the cross. I die for you, you die for me, we become a sacrifice for one another. So I can say that you, Karanja, are Christ. Everybody who takes the Oath of Unity to change things in Kenya is a Christ.

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About Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o (5 January 1938 – 28 May 2025) was a Kenyan author of fiction and nonfiction. He used to publish in the English language but later primarily wrote in his native language of Gikuyu. He often wrote on topics regarding colonialism, language, and theatre.

Also Known As

Alternative Names: James Ngugi James Thiong'o Ngugi Ngugi wa Thiong'o Ngugi wa Thiongo
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Additional quotes by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

A big lump blocked Mugo’s throat. Something heaved forth; he trembled; he was at the bottom of the pool, but up there, above the pool, ran the earth; life, struggle, even amidst pain and blood and poverty, seemed beautiful; only for a moment; how dared he believe in such a vision, an illusion?

In a flash, I was convinced that the growth of the British Empire was the development of a great moral idea: it means, it must surely lead to the creation of one British nation, embracing all peoples of all colors and creeds, based on the just proposition that all men were created equal.

Colonialism imposed its control of the social production of wealth through military conquest and subsequent political dictatorship. But its most important area of domination was the mental universe of the colonised, the control, through culture, of how people perceived themselves and their relationship to the world. Economic and political control can never be complete or effective without mental control. To control a people's culture is to control their tools of self-definition in relationship to others.

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