Google Arts & Culture Documents 61 Stories of Unsung Kenyan Heroes

Today we celebrate Mashujaa day, an opportunity for Kenyans to remember the women and men who shaped history by fighting, tenaciously for their communities’ land, freedom and spiritual well-being. By telling their stories, we get to honour them for believing in and living for something bigger than themselves.

Monday, 19th October 2020, Google Arts and Culture in partnership with the National Museums of Kenya, launched Superheroes stories to mark this year’s Mashujaa Day and enhance Kenya’s heritage. If there was ever a good time to be surrounded by superheroes, it’s definitely now at a time of global crisis and uncertainty, to remind us of our resilience and the importance of unity.

L-R Agnes Gathaiya Google Country Director; Amb (Dr.) Amina Mohamed Cabinet Secretary for Sports Culture and Heritage; Charles Murito Google Government Affairs and Public Policy Director and Martha Galavu of Shujaa Stories 

These moving and inspiring stories will remind you of why you should be proud of your culture and in the same breath be very appreciative of the influences and contribution from other cultures because that is what makes us all Kenyan.

You can relieve the experiences of these 61 remarkable pre-independence heroes HERE and some of the superheroes I truly connected with below.

The great women architects of Gabbra had thought of sustainable housing before it became a modern trend.
Koisa ole Lengai of the Yaaku, Leaves his village, starts his journey to Kenya’s capital, Nairobi and goes on a mission to save a language.
Ciokaraine M’Barungu, a prominent female diviner, leader and human rights activist from Meru.

At the launch event held at the Museum’s headquarters, H.E. President Uhuru Kenyatta, in a video message, said, “We must look for our common vision in the dreams of our ancestors. We must seek out their wisdom and preserve their memory. We must bring them to life in a way that present generations can relate – through technology. “

“As we celebrate Mashujaa Day, I am delighted to announce that we now have at least one superhero for each one of the 44 communities and I invite you to explore, read each of the stories, and be inspired by the achievements and bravery of each superhero” said Amb. (Dr.)  Amina C. Mohamed, Cabinet Secretary for Sports, Culture and Heritage.

Amb (Dr.) Amina Mohamed Cabinet Secretary for Sports Culture and Heritage.

Google Government Affairs and Public Policy Director, Charles Murito said, “Today we will be witnesses to how technology enables us to acquire new information and experience existing knowledge in ways that move, touch and inspire us. At Google, we pride ourselves in being a technology partner for cultural institutions and we continue to advocate for government and industry actions that eliminate economic and social inequalities in access to, use of and impact of ICT.

Today’s work can empower teachers to engage their students on culture and heritage education that appeals to their love for story telling and empower our youth to take charge of their future.”

Charles Murito Google Government Affairs and Public Policy Director

Google’s Country Director for Kenya, Agnes Gathaiya said, “This project is part of Google’s commitment to preserving and promoting Kenya’s cultural heritage and communities noting that it is in line with Google’s primary mission of making the world’s information more accessible.”

Agnes Gathaiya, Google Country Director

“While conducting research for this project, we discovered that there are numerous untold stories of Kenya’s heroes” noted Dr. Purity Kiura, Research Scientist at National Museums of Kenya. “I believe this project will continue for years to come to capture all the legendary heroes and heroines from our communities”.

Dr. Purity Kiura, Dierctor of Antiques, Sites and Monuments, National Museums of Kenya.

Through these Shujaa stories, we get to preserve Kenya’s history for generations to come.

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