So, my mother's a pediatrician, and when I was young, she'd tell the craziest stories that combined science with her overactive imagination. One of the stories she told was that if you eat a lot of salt, all of the blood rushes up your legs, through your body, and shoots out the top of your head, killing you instantly.
Mama yangu ni daktari wa watoto, na nilipokuwa mdogo, alikuwa akisimulia hadithi za kusisimua zilizojumuisha sayansi na fikira zake zilizo hai kuliko kawaida. Moja ya hadithi alizonisimulia ni kuwa ukila chumvi nyingi, damu itapanda kutoka miguuni kwako, kupitia mwili wako wote, na kutoka nje ya mwili juu ya kichwa chako, na kukuua mara moja.
(Laughter)
(Kicheko)
She called it "high blood pressure."
Aliita "shinikizo la damu"
(Laughter)
(Kicheko)
This was my first experience with science fiction, and I loved it. So when I started to write my own science fiction and fantasy, I was surprised that it was considered un-African. So naturally, I asked, what is African? And this is what I know so far: Africa is important. Africa is the future. It is, though. And Africa is a serious place where only serious things happen.
Hii ilikuwa mara yangu ya kwanza kusikia hadithi ya sayansi ya kufikirika, na niliipenda. Kwa hiyo nilipoanza kuandika hadithi zangu mwenyewe za sayansi ya kufikirika, Nilishangaa kwamba ilichukuliwa kama si Uafrika. Kwa uhalisia, niliuliza, Uafrika ni nini? Na hili ndilo ninalojua kwa sasa: Afrika ni muhimu. Afrika ndiyo kesho. Ni kweli, ingawa. Na Afrika ni sehemu makini ambapo vitu makini pekee hutokea.
So when I present my work somewhere, someone will always ask, "What's so important about it? How does it deal with real African issues like war, poverty, devastation or AIDS?" And it doesn't. My work is about Nairobi pop bands that want to go to space or about seven-foot-tall robots that fall in love. It's nothing incredibly important. It's just fun, fierce and frivolous, as frivolous as bubble gum -- "AfroBubbleGum."
Kwa hiyo nikiwakilisha kazi yangu sehemu fulani, mtu fulani lazima atauliza, "Ina umuhimu gani hasa? Inashughulika vipi na matatizo halisi ya Kiafrika kama vita, umasikini, uharibifu au UKIMWI?" Na haishughuliki na hayo mambo. Kazi yangu ni kuhusu bendi ya muziki wa pop ambayo inataka kwenda anga la juu au kuhusu roboti mwenye urefu wa futi saba ambaye anatokea kupenda. Si vitu muhimu kwa kiasi kikubwa. Ni vitu vya kufurahisha, visivyo na umuhimu na vya kijinga, visivyo na umuhimu kama peremende -- "AfroBubbleGum"
So I'm not saying that agenda art isn't important; I'm the chairperson of a charity that deals with films and theaters that write about HIV and radicalization and female genital mutilation. It's vital and important art, but it cannot be the only art that comes out of the continent. We have to tell more stories that are vibrant. The danger of the single story is still being realized. And maybe it's because of the funding. A lot of art is still dependent on developmental aid. So art becomes a tool for agenda. Or maybe it's because we've only seen one image of ourselves for so long that that's all we know how to create. Whatever the reason, we need a new way, and AfroBubbleGum is one approach. It's the advocacy of art for art's sake. It's the advocacy of art that is not policy-driven or agenda-driven or based on education, just for the sake of imagination: AfroBubbleGum art.
Si kwamba nasema kwamba mjadala wa sanaa sio muhimu; Mimi ni mwenyekiti wa mfuko wa kujitolea ambao unashughulika na filamu na maigizo ambapo huandika kuhusu UKIMWI na msimamo mkali. na ukeketaji kwa wanawake. Ni sanaa muhimu mno, lakini si sanaa pekee inayotokea katika bara hili. Tunatakiwa kusema hadithi zaidi ambazo ni za kutetemesha. Hatari ya hadithi bado inatambulika. Na pengine ni kwa sababu ya michango. Aina nyingi za sanaa bado zinategemea misaada ya maendeleo. Kwa hiyo sanaa inakuwa zana ya mjadala. Au kwa sababu tumeona taswira moja tu ya sisi wenyewe kwa muda mrefu na hiyo ndiyo pekee tunayoweza kutengeneza. Kwa sababu yoyote ile, tunahitaji njia mpya, na AfroBubbleGum ni moja ya njia. Ni mwakilishi wa sanaa kwa ajili ya sanaa. Ni mwakilishi wa sanaa ambayo haiongozwi na sera au mjadala au inayotegemea elimu, ni kwa ajili ya fikira: Sanaa ya AfroBubbleGum.
And we can't all be AfroBubbleGumists. We have to judge our work for its potential poverty porn pitfalls. We have to have tests that are similar to the Bechdel test, and ask questions like: Are two or more Africans in this piece of fiction healthy? Are those same Africans financially stable and not in need of saving? Are they having fun and enjoying life? And if we can answer yes to two or more of these questions, then surely we're AfroBubbleGumists.
Na hatuwezi wote kuwa watu wa AfroBubbleGum. Tunatakiwa kutathmini kazi zetu kutokana mashimo ya kudhihirisha taswira ya umasikini. Tunatakiwa kuwa na majaribio yanayorandana na jaribio la Bechdel, na kuuliza maswali kama: Kuna waafrika wawili au zaidi wenye afya katika kipande hiki cha kufikirika? Waafrika haohao wapo imara kiuchumi na hawahitaji kuweka akiba? Wanaburudika na kufurahia maisha? Na kama tutajibu ndiyo mara mbili au zaidi katika maswali haya, basi kwa uhakika sisi ni AfroBubbleGumists.
(Laughter)
(Kicheko)
(Applause)
(Makofi)
And fun is political, because imagine if we have images of Africans who were vibrant and loving and thriving and living a beautiful, vibrant life. What would we think of ourselves then? Would we think that maybe we're worthy of more happiness? Would we think of our shared humanity through our shared joy? I think of these things when I create. I think of the people and the places that give me immeasurable joy, and I work to represent them. And that's why I write stories about futuristic girls that risk everything to save plants or to race camels or even just to dance, to honor fun, because my world is mostly happy.
Na furaha ni siasa, kwa sababu fikiria kwamba tuna taswira ya waafrika ambao walikuwa wanasisimua na wenye upendo na uhimilivu na wanaoishi maisha mazuri na ya kusisimua. Tungewaza nini kuhusu nafsi zetu? Tungewaza labda tunastahili furaha zaidi? Tungewaza ubinadamu wetu tunaoshirikishana kupitia furaha tunayoshirikishana? Huwa ninawaza kuhusu hivi vitu ninapofanya utunzi. Ninawaza kuhusu watu na sehemu ambazo hunipa furaha isiyo na kipimo, na ninafanya kazi kuwawakilisha. Na ndiyo maana ninaandika hadithi kuhusu msichana anayewaza kesho ambaye anajihatarisha kwa kila namna ili kuokoa mimea au kufanya mbio za ngamia au hata kucheza tu, kwa ajili ya heshima ya furaha, kwa sababu dunia yangu huwa na furaha mara nyingi.
And I know happiness is a privilege in this current splintered world where remaining hopeful requires diligence. But maybe, if you join me in creating, curating and commissioning more AfroBubbleGum art, there might be hope for a different view of the world, a happy Africa view where children are strangely traumatized by their mother's dark sense of humor,
Na ninajua furaha ni upendeleo katika dunia ya sasa iliyogawanyika. ambapo kubaki na matumaini kunahitaji bidii. Lakini labda, kama utaungana na mimi, kutengeneza, kuhariri na kutoa vibali kwa sanaa zaidi ya AfroBubbleGum, kutakuwa na matumaini kwa mtazamo tofauti wa dunia, mtazamo wa furaha wa Afrika ambapo watoto wanaweweseshwa kwa namna isiyojulikana kutokana na ucheshi wa mama zao ambao ni wa kutisha,
(Laughter)
(Kicheko)
but also they're claiming fun, fierce and frivolous art in the name of all things unseriously African. Because we're AfroBubbleGumists and there's so many more of us than you can imagine.
Lakini pia ni sanaa inayochekesha, isiyo na umuhimu na ya kijinga katika majina ya vitu vyote ambavyo ni vya Kiafrika. Kwa sababu sisi ni AfroBubbleGumists na tupo wengi sana kuliko unavyoweza kufikiria.
Thank you so much.
Asante sana.
(Applause)
(Makofi)