Binyavanga Wainaina was a trailblazing queer Kenyan writer and activist who passed away in 2019. His activism earned him a spot on Time’s 2014 list of 100 most influential people.
It’s likely that you’ve heard about or read his piece titled, “How to Write about Africa”, which is a satirical take on the overused and ignorant cliches that Western reporters and writers use when they write about the continent.
“Never have a picture of a well-adjusted African on the cover of your book, or in it, unless that African has won the Nobel Prize. An AK-47, prominent ribs, naked breasts: use these. If you must include an African, make sure you get one in Masai or Zulu or Dogon dress.” Read the full Granta essay here.
Wainaina is still one of the most high profile Kenyans to come out as gay. He did so in 2014 when he published a previously unseen chapter of an earlier memoir titled “I am a homosexual, mum.” Read it here.
Binyavanga also teamed up with other authors to champion African writing through the Kwani Trust.
He also found love. Wainaina announced a year before his death that he was engaged and would be getting married in South Africa. “I do not fear death anymore, I just have one thing to do this year,” he wrote on Facebook shortly before proposing. Read more here.
