The protests by Kenya’s Gen Z have reached the ears of Martin Luther King III, son of Martin Luther King Junior, who has urged Kenya’s youth to shun violence in advocating for justice and equality.
In a video message, King and his wife, Andrea Waters King, who are currently on vacation in Maasai Mara, have told Kenya’s youth that their message has caught the attention of the whole world and they are deeply moved by recent peaceful protests.
“We stand before you today on your land, here in Kenya, not as strangers, but as fellow travellers on the road to peace and justice and equity. The world watches the nation of Kenya, and as Kenyans take to the streets to protest, we remind you of the profound power of non-violent protest. Non-violence is powerful and just weapon which cuts without wounding,” they said.
The video contains anecdotes from King’s father who pushed the American administration in the 1960s to pass crucial pieces of legislation through non-violent means.
“Let the protests be a testament to your dignity. Show the world your voices, not your anger,” the Kings said.
Some of the protesting youth, bold and unarmed and who stood their ground in the face of state machinery, were said to be emulating heroes such Martin Luther King Junior who stood up against an American system that had oppressed people of colour in the country.
“The greatest strides my dad and his team were able to make, including the Civil Rights Act were realised through nonviolent tactics. As Martin Luther Kind jr said, in the nonviolent struggle, there is room for everyone,” the family told Kenyans.
Most of the trending messages relating to the youth protests on X have the hashtag #MartinLutherKingjr with corresponding quotes from the human rights advocate, a factor that may have contributed to the King’s family releasing the video.
Few know that King Jr was a C student in public speaking but became one the greatest orators of all time known for his globally-acclaimed speech, ‘I have a dream’.
Interestingly, the video to Kenyans was released on June 26, the day in 1968 when the Martin Luther King Jr Centre for Non-Violent Social Change was founded to “create a just, humane, equitable and peaceful world” by applying King’s nonviolent policy.
According to the King Centre, the civil rights leader was jailed 29 times, mostly on trumped up charges such as driving a car at 30 miles an hour on a 25 miles per hour-section. He would later become the youngest person to win the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1964 at the age of 35 before his record was broken by Malala Yousafazai in 2014.
King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, United States on April 4 1968. He is one of the two Americans whose birthdays are also national holidays. The other one is George Washington, America’s founding president.
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