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Our Griot Becomes an Ancestor: Rest in Power Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

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Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o bade this world goodbye on 28 May at the age of 87. Fare thee well, great griot of our pathways. Say us well to the ancestors whom you now join to be clothed with the earth from which we all must return. He was definitely one of the greatest writers of in the world. He gave us – Africa and the world at large – a profound depth of beauty, thought and inspiration with his work. He was also, in my view, the most representative of the spirit of Africa, of the numerous colossal figures of the word, that have been Africa’s contribution to the world and its literature. At childhood, his life was interwoven with that of the Kenyan people fighting against British colonialism, with all the consequences of this history. He  was named James Ngugi at birth. This was name he used to publish his first novel Weep Not Child . But he threw away the slave master's name, renaming himself in line with the ways of his forbears. He did not just criticise the past of colo...