Less than two years after gaining independence, Kenya began killing its own freedom fighters.
One of the first political assassinations in the history of independent Kenya was in 1965. They killed a man who knew too much.He knew that oppressors will not stop oppressing you if you ask politely, that the only way to defeat British colonizers was through organized violence—so he routed weapons to Mau Mau forest fighters.
He knew that stolen land was the root of colonization—so he fought, both before and after independence—to take it back from elites.
He knew that colonization was not just economic control, but also mental control—so he supported small, radical newspapers in vernacular languages to spread conversations about freedom.
He knew that the struggle of Kenyans was the same as that in India, Angola, South Africa, or in the U.S.—so he created bridges of solidarity across all continents.
In other words, this man knew what freedom was. And he knew how to get it.
This man was Pio Gama Pinto.
“Until Everyone Is Free” is a Sheng’ podcast/radio show about Pio Gama Pinto: socialist, political detainee, Member of Parliament, and martyr. Over several episodes, host Stoneface Bombaa, producer April Zhu, and reporter Felix Omondi tell the story of this forgotten freedom fighter to answer one important question: How did the country of Kenya become free... without the people of Kenya getting free?
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