Habari,
This past week was very interesting. I encountered something I thought I left back
in America. Now I’m sure many of you are
already familiar with the item I’m about to discuss, but I was shocked that it
has actually invaded Kenya. How many of
you are familiar with ‘Sweet Brown’ and ‘Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That?’ One
of my trusted employees brought this clip to my attention.
She said she hadn’t seen people like this when she lived in
America. Now we all know we have seen
people like Sweet Brown. Hell, some of
us have folks like this in our neighborhoods and even in our families. Everybody has a ‘Ms. Mary’ in their
neighborhood who wears a du-rag on her head and dons her housecoat outside on
the porch. Now, the gold tooth is an
element that’s native to certain areas of the country, particularly in the
south.
We have all watched, in horror, in the past as incidents
happen in an urban area that finds its way to the nightly news, and a ‘Sweet
Brown’ type becomes the primary witness the reporter interviews. There could be a young man or woman right in
front of them wearing a suit on their way to work and they will chose the
‘Sweet Brown’ character every time. SMH
I was a bit relieved that this wasn’t the image my employee
held of all African Americans, but I wonder about those who have never been to
America. You know it doesn’t take much
for a stereotype to take hold. One thing
is for sure, Sweet Brown has definitely taken hold here in Kenya. They think it is hilarious and I hear the
term, “Ain’t Nobody Got Time For That,” all of the time. I have to admit, when I first saw the clip,
my mouth was hung open. I’ve forgotten
how ghetto, ghetto really is. After the
initial shock I had to laugh, especially when I hear my employees using the
slang.
Kenya was colonized by Britain so they are very careful
about the use of the ‘King’s’ language.
We often laugh at the way they stress the pronunciation of certain
words, such as, “spear” which they pronounce ‘spe-ar.’ So hearing them mimic
Sweet Brown by saying “It’s a farrr,” sends me into hysterics. I’m always astounded by the images that may
their way out of the US and how that forms people’s perception of us. I’m glad there are enough of us to combat the
image of ‘Sweet Brown’ here in Kenya.
But, this has all given me an OMG moment and a good chuckle.
Well, in typical American fashion, Sweet Brown got her 15
minutes of fame. Hell, she doesn’t even
look like Sweet Brown anymore. There is
hope for us all. LOL. I’m going to cut
this short, but I will see you here next week.
In the meantime, enjoy Sweet Brown in, “Ain’t Nobody Got Time For That.”
Forgive me for spreading this further, but you had to see it to
understand. Enjoy.
Asante Sana,
Della Rochelle
Copyright © 2013 by Della Rochelle Williams
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