The Blackest Man with the Whitest Heart

If you were on Twitter on Wednesday, 9th January 2013, then I am sure you must have seen some very "dark" (no pun intended) tweets from Kenyans On Twitter, aka #KOT, targeted towards one Brian Mbunde. Prior to this date, I didn't know such a person existed until I checked my Twitter timeline (TL) and found it awash with tweets about him. Waaah!

My first thought was that he must have been a Kenyan parliamentarian who had misbehaved like one Miss Shebesh and as a result #KOT were breathing fire down his TL. The tweets were coming in fast and funny, and at some point I admit I found myself laughing and tearing at what I was reading, though I fully knew this was being done at someone else's expense.... (hope he forgives me, and no this post is not to bribe him to).

Anyway, after digging through thousands of tweets, I finally discovered that this dude was being roasted by #KOT because of a new avi he had put on his Twitter profile...... check it out here below.

I have no idea who the lady in the pic is, and it is really none of my business, but clearly, she looks white against Brian... :-).

For those who missed the tweets, I've shared a few of them with you here below:

When you hear Astronomers say they saw a Black hole in space, they actually saw @Brianmbunde
It doesn't matter if you are @Brianmbunde or white - Michael Jackson
This avi ----------> @Brianmbunde should be used to fight against racism”
@Brianmbunde must have mistaken suede cleaner for lotion.
Wawawah! Enyewe that mbunde guy looks like he used charcoal as lotion, damn!
@Brianmbunde took the ladies' joke about "tall and dark men" too far.
Ati wewe ni mweusi hadi unasweat Kiwi'”
It has started becoming @Brianmbunde outside
We need to roast a bleacher to make the day a bit bright. The TL was too dark today."
Aki mwenye amekupita si Binadamu tena.
We officially declare 9th Jan #BrianMbundeDay!!!!!
Once you go black u never go back!!
But I'd hate to play hide & seek with @brianmbunde. He'll always have the winning advantage.
Seriously though, I think @brianmbunde would make a great stalker
Apparently, Brian Mbunde doesn't have a shadow, it left. It couldn't keep up with that kind of competiton.

There were more than 5000 impressions made on 9th of January 2013 targeted at this young man's complexion, and I can bet you 99.99% of them were poking fun at him. What amazed me about this guy is that he took it all in his stride as strangers from all over the world made fun of him. If my own personal tweets to him were anything to go by, I believe he addressed all the tweets he was mentioned in on that day, by either retweeting, favoriting, or replying to each one of them. He took it all very calmly and maturely and he was actually laughing about it.... well, I couldn't see his face but from the replies he was sending you could see he wasn't angry at anyone.

I don't know this guy and maybe I never will, but I have one thing to say: he totally earned my respect and hope that one day my kids will grow up to be as calm, level headed and very mature as he proved to be. I don't know his other traits but these particular ones I want for my kids.

From this whole BBQ that was held in Brian's Twitter yard (read backyard), I learnt some very interesting lessons that I would now like to share with you and anyone else you will be kind enough to share this blog post with:

Being different has its advantages: - If Brian's complexion was "normal" like the rest of us, no one would have noticed him and even I would (probably) never have had a chance to follow him on Twitter. Embrace and enjoy your uniqueness for that is what makes you who you are. Besides if you don't who will? Everyone else is already taken anyway.

Love yourself as you are: - During a public conversation I had with Brian on Twitter, he mentioned that previously he used to have self-esteem issues but he prayed and asked God to intervene and He did. He now loves himself the way he is, which has given him the confidence he now has. What I learnt from this is that as long as you love yourself, regardless of your weaknesses and flaws, the world will love you back....and if they don't, that will not bother you because you know that at least two people GENUINELY love you; God and yourself.

Confidence will take you places: - It was pretty clear Brian is confident in who he is. He has understood that his outward appearance is not really what makes him who he is, but every part of him. The real Brian is inside. He believes in himself and that's why all the jokes that were being made about him didn't cause him to trip i.e. no one managed to evoke angry tweets from him. He maintained calm and even joked about it himself... check this out:

1. Am tryna move on though lol

2. Leo si siku yangu via Blackberry

3. Nikipata msee mblack kunishinda aliniroast, acah tu....

There could be others but honestly, I didn't have time to go through the over 5000 impressions created by Tweeps.

What people say about you should not define who you are: - Some of the things that were being said about this guy's complexion were really mean, but he has understood what the saying “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent” means. I believe this comes as a result of knowing who he is and being confident in himself. Don't let people's ideas of who you are stop you from being who you really are meant to be.

Patience is a virtue:- But then again we all know this, even though if it had been most of you (Liz included), you probably would have blocked most of those guys or your TLs would have been reeking of #HateSpeech. Instead, he was laughing with all those who were laughing AT him and had no time to be impatient with anyone. Today a very high-ranking official in one of the large corporations in Tanzania was telling me he wishes his employees were like this guy. He said he would be 100% assured his staff would then be able to deliver the best customer service in the country because nothing negative his clients would say to them would ever annoy them. Now that is something that got me thinking too. We all need cultivate patience to the point where nothing shakes us, no matter how bad.

Some things are a blessing in disguise: - The person (I think the first tweet I saw roasting him was from a chick) who started making fun of Brian's Blackness was just doing it for fun, just to make people laugh. However, this turned out into such a positive thing for the lad if the increased followers he got was anything to go by. Besides that, I can now bet you there are very many interested parties (read potential employers) that have earmarked him just by virtue of him being very easy about the whole roasting process. This acted as a reminder to me that not everything that happens to you is bad; sometimes the bad things that happen to you eventually turn out to be blessings in disguise. It all depends on how you choose to see them.

The water outside the ship never sinks the ship :- Isn't it funny how a ship could be sailing angry seas and riding on moody waves but still stays on top of the water? What would make that ship sink is if for one reason or another there is a hole that lets in water into the ship. Same case applied to Brian. He was sensible enough to not let whatever was being said all around him get inside of him. That's where anger, hatred, low self-esteem, etc, would have had a chance to settle in his heart. Don't take to hear what other people say to you. It's hard to not do that, but its worth the try.

Brian, like I said earlier, I don't know you and will probably never meet you but I have dedicated this post to you. You truly made me think a lot about the way I have been responding to certain issues and for that I really thank you. You may be dark but you shone a blinding beam of light to that quote that says "It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters". God bless you and may He continue elevating you in many more ways.

The next time I'm walking on the streets of Nairobi (during the day) and happen to meet some dark black dude, I will most definitely know it's you and I will finally be glad to shake your hand. I don't think you have any compe.... :-)

DISCLAIMER: Before #KOT start roasting me for writing this blog, I got permission from Brian himself to do it.

Liz's blog
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Comments

4 comments posted

It is sad that adults could

Submitted by Sarah on Sat, 23/02/2013 - 12:27.

It is sad that adults could poke fun at a guy for something that he does not even have control over... :-( but it is a lesson learnt that the it is only us who have control over ourselves. Great lesson it is. I will strive to be patient and Kudos to briyo for keeping his cool and overcoming low self esteem. I imagine how children and teenagers with disabilities lives are destroyed by such remarks.

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