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After years of fighting injustice in Kenya, daring and audacious political activist Boniface “Softie” Mwangi decides to run for political office. But running a clean campaign against corrupt opponents with idealism as his only weapon proves challenging.

This guide is an invitation to dialogue. It is based on a belief in the power of human connection and designed for people who want to use Softie to engage family friends, classmates, colleagues, and communities. Conversations that center politics and identity can be difficult to begin and facilitate, but this guide is meant to support you in sustaining conversations around identity, activism, politics, colonialism, and community organizers. In contrast to initiatives that foster debates in which participants try to convince others that they are right, this document envisions conversations undertaken in a spirit of openness in which people listen actively and share divergent viewpoints with care and respect.

This guide is designed for people who want to use Softie to engage family, friends, classmates, colleagues and communities in dialogue around issues presented in the film. This discussion guide is meant to inspire people with varying degrees of knowledge about these topics to enter the conversation and hopefully stay in the conversation in order to impact change and awareness.

The discussion prompts are intentionally crafted to help a wide range of audiences think more deeply about the topics in the film. Rather than attempting to address them all, choose one or two that best meet your needs and interests.And be sure to leave time to consider taking action. Planning next steps can help people leave the room feeling energized and optimistic, even in instances when conversations have been difficult and/or uncomfortable.

Synopsis

Sam Soko’s film, Softie, follows Kenyan activist Boniface “Softie” Mwangi, his wife Njeri, and their three children as Mwangi fights to organize against the corrupt legacies of colonialism that continue to shape Kenyan political realities today. The film highlights Softie’s commitment to political, social and artistic activism in Nairobi, Kenya. The political and personal intersect, as they often do, and this journey is filled with tensions that become present in Softie and Njeri’s marriage and family, the corruption in the Kenyan government, and the internalized colonialism and tribalism that Softie is to undo when he runs a clean and honest campaign against a historically corrupt governmental landscape. The film offers insight into the nearly impossible decisions a community leader turned political candidate must face when resisting injustice: confronting political violence; risking personal safety, family and country; and navigating a corrupt political terrain while remaining committed to more justice-oriented strategies.

Key Participants

• Sam Soko, Director, Producer and Cinematographer
• Toni Kamau, Producer
• Miriam Ayoo, Impact producer
• Boniface “Softie” Mwangi, photojournalist and Kenyan political activist
• Njeri Mwangi, Kenyan activist and also Softie’s wife
• Njeri and Softie’s three children
• Khadija Mohammed, Softie’s Campaign Manager

Key issues

• Colonial pasts and tribalism
• Community resistance
• Personal as political
  • Love of country and love of family
  • Sacrifice
  • Role of family in activists’ political lives
  • Relationships between country and family
• Political Corruption, Violence, and Unchecked Power
• Grassroots Political Organizing
• Strands of activism and mobilizing community

Getting to know Boniface “Softie” Mwangi

Boniface “Softie” Mwangi was born in 1983 in Taveta, Kenya, which is on the border of Tanzania in the region of East Africa. As mentioned in the film, Softie was one of seven children born and raised by a single mother who sold books in the local market. His grandparents also helped raise him. Softie’s mother died when he was 17 years old. The name Softie was given to Mwangi because his family members thought he was weak and small and “soft,” but didn’t yet know the strength Mwangi had in him for politics and community activism. Softie did not consistently commit to school, but after his mother passed, he decided he wanted to do better for his life, so he took up photojournalism. Quickly, Softie became captivated by capturing the violence and corruption in and through Kenya, most notably documenting the post-election violence in 2007. This post-election phase is also what propelled his career in politics. Softie formed the Ukweli Party when he decided to run for a Member of Parliament (MP) with the Starehe Constituency. The Ukweli Party believed in shifting the mindset of the Kenyan people to show that all lives matter equally, expose the corruption of Kenyan politics and demonstrate that there could be something better for the country. Softie and the Ukweli party ran a clean campaign that focused on getting to know the community, discussing interests and concerns that impacted their daily lives. Khadija Mohammed, Softie’s Campaign Manager, said Softie and the Ukweli Party revolutionized how people campaign and raised funds from individual donors and the radical activist community—it was the first time a candidate ran on principle alone. Despite the major strides and sacrifices Softie made in his election for MP for the Starehe Constituency, he did not win over enough votes.

Tribalism and the Violence of Colonialism

Tribalism is a state of people being organized by a tribe. In the film, Softie describes how peoples’ identity in Kenya is defined by tribal affiliation and that people are positioned socially and politically according to tribe. He says, “And so the identity in Kenyan politics is not nationalism, patriotism, core values, a bigger vision for a better Kenya. The identity in this country is tribe. Your last name defines you.” The country is divided by ethnic groups and tribes within these ethnic groups. Kenya is home to more than 40 tribes, each with their own languages and cultures. As Softie discusses in the film, the separation between tribes and ethnic groups stem from a legacy of colonization—the British determined which tribes would be more or less “valuable,” forced assimilation to white Western cultural practices, and attached stereotypes to different tribes. The lasting legacy of British oppression and colonization is seen in social, economic, and political stratification in Kenya today. As a strategy of colonial domination, the British emphasized tribalism as a tool for sustaining power over Kenyan people by keeping them divided against one another. In the film, Softie makes it clear how tribalism was a consequence imposed on Kenya by the British during colonization. By dividing Kenyan people among tribes (a common strategy used by colonizers of African countries) it created a caste system that the people then internalize as value systems by which they measure the “worth” of fellow Kenyans. The violence of colonization is illuminated as we see how a history of colonizers’ manipulation of tribalism introduced value-systems based on which tribes most aligned with whiteness. People, Kenyans included, internalized these scripts, narratives, and beliefs about themselves and their people. Tribalism became a tool for division between the people - turning countrymen against countrymen, rather than focusing on the colonizers’ exploitation and oppression of a united Kenyan people.

In 1920, Kenya officially became a British Colony. The African population of Kenya was banned from political participation until the 1940s. In 1924 members of the Kikuyu, Embu, Meru, and Kamba took an oath to fight for freedom and joined together to resist British rule. Inspired by the forcible removal of Kenyans from their home territories to resource-poor areas at the hands of white settlers, the uprising was called the Mau Mau rebellion. The rebellion lasted from 1952 to 1959, and during this time, Kenya was placed under a state of emergency as many Kenyans were incarcerated or sentenced to detention camps. Up to 90,000 Kenyan people were killed. During this, many Kenyans became increasingly political and committed to change. Jomo Kenyatta was sentenced to seven years imprisonment and charged with leading the Mau Mau rebellion. Kenya gained independence in 1963 and the following year Jomo Kenyatta, former political prisoner, became Kenya’s first President.

In 2007, after Kenya’s presidential election, Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner despite evidence of voter fraud, which inspired political revolt. The opposition took to the streets and declared Raila Odinga the “people’s president” but were met with violence that left over 1,500 people dead. Under Kibaki, the government banned live media broadcasts and the violence continued for two months with excessive police brutality against protestors, corruption and oppression leading some Kenyans to grow even more distrustful of their leaders. Kenya’s political history shows how colonial strategies of creating boundaries in order to make tribal oppositions a site for conflict is deeply seeded in the country and that even in contemporary politics, the oppositions and inequalities remain a site of struggle. It is this site of struggle that Softie commits to for the sake of his people and his family.

The politics of community activism, love and sacrifice

“The revolution comes first. Then love follows.” — Boniface “Softie” Mwangi

Softie offers an intimate glimpse into the difficult position community organizers and activists must navigate in the process of fighting for justice and requires us to consider the dynamic relationship between familial love and love of country. When Njeri and Softie are in the car, she says to him, “You have given your country your life.” He replies by saying that if placing God, Family, and Country in order of importance, country comes first “because when you fight for your country, your kids benefit.” Dedicated activists and community organizers have historically made sacrifices in their struggle for more just societies, giving not only their time, money, energy but also sacrificing their health, safety, and the livelihood of their families. We come to understand that the decision is impossible to negotiate—if the revolution is not centered, then activists’ families and communities will continue to suffer because suffering and threat are outside forces imposed upon activists, their families, and their communities. Softie asks us to interrogate the conditions that force activists into a space of negotiating priorities in their lives.

Often, the intimate sacrifices are invisible when revolutionary political figureheads are in the midst of struggle. Softie offers a more critical examination of these conditions and draws direct connections between the role of support and solidarity provided by family and community and the responsibility of frontline activists. In this sense, it is the family behind-the-scenes who are the unsung heroes of movements. The personal is deeply political and the intersection of personal-political can also be an inspirational training-ground for future generations of young activists. Take, for example, when Softie’s children ask where he is going and he responds, “I am going to topple the government.” This moment can be viewed as both an expression of love and political education: Softie is setting an example for his children that being an active citizen is one way to express love for one’s country and also love for his family. The personal and political cannot be untangled because the futures and safety of people we are responsible to are always already bound up in political futures that disproportionately set the parameters for safety and security along political and historical lines. The politics of community, family, and sacrifice become an issue of (mis)alignment and his family is threatened and forced to seek asylum in the U.S. We see every individual playing a crucial role in the ecosystem of resistance movements. Activism takes shape in multiple ways in this film, offering examples of how grassroots movements require people power composed of those on the frontlines and those who are behind the scenes, making life-changing sacrifices and decisions themselves.

Starting The Conversation

Immediately after the film, you may want to give people a few quiet moments to reflect on what they have seen or pose a general question (examples below) and give people some time to jot down or think about their answers before opening the discussion:

• If you were going to tell a friend about this film, what would you say?
• Describe a moment or scene in the film that you found particularly striking or moving. What was it about that scene that was especially compelling for you?
• If you could ask anyone in the film a single question, whom would you ask and what would you want to know more about?
• Did anything in the film surprise you?

What aspects of the film (landscape, language, feelings, family dynamics, etc.) were relatable? If so, what felt familiar? If not, what felt new and unfamiliar?

PROMPT ONE: Colonial pasts and tribalism

• In what ways do legacies of violence and colonization by a foreign power have lasting impacts on people living in colonized territories? (Take, for example, the history of tribal categorization introduced by the British to Kenyan people.)
  • What are some examples from the film that highlight the lasting impact of colonialism on the way people view themselves and others?
  • How are colonial pasts rooted in white supremacist ideas?
• In what ways did colonialism and tribalism promote unity and/or division in Kenya?
• In regards to tribalism, what questions does this film raise about how people come to identify with one another and seek feelings of belonging?
  • In what ways does feeling a sense of belonging sometimes require exclusion of others?
  • In that sense, can tribal or ethnic ties to belonging be divisive? Does it have to be?
• How are peoples’ personal identities impacted by the political context and conditions of their lives? In what ways are these personal and political identities shaped by histories that are not commonly taught?
• How does historical political trauma become internalized by individuals? What are some examples of the film that show the lasting impacts of oppression on individual and community identities?
• How have histories of colonization, political oppression, and whiteness impacted the lives of Black and Indigenous people?
  • Can you recognize any of these impacts on people, or groups, in your communities today?
  • Why might we not be taught about these histories in schools? In what ways is education connected to the legacy of colonization and political oppression?

PROMPT TWO: Community Resistance and Community-led mobilization and Grassroots Organizing

• What makes someone a strong community leader or activist?
• Based on what you learned in the film, what are some supports that community leaders need to engage in resistance to unjust policies and practice?
• As we see in Softie activism can happen in many different ways. What are some forms of being active in political movements that you recognized in this film for the first time?
  • Who determines what counts as activism?
  • How do you believe activism gets measured and different strands of activism are valued as more worthy than others?
• Has this film offered you new ways to think about being an activist that inspire you to frame personal community work differently?
  • What are some ways you can engage in activism in your own community?
• What responsibility does an individual have to make society better?
  • In what ways can a single individual inspire change?
  • In what ways can a single individual not work for change alone?
  • What is the role of solidarity and people-power in movements for political change?
• How is economic oppression part of a larger project of political disenfranchisement? What systems and structures work to keep people with power and wealth in positions of power and keep those without the same resources disenfranchised?
• To what extent is collective action necessary to push back against injustice?
• What is a just and equal society? Does it exist and/or can it be achieved?

PROMPT THREE: Personal and political

• In what ways is the personal always political? What examples from the film highlight this? Do you have any examples from your own life that are relatable?
• In what ways is the political always personal? What examples from the film highlight this? Do you have any examples from your own life that are relatable?
• Is it a politician’s responsibility to promote equality and to ensure everyone has the same rights?
  • Is it their responsibility to ensure a fair and just community/country?
• What is the role of people and communities in holding those with power (ex. politicians) accountable?
• How can people learn to talk about injustices, push against injustices and remain civil?
• Should individuals stand up for what’s right when it puts them and those around them at risk?
  • What do the conditions of risk and threat suggest about systems and structures of power? Why, for example, are activists and political leaders who are fighting for justice and equality put at heightened risk or threat? Who, and what, is threatening them?
  • What are the people in positions of power afraid of? Why?
• Softieis very much on the front lines at the forefront of change, but how does his wife Njera propel the movement from behind the scenes?
• Is making change worth risking it all?
• Are all the decisions we make political?

• Read Boniface Mwangi’s book UnBounded.
• Read about and get resources for community organizinghere.
• Read about and get involved with Njeri Mwangi’s organization, Pawa254, a Kenya nonprofit that uses art and cultural collaboration as catalysts for social change.
• Read about how the impacts of colonialism and colonization are present today.
• If you are a community organizer and/or activist, work with your support system to find a healthy work life balance that centers self-care.

About The Author

Maureen Nicol
Maureen Nicol is a Doctoral student at Columbia University studying Early Childhood Education and the Founder and Director of Camp Story - a pop-up arts camp based on the continent of Africa. Her background is in teaching and education. Maureen is committed to working with young children and educators to ensure every child and teacher knows their value, worth and power. Maureen's research and work interests have always always situated children of color but specifically young Black girls. Her ultimate goal is to make schools safer places for young Black girls with the idea of safety being articulated based on the terms and articulations of Black girls. Maureen is also researching and building curriculum for young girls (specifically young girls of color) on how they can be seen themselves as feminists using arts integration. In her free time, Maureen enjoys going on long walks with her dog, baking and maxing out her library card with good reads.

Discussion Guide Producer, POV

Courtney Cook, Education Manager

Thanks to those who reviewed this resource:

Rachel Friedland, POV Senior Associate, Programs & Engagement

Chrissy Greismer,POV Education Assistant

This resource was created, in part, with the generous support of the Open Society Foundation.