The publication of this anthology provides a rare opportunity to see behind the distortion of facts concerning the life, desires, and motivations of lesbian, bisexual, queer women, and non-binary folks. The texts are shaped by the nature of Kenya’s social context that denies the existence of same sex-sexuality whilst imposing heterosexuality as the norm thereby normalizing the many forms of othering, prejudice, discrimination, and violence meted on LGBTI+ folks
The book title New Rain claims an intimate connection with rain as an assertion, affirmation and testament of rebirth queer folks must claim in the Kenyan context that is hostile to the growth of queer love.This production gestures towards the growing confidence of queer communities,deliberately locating their existential experience in Kenyan history and in the world by imagining better realities that do not have to translate, bend, fold, or censor to be acceptable or tolerated. It attempts to documentthe force of will and volition in the metamorphosis of the queer self, shifting away from the chaos of subjugation that define everyday queer life towards a Re-birth: vision of renaissance, collective liberation, and futurity.
The selection is wide ranging so that every reader can find something of interest. It is a necessary reading to spark conversation, connections, ideas both within the community and beyond whilst claiming legitimacy to the growing body of work on the black queer experience in the African continent.Here is to the futures we deserve in our lifetime.