An orphaned Kikuyu from British East Africa who had grown up attending a missionary school, was becoming increasingly incensed by Europeans belittling him and his people. Johnstone Kenyatta was determined not to sit back and let this humiliation continue, so he decided to travel to London, to meet like-minded men and give back the Kikuyu their agency…
Cranleigh Street is located 6-8 minutes from Euston station.
The Broke Student Days
Dressed in a flamboyant Nairobi suit, Johnstone Kenyatta enrolled onto a degree in Anthropology at the LSE under the renowned anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski. Aside from studying, the young Kenyatta could often be found in his tiny room, hunched over a emotional letter addressed to the Colonial Office, petitioning for Kikuyu rights.[1] At this point in time Johnstone, as he was known then, had more fervour for promoting the interests the Kikuyu, the largest ethnic group in British East Africa, rather than for independence for Kenya. Many Londoners walked past the future Kenyan President, as he stood on a soapbox in Trafalgar Square making passionate speeches about the injustices of colonial rule. Often lacking in funds to support his political activities, Johnstone learnt to charm his landladies into letting him hand over his rent money late.[2]
Johnstone becomes Jomo
One day in 1934 the Kikuyu student met a well-travelled and sophisticated English writer going by the name of Dinah Stock at a meeting in Trafalgar Square. Johnstone had completed a number of articles and was attempting to publish a book entitled Facing Mount Kenya. Dinah was excited by Kenyatta’s commitment to the Kikuyu cause and the two became intellectual partners, with Stock encouraging confidence in the student and helping to improve his command of English.[3] The two activists were so comfortable with one and other that they moved into Cranleigh Street together. Kenyatta is commemorated ‘officially’ with a blue plaque at another of his former residences’ in Pimlico.
Kenyatta is commemorated with a blue plaque at his former Pimlico home at 95 Cambridge Street. Picture courtesy of Christian Luts (Flickr, 2011)
In the Spotlight
It was in this city that Johnstone became better acquainted with actor Paul Robeson who was often filming in London. The two activists even shared a flat together at one point. Kenyatta, who was always on the look out for extra cash as a student, even landed a role in a film with the help of Robeson named Sanders of the River in 1934. The edited version of film depicted the African characters as powerless and appeared to be positive about Empire, something that enraged Robeson once the film came out. Kenyatta, on the other hand, was unperturbed by the disparaging narrative, and happy to have some extra cash in his back pocket. The Kikuyu man even requested to keep the fake fur costume he wore as an extra in the film and subsequently wore it to social functions in order to promote his cause.
A statue of Kenyatta in presidential robes in Kenya. Picture courtesy of Richard Portsmouth (Flickr, 2011)
How did living in London prepare Kenyatta for leadership?
Was Johnstone ‘destined’ to be the president of Kenya?
Find out more about the well-travelled Englishwoman who lived with Kenyatta in the 1930s.
References
[1] Dennis Wepman, Kenyatta (London: Burke Publishing Limited, 1988), pp. 65.
[2] Ibid, pp.66.
[3] Basil Clark, Taking What Comes: A Biography of A.G. Stock, edited by Surjit Hans (Lahore: Panjab University, 1999), pp. 83.
Radical Heritage 