BROADCASTS.com

We know that there have been meme wars in America, and that Donald Trump has been called the \u201cfirst president meme\u2019d into office.\u201d But in Kenya\u2014a country where one of the only feasible forms of political expression is memes, and meme creators are being jailed for criticizing the government, it is a very different story. Western media told countless stories about the viral music video character known as \u201cMakmende.\u201d They called Makmende \u201cThe Kenyan Chuck Norris,\u201d or a sound-alike of the famous Norris line, \u201cMake my day.\u201d But, according to the artists who brought Makmende into being, none of these characterizations are accurate. We explore American myopia, the peril of memes and artistic expression in Kenya, and how we should think of memes as a powerful form of communication.