BOOK REVIEW: BLACK LIKE ME?
AUTHOR: DENNIS SEMPEBWA
PP:320 PAGES
Book launch for 17th August after which will be available in all major bookshops
Dennis Sempebwa was one of the members of the gospel group Limit X, which in the early 1990s and 2000s entertained around the world with their unique brand of gospel music, a fusion of everything from pop to R&B and hip hop. They were wildly popular among the youth with their contemporary dress, hairstyles and dance moves.
While initially frowned upon by the Christian traditionalists, they could not be ignored. They drew crowds everywhere they went, not only in Uganda but in Europe and the US as well. Dennis was a founder member of the band, which also included Paul Mutebi, Isaac Ruci and Ken Serunkenya, who left them early on to pursue his studies.
"Unlike other memoirs this book is not just a chest thumping, ego trip. This is more than a story about a boy who fled Uganda in search of greener pastures and made good...
Dennis had less than an idyllic childhood growing up in the Uganda of the 1970s. His family suffered hunger, displacement and poverty. His father an alcoholic and womanizer, like his father before him left most of the heavy lifting to his mother, before his premature death. From an early age it is clear, Dennis was determined to break the generational curse. His quest for significance flows strongly through the book.
From his humble beginnings, a family tragedy due to HIV/AIDS, accepting Jesus as his personal saviour, making his way to and finding his feet in the UK, Dennis is clearly a searcher after the truth. This is particularly evident in his musings about why the black race in the west seems to be down trodden.
While not ignoring centuries of systemic discrimination he thinks blacks really should stop playing the victim card and take their fate into their own hands, organize and uplift themselves.
He can be criticized for being a bit shallow in his analysis, discounting the centuries of slavery and discrimination that has rewired the African American man’s psyche to one of self-loathing and hopelessness from their previous pride and selfawareness. But the sincerity in his search for answers is unmistakable and in some respects you can see his growth in understanding of the subject as the book goes along.
For anyone who saw Limit X at its height the story of its rise and demise provides good value. Their beginning as a secular music group, their struggle to find and establish their niche in gospel music before disbanding on differences of conscience and principle.
"It is a very introspective book, as it should be. The various struggles that Dennis has with his conscience are vivid and moving, providing good fodder for younger readers working through their own youthful struggles...
The overall theme of the book of hope and redemption are not adversely affected by some of the literary license the author indulges in. I noted two instances in which I thought he had gone overboard. in one instance he claims that half the girls in his primary school had been raped by soldiers, an incredible claim for which thankfully he did not name the school. One can speculate what the author wanted to achieve with this piece of hyperbole. Paint a picture of the universal terror of Idi Amin’s Uganda? Or was he writing for a western audience for which the stereotype of the continent as war torn, diseased and poverty stricken is familiar?
Also, in the book he alludes to certain tribes in Uganda that have century long animosities. Beside mentioning the hatred between his tribe, the Baganda and the Luo, which unlike in Kenya are not a homogenous tribe, he is vague and leaves the claim there unsupported.
Maybe Dennis maybe forgiven, since most if not all his adult life, has been abroad where some local urban legends were far away from the scrutiny of an adult mind.
The book is written in a very accessible style. It is a narration of his life. Beyond the events he goes in some depth into his thoughts and feelings on the events. The effect is a three-dimensional account, making it difficult to put down the book once one has started reading.
It is a good read. Firstly, for people who experienced Limit X and have nostalgia for a time when hip hop and other western music genres were gaining traction in Uganda with the entrance of FM radio. But more importantly this is a book that should be read by the youth trying to navigate the dilemmas of their age – faith, relationships and going to work abroad.
