Saxophone Quartet for Edwin Chiloba
I was gutted when I learned of the brutal murder of the Kenyan LGBTQIA activist, designer, and model, Edwin Chiloba. One of the first impassioned responses I read to this atrocity was the plea that Edwin not rest in peace but that he haunt his killers. I feel roughly the same but would also say that I hope he can now rest in power and that it falls upon us to haunt those who commit unspeakable acts of violence against the LGBTQIA community. To that end and to help keep his memory alive in my small way, here is a saxophone quartet I have written in his name. May Edwin be remembered as someone who brought beauty into this world and may the people responsible for his death forever be remembered as those who cut that beauty short.
I also want to acknowledge that prior to Edwin Chiloba, Sheila Lumumba, a non-binary lesbian, Erica Chandra, a trans-woman activist, and Joash Mosoti, an LGBTQ activist, and no doubt far too many people before them, were also killed for who they were.
If anyone knows of any LGBTQIA rights organizations that do work in Kenya and to which one can donate, I would gladly like to know. I’ve searched but unfortunately only come up with broken links.
