The TLDR and Looking Back: Find Your Tribe, Keep Your Head up, Move Forward!
General Mutombo on African Tribe, Domestic Abuse and Podcast Journey
In today’s episode, we have a comedian and public figure residing in Seattle but hails from Kenya, General Mutombo. He recently also started a podcast during the pandemic as he realized that with his shows being canceled he needed to do something meaningful. He started talking about his life and asked other people to share their stories. His podcast focuses on stories from an immigrant’s point of view who are walking into the process blindly, having no idea what to do because they didn’t get the right mentor. It is an attempt to reach out to this demographic and help out.
General Mutombo’s Podcast Journey
When he started his podcast, he talked to people who got involved with all sorts of things like sex trafficking. He spoke to them about their experiences and how they ended up doing it. He even admitted that initially, he was afraid of judgment by recording episodes that were extremely raw. But later he realized that he needed to find people who connected with what he was talking about during his episodes. He reached out to these people and recorded their stories. The purpose of this effort is to help out the African community.
African Communities Dealing with Domestic Abuse
He has gone through a great ordeal during his time in the US and his story brings focus to domestic abuse in African tribes. Immigrants are vulnerable and locals can use that to exploit them. Sharing his own story he talked about his daughter Sienna Annalise, who he named after an actress liked by both his ex-wife and his father. Sadly, he hasn’t seen his daughter for seven years. He was in a toxic marriage, he shared that his wife would attack him and trying to defend himself would not pan out well for him. The law enforcement agencies always ask the woman if the man hit them. They are not open to the possibility that it can be the other way around. They do not attempt to find out why the man reacted to the situation. He had to deal with such problems for years.
This affected his mental health and even led to him attempting suicide. He recalled the terrible incident that drove him to this extreme situation. It was right after his ex-wife came after him with a knife and he had to rush out of the house ending up on the highway. He was ready to give it all up because he was convinced he could not take it anymore.
Drawing an analogy from his personal experience, he highlighted that African Americans are abused at the hands of Americans. He laid emphasis on the importance of focusing on mental health, traumas of abuse, and being open to the idea that there are toxic women. He did not dismiss toxic men but he did shed light on this rather less discussed perspective. A realization that led to his podcast was that numerous black people go through the same traumas.
The reason so many unfortunate stories is that they are misguided and vulnerable immigrants, unclear on how they can protect themselves if things take turn for the worse. He did not have documentation or the money to defend himself in court. He always wanted a family and that is why it hurt it the most when they took Sienna away. Being away from her has not been easy and he has had to work very hard over the years to be finally in a position where he is trying to figure out ways to get her back.
Advice to the African Tribe
He advised everyone to make the right decisions regarding marriage, chose the right partner, and do not be naïve. There is a taboo here that people do not talk about is that there are women who can manipulate facts and make you look like a culprit. It is very important to be careful. His message to the African tribe is to believe in your blessing, use your voice, and support your tribe.
