You might remember Mugabi Byenkya from the guest post he wrote for Yopp back in 2022. He and and Denny Upkins, our resident interviewer extraordinaire, hatched a plan to add an Interview with Mugabi Byenkya to to Denny’s ongoing series, Uplifting Black Voices. I’ll let them introduce the rest! (Featured photo by Tina Byenkya.)
CN: discussion of ableism, racism, and intersections with other marginalizations. mention of death of family member, end of life preparation.
When Mugabi Byenkya reached out to me following my interview with Ressie G., I was both honored and humbled. However when I glimpsed Byenkya’s vitae, I was instantly blown away. Author, poet, rapper, educator, Byenkya is a modern day Renaissance Man. Like many great griots, the tale of his personal journey is a powerful one. Recently I had the privilege of learning about Byenkya’s origin story as well as some of the projects he’s currently working on.
Upkins: Mugabi, thank you so much for taking time out of your schedule for this interview. For the unfamiliar, please introduce yourself.
Byenkya: Dennis, thank you so much for having me in this interview. I read your wonderful interview with Ressie G. and absolutely loved it. It’s an honor to be interviewed by you. It made me want to deep dive into you, your work, and Ressie G.’s work. I am an award-winning writer, editor, performer, and rapper. I write and perform across various mediums, namely: prose, poetry, comics, essays, drama, and songs.
Upkins: You’re originally from Uganda correct?
Byenkya: Correct. I was born in Nigeria, to Ugandan parents, and am currently based in Kampala.
Upkins: For those of us who are unfamiliar, describe life in Uganda.
Byenkya: Uganda is a very multi-faceted and vibrant country. What is now known as Uganda is a collection of over 60 kingdoms which were carved out by the British; similar to what happened across the African continent. I’ll describe life in Kampala as this is my current home. Kampala was originally built on 7 hills but has since expanded to encapsulate over 20 hills. It is a chaotic, vibrant city that truly never sleeps; people literally party from Sunday to Sunday, till dawn. We get around by boda bodas (motorcycles), matatus (mini vans), and ride shares. Like any metropolitan city, it’s a mix of affluent and low income neighbourhoods. It also attracts a lot of people, from across the country, with big dreams of making it.
Upkins: How early was it when you realized you are a writer?
Byenkya: Very early. I tell this story often. When I was four, I remember running up to my siblings and asking them to play and they all responded that they were busy reading. I wondered what this reading thing was and how it could be better than play. At the time, play was the best thing ever. I asked my mum to teach me how to read. After several months of phonetics lessons, I fell in love with reading. Being able to be transported to different worlds built by authors was magic and a source of solace. When I discovered it was an actual job to be the person to build these worlds, I started writing short stories, poetry, and comic strips. I was five or six.
Upkins: Were your gifts fostered by your loved ones?
Byenkya: Yes, I was always encouraged to write – both as an outlet and a form of processing. I remember when my father died, one of my aunties called to offer condolences to the family. She spoke to my mother and siblings individually; when she spoke to me, she asked if I was still writing. I said yes and she told me to write about how I was feeling. She recognized early on that writing was a form of processing for me. I wrote a poem about my father’s passing that I never shared with anyone – and never will, as it’s for me. This is an example of how my family and friends believed and supported my dreams of writing from a very early age – and still continue to do so.
Upkins: Did your passion for writing draw you to poetry and hip hop?
Byenkya: My passion for writing definitely drew me to poetry. But my love for hip hop blossomed at a later age. I was, and still am, heavily into rock music. My older brother is a rapper, singer, song writer, and producer. I enjoyed his music and I also enjoyed mainstream hip hop hits that I heard on the TV, radio, or blasting out of his room. But I had difficulties understanding and relating to hip hop until my father died. When he died, my family moved back home to Uganda. My aforementioned brother had a walkman and two cassettes – Men In Black soundtrack and Nas’s God’s Son. I’d sneakily use his walkman when he was preoccupied. Hearing Nas grieve his mother and the poetry in his lyrics resonated with me. I had just lost my father and my experience paralleled his. This is what led to a deep dive into hip hop and my becoming a hip hop head.
Upkins: Who would you credit as some of your influences as a writer and a creator?
Byenkya:
- Mike Shinoda for the vulnerability of his lyrics and his capability to wear multiple hats across multiple mediums as an artist. He’s a producer, audio engineer, rapper, singer, song writer, guitarist, keyboardist, graphic designer, and illustrator. I listened to a lot of rap/rock before I got into hip hop and Mike’s work with Linkin Park always resonated, along with his work with Fort Minor and his solo work – Post Traumatic is an album I listened to on repeat when it came out. It’s an alum I continue to listen to whenever I lose someone. It’s the perfect album to move through grief for me.
- Fatima Asghar for their ability to also work across mediums – webseries, poetry, TV, and novels. I am also inspired by the way that they create characters. Most TV shows I watch are not reflective of my experiences. But the characters created by Fatima are ones in which I recognize myself.
- 3-Card, my aforementioned brother for his evolution as an artist, his artistry across different mediums, and his captivating live performances. I’ve seen him grow over the years into someone who I generally consider as one of my favourite rapper, singer, songwriter, and producer.
Upkins: How did your novel-memoir, Dear Philomena, become a reality?
Byenkya: Thank you for the incredibly kind words. My award-nominated, Ugandan best-selling, novel-memoir, Dear Philomena started as an idea in my Notes App. The idea was to write a series of conversations between myself, Mugabi, and Philomena, a representation of the woman I was supposed to be. When I was in my mother’s womb, the doctors told her she was expecting a baby girl – and she prepared for one. When I was born, I was assigned male at birth but was dressed in the pink frilly dresses and bonnets that my mother had. She’s told me this story since I was a child. A story of how I was supposed to be Philomena and how my features are more feminine than masculine, as a result. I don’t believe in the social construction of gender and so I thought it would be an interesting thought experiment to think through how different my life would have been if I was assigned female at birth.
Upkins: The novel-memoir in some respects is semi-autobiographical. That had to be cathartic to write and publish?
Byenkya: Writing the book definitely provided a cathartic outlet for me to tell the story of the year that I was supposed to die, but somehow managed to live through. The doctors’ told me that I wasn’t going to make it to see 2016. So I was preparing for my death while writing the outline for the book. I didn’t die and was able to finish writing the book, go through an extensive editing process, publish it, and go on tour. When I finished the last line of the first draft, there was a giant weight lifted off of my shoulders regarding all the trauma, racism, gaslighting, fear, pain, and grief that I went through. Now that I’m seven years removed from the book, I can say that writing it was worth it. But during the writing process – and shortly afterwards – I wasn’t sure if it was worth all the ways that it exacerbated my disabilities.
Upkins: What has been the reaction to your novel-memoir from readers?
Byenkya: Dear Philomena has resonated quite strongly with readers in ways far beyond my initial expectations. It’s helped provide solace to readers who have survived suicide attempts, are hospitalized, and requested a copy of the book which they read 10 times back to back. It’s helped humanize depression for readers who distance themselves from siblings and friends who struggle with depression. They’ve noted that they had trouble understanding depression until they read my book. It’s helped people with chronic pain not feel as alone. Conversely, some people were thrown off by the format. I’ve been laughed out of bookstores who said my book was not literature. I’ve had reviewers tell me that they couldn’t get past the first pages. All of this because of its format. But my writing will never be for everyone and, as long as it resonates with those whom it does, that’s what’s most important to me.
Upkins: You clearly utilize your work and art to not only entertain but also educate the public. What are some major issues you find yourself constantly enlightening the public on?
Byenkya:
- A lot of people have told me that the first time they encountered the word ableism was when they encountered my work. People are a lot more familiar with racism, transphobia, queerphobia, and other forms of discrimination. My work tends to center my disabled experiences and the intersectionality inherent within being Black, disabled etc. I find a lot of people tell me that they learned about ableism and invisible disabilities through my work.
- A lot of people think that when people are disabled or dealing with chronic illness that positive thinking, prayer, or meditation can be a cure. I find that I constantly have to reiterate to the public that disabilities and chronic illnesses are not the result of witchcraft or a lack of positive thinking, meditation, or prayer. I know that a lot of able bodied people feel that way because they don’t want to accept the fact that they could – at any moment – become disabled or chronically ill, and likely will as they age. They try to have some sort of agency over their lives when – in actual fact – life is unfair and we are not as in control as we think we are.
- The necessity to grieve the life that you thought you might have lived in order to accept the one that you have. The necessity to accept the fact that not all things can be overcome – some things can simply be managed.
Upkins: Here in the states, medical racism and antiblackness is finally garnering attention. When it comes to the disabled, what are some of the disparities that Blacks and other disabled PoCs must endure?
Byenkya: When it comes to the disabled, one disparity that Blacks and other PoCs have to endure is the assumption that we are drug seekers, simply because of our race. This happened to me countless times in the American and Canadian healthcare systems. Because of my Blackness, I was assumed to be a drug seeker looking for an opiate high rather than somebody with a legitimate chronic pain disorder. Another disparity is that a lot of doctors operate under the false assumption that Blacks have a higher pain tolerance. There have been a number of studies into this and how institutionalized racism is baked into the American healthcare system, starting from medical school. Lastly, medical spaces, particularly those focused on specialities or complex conditions, are quite white. I remember being the only Black person, or PoC, at a speciality clinic at a major research hospital. Obviously there are significant numbers of disabled Blacks or PoCs however these spaces aren’t options to them. This is because predominantly white institutions – which are the majority of renowned healthcare institutions in the US and Canada – deliberately keep Blacks and other disabled PoCs on the outside, through institutionalized racism. These are three disparities that came to mind but there are countless others that people can learn about by reading and/or listening to Black and PoC disabled voices.
Upkins: What is the legacy that you hope that your work will leave?
Byenkya: I hope that my work makes people feel not as alone. I hope that my work provides representation for younger people. A lot of the media that I consumed as a child/adolescent wasn’t representative of my experiences and one of the goals of my work is to provide representation for people like me. I hope my work helps people embrace vulnerability as strength. I spent a long time thinking that vulnerability was weakness. Embracing vulnerability as strength has been liberating for me and I hope that it can be the same for others. I hope my work helps people be more empathetic and compassionate towards those in their lives who are managing things beyond their control. I hope my work invites others to tell their own stories in their own ways.
Upkins: Any upcoming projects we should be on the lookout for?
Byenkya: My debut chapbook, Songs for Wo(Men), which incorporates drama, prose, and poetry, was released recently. It serves as the prequel to my award-nominated label best-selling debut mixtape, Songs for Wo(Men) 2. It continues the story that I began in Dear Philomena. My chapbook is the first in the award-winning Canadian publisher, Gordon Hill Press’ imprint, The Sheffield Chapbook Series. Please support my work by purchasing a copy through this link: https://www.gordonhillpress.com/collections/projects/products/songs-for-women. And let me know what you think whenever you’re able to get around to reading.
Upkins: And where can readers find you online?
Byenkya: Readers can find me as follows:
- Website (www.mugabibyenkya.com)
- Instagram (@mugabs)
- Twitter (@mugabsb), and
- Facebook (Mugabsb)
Upkins: Any final thoughts or parting shots?
Byenkya: Thank you, Dennis, for this wonderful interview. Thank you Yopp for providing this fantastic platform. And for anyone who is reading this who is marginalized in any way – whether that be disabled, member of the LGBTQI+ community, Black and/or PoC, undocumented, neurodivergent, amongst many other different forms of marginalization, I’d like you to know that you are not alone. I know that sometimes simply existing can be an act of resistance and survival. But there are ways to find joy, despite how dire your circumstances may be. So, seek those out. Seek out a community that shares your experiences and can relate to you. And tell your stories in whatever ways you can, because we need them.
About the Blogger/Interviewer:
“Not everyone will like me. But there will be those who will accept me just for what I am. I will develop myself to such a point of excellence, intelligence and brilliance that I can see through any problem and deal with any crisis. I will become such a master of my own abilities and career that there will be a place for me. People of all races will need me and not be able to do without me.”
—Mr. Spock/Leonard Nimoy
Dennis R. Upkins is a speculative fiction author, digital artist, model, equal rights activist, journalist, herald, and a hopeless comic book geek. In 2011, his debut novel, Hollowstone, was released by Parker Publishing. His sophomore title, West of Sunset, was also released by Parker Publishing in 2014. Both Upkins and his content have been featured in Harvard Political Law, MTV News, Salon, The Connect Magazine, OUTvoices, Sniplits, and Spyfunk: Anthology.
A compulsive high performing overachiever, the personal mantra for Upkins can be summed up in four simple words: Be Your Own Superhero.
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