Hadithi za wasanii wa mtaa (Stories of local artists): Motivations for Afrosensed youth-led civic engagement in Kenya

Western informed anthropological and demographic narratives dominate citizenship and youth civic engagement discussions across Africa. This article documents artistic youth-led civic practices that reveal local motivations for civic engagement in Kenya. Using a novel method, Creative Storywork, stories were shared by seven socially charged artists in Nairobi and analysed through an interpretative phenomenological approach; the findings are presented as found poems. The findings show that socially charged artists engage civically to heal from challenges, raise consciousness, and address community needs. Socially charged artists provide context-specific insights that can be used to indigenise policy and programmes while also grounding them in African youth’s lived realities.