In January 2018, friends Susan, Mary, and Olivia began working together to create an exhibition about the Mau Mau Emergency. Whilst Susan and Mary, both Kenyan, were based in Nairobi, Olivia being British was based in London. Despite this, they spoke daily on the role of the former British colonial regime and how it was still influencing the way people in Kenya related to and interacted with one another. Though distance kept them physically apart, they soon realised this transnational relationship and network was integral to their ability to access and present the marginalised narratives of British colonial rule in Kenya.

Come May of that same year, MBC gained the interest and knowledge of Chao, then a New Media Developer at the Science Museum. Chao was busy building her now globally renowned organisation African Digital Heritage, with her first mission being to document, preserve, and restore the now-dilapidated Kenya-Uganda railway. Bringing her digital expertise, MBC now had a clear vision on how to present this history. With so much knowledge and evidence of the ways in which people experienced British colonialism sitting within institutions and academic publications, the MBC team became determined to share these resources widely, accessibly, and creatively.

Since its inception in 2018, the team members committed to MBC’s vision have changed, evolved, and grown. We continue to work transnationally but with a strong Kenya-UK foundation. Though we are all volunteers to the organisation, personally driven by MBC’s aims, we have achieved a lot in our foundational years. From online exhibitions to physical ones in Kenya and the UK. A documentary to the establishment of an online oral history archive. Multiple fieldwork trips and many international conferences and events. MBC continues to connect those across the globe in important and innovative discussions on the history and narratives of those who resisted and experienced British colonial rule.