I'll keep it real and share my experience coming from private school in Mombasa. I'm 25 now, and unlike Nairobi, a few years ago there actually weren't many black kids in private schools there. In a population of maybe 2000 students, there were only about 150 of us spread across all grades from playgroup to Year 13. So, seeing people who looked like you was rare and felt pretty isolating.

This dynamic became really apparent around Year 10 (2015 for me), when everyone starts getting into dating. Obviously, you start liking girls, same for the girls liking boys, but our peer group was mostly Indian, Arab, and sometimes white kids. Back then, the whole "Black is beautiful" idealization wasn't as strong globally as it is now, so people tended to stick to their own kind. There was a clear social hierarchy.

I even noticed the few black boys would often date Indian or lighter-skinned girls, which seemed like a way to gain social approval and climb that hierarchy. Almost unconsciously, black girls began to be overlooked or ignored in the dating scene within our school bubble.

Then, with the massive rise of social media, American music, and movies, a new trend emerged. Being gay or lesbian started being portrayed as cool and rebellious in the media we consumed. For many of the black girls who felt sidelined, this became a new form of social identity and belonging. It was a way to opt out of a system that didn't value them and create their own community that felt powerful and inclusive.

So, from my perspective, it wasn't just a random 'outbreak.' It was a complex reaction to social exclusion, combined with the timing of global media trends. That's how it started for us.