WORD OF THE MONTH: SETTLER COLONIALISM

Source: occupywallstreet.net

This month's word is settler colonialism.

Settler colonialism (noun): The systematic invasion and forced occupation of a territory by a foreign power. Where other forms of colonialism seek to exploit the labor and natural resources of the native, settler colonialism seeks to eliminate the native completely and ultimately replace the native. Settler colonialism will apply methods of mass genocide and massive relocation in order to displace and erase the native from the land that is being colonized.

Settler colonialism in a sentence:

For centuries, United States settler colonialism has and continues to displace the indigenous peoples of North America.

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DECOLONIZING CULTURE

THE DECOLONIZER
January 2016

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ARTIST OF THE MONTH: GIL SCOTT-HERON

Photo via rollingstone.com

Gil Scott-Heron was one of the most important spoken word poets of the 20th Century. Born in Chicago, Illinois and later relocating to the Bronx, NY, Scott-Heron was deeply influenced by the jazz and blues traditions. His writing opened a window into the conditions of Blackness and poverty in America. One of his biggest influences was Langston Hughes. He is best known for his piece "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised," which became an anthem in Seventies Black America. He is also known for the blues "Pieces of a Man."

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Decolonizing Culture

THE DECOLONIZER
January 2016

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FILM OF THE MONTH: BEASTS OF NO NATION

BEASTS OF NO NATION

This Netflix original film tells the story of Agu, a young boy from West Africa who is forced to survive after civil war ravages his country. Agu is then indoctrinated into a rebel military faction and becomes a child solider. While Agu fears his commander and many of the men around him, his fledgling childhood has been brutally shattered by the war raging through his country. Based on the 2005 book by Uzodinma Iweala.

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Decolonizing Culture

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January 2016

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BOOK OF THE MONTH: THE COLONIZER AND THE COLONIZED

Albert Memmi

A timeless classic in the study of colonialism, this ground breaking work by Albert Memmi explores the physical and physiological relationship between the colonizer and the colonized. First published in 1957, this book was confiscated by colonial police around the world. Memmi captures perfectly the contradictions of the colonial relationship and offers no escape for the two protagonists other than the complete end of the colonial situation.

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Decolonizing Culture

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January 2016

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ARTIST OF THE MONTH: JULIA DE BURGOS

(via claridadpuertorico.com)

Julia de Burgos is considered to be one of the greatest Puerto Rican poets of all time. Born in poverty in Carolina in 1914, Julia  persevered and became a renowned poet in Puerto Rico. By the time she immigrated to the United States in 1940 she had  published two collections of poetry. Julia's poems were a precursor to feminist anti-colonial politics. She herself became a vocal advocate for Puerto Rican independence. Her more famous works are El Rio Grande de Loiza,  Poema para Mi Muerte (My Death Poem), and Yo Misma Fui Mi Ruta (I Was My Own Path). 

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Decolonizing Culture

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December 2015

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FILM OF THE MONTH: THE BLACK PANTHERS: VANGUARD OF THE REVOLUTION

(via Roxie.com)

The first feature length documentary to explore the Black Panther Party, The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution, highlights the Party's significance to the broader American culture, its cultural and political awakening for black people, and the painful lessons wrought when a movement derails. Master documentarian Stanley Nelson goes straight to the source, weaving a treasure trove of rare archival footage with the voices of the people who were there: police, FBI informants, journalists, white supporters and detractors, and Black Panthers who remained loyal to the party and those who left it.

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Decolonizing Culture

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December 2015

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BOOK OF THE MONTH: FEMINISM WITHOUT BORDERS

Bringing together classic and new writings of the trailblazing feminist theorist Chandra Talpade Mohanty, Feminism without Borders addresses some of the most pressing and complex issues facing contemporary feminism. Forging vital links between daily life and collective action and between theory and pedagogy, Mohanty has been at the vanguard of Third World and international feminist thought and activism for nearly two decades. This collection highlights the concerns running throughout her pioneering work: the politics of difference and solidarity, decolonizing and democratizing feminist practice, the crossing of borders, and the relation of feminist knowledge and scholarship to organizing and social movements. Mohanty offers here a sustained critique of globalization and urges a reorientation of transnational feminist practice toward anti-capitalist struggles.

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Decolonizing Culture

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December 2015

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WORD OF THE MONTH: INTERNAL COLONIALISM

This month’s word is Internal colonialism.

Internal colonialism (noun): The structural exploitation and domination of minority groups from within an empire. Internal colonization happens when the dominate core of a empire oppresses those who are at its periphery. Although internal colonialism can be found in every colony, it is not necessarily limited to colonized territories. In England  for example, the Irish would be considered an internal colony. Internal colonialism generally cuts across all marginalized racial and ethnic groups, as well as gender, class, and sexualities. The main distinction between colonialism and internal colonialism is that colonialism involves being oppressed by a foreign power, whereas internal colonialism involves being oppressed by a dominate core located within the nation state.        

Internal colonialism in a sentence:

Black, Latinx,  Xicanx, Indigenous and Asian groups have been made into internal colonies within the United States, constantly subjected to the domination of whiteness.      

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Decolonizing Culture

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December 2015

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WORD OF THE MONTH: NEOCOLONIALISM

This months word of the month is neocolonialism.

Neocolonialism (noun): The continuation of racist, patriarchal, and colonial relationships of domination that remain after an imperial power leaves a colonized area. Neocolonialism is only an adjustment of the former colonial system. Instead of officially governing the area, the colonizing power now exerts control with capitalism or through a puppet government of native politicians. The formerly colonized country is usually still economically and politically dependent. The class structure of the former colony is always kept in tact. The exploitation of resources continues and the economy is hopelessly dependent on foreign imports and exports. Neocolonialism is also the infiltration of a former colonized country by foreign corporations and humanitarian aid groups.

Neocolonialism in a sentence:

When we speak of globalization in Africa, when we speak of a McDonald's in Nigeria, we are speaking of neocolonialism.

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Decolonizing Culture

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November 2015

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FILM OF THE MONTH: THE BLACK POWER MIXTAPE

via IMDB

A treasure trove of footage that spans the length of the Black Power movement including film interviews with Angela Davis, Stokely Carmichael, and other leaders is found in the basement of a Swedish television company. Director Göran Olsson and co-producer Danny Glover bring this footage to life, bridging the voices of struggle from the 60s and 70s with contemporary artists and activists. The Black Power Mixtape takes a crucial look at the development of the Black Power Movement.

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Decolonizing Culture

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November 2015

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ARTIST OF THE MONTH: EMORY DOUGLAS

Emory Douglas was the minister of culture for the Black Panther Party beginning in 1967 until the group dissolved in the 1980s. His artwork was featured consistently in The Black Panther newspaper and he was the art director, designer, and main illustrator for the publication. His iconic images represented the struggle of the Panthers as whole. His posters and flyers brought the revolution to people and allowed them to visualize resistance. A comprehensive collection of his work can be seen in the book Black Panther: The Revolutionary Art of Emory Douglas.

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Decolonizing Culture

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November 2015

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BOOK OF THE MONTH: THE DARKER NATIONS

The Darker Nations (via amazon.com)

Spanning every continent of the global South, Vijay Prashad’s fascinating narrative takes us from the birth of postcolonial nations after World War II to the downfall and corruption of nationalist regimes. A breakthrough book of cutting-edge scholarship, it includes vivid portraits of Third World giants like India's Nehru, Egypt's Nasser, and Indonesia's Sukarno—as well as scores of extraordinary but now-forgotten intellectuals, artists, and freedom fighters. The Darker Nations restores to memory the vibrant though flawed idea of the Third World, whose demise, Prashad ultimately argues, has produced a much impoverished international political arena.

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Decolonizing Culture

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November 2015

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WORD OF THE MONTH: COLONIALISM

This month's word is colonialism.

Colonialism(noun): The systematic practice of occupying a territory, extracting it's resources, exploiting it's labor and dominating it's people. It is also the psychological destruction of the people, the erasing of their history, the extermination of their language, the eradication of their culture, the abolition of their religion, and the internalization of their inferiority. Colonialism is a racist, patriarchal, and gendered system.

Colonialism always begins with violence. Violence is required to sustain colonialism. Because of this, the murder, rape, torture, and genocide of the colonized is made into law. Colonialism justifies its self by claiming that it brings progress, modernization, and civilization to the colonized.

We have known it only to bring death, disease, and hunger.

Colonialism used in a sentence:

Until Western colonialism comes to an immediate end, the colonized people of the world will continue to pick up their arms in pursuit of freedom.

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Decolonizing Culture

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October 2015

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WRITER OF THE MONTH: SONIA SANCHEZ

Sonia Sanchez

Sonia Sanchez is one of the most important poets of the Black Arts movement. She is the author of over 16 books including Home Girls and Hand Grenades, I've Been A Woman, Shake Loose My Skin, and Morning Haiku. She is a renowned writer, poet, essayist, activist, and lecturer.

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Decolonizing Culture

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October 2015

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BOOK OF THE MONTH: HARVEST OF EMPIRE

Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America spans five centuries-from the first New World colonies to the first decade of the new millennium. Latinos are now the largest minority group in the United States, and their impact on American popular culture-from food to entertainment to literature-is greater than ever. Featuring family portraits of real-life immigrant Latino pioneers, as well as accounts of the events and conditions that compelled them to leave their homelands, Harvest of Empire is required reading for anyone wishing to understand the history and legacy of this increasingly influential group.

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Decolonizing Culture

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October 2015

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FILM OF THE MONTH: A PLACE CALLED CHIAPAS

This 1998 Canadian documentary is a first hand account of the Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional, or the Zapatista Army of National liberation (Zapatistas). The 1993 signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement by the Mexican government allowed for the unrestrained exploitation of the Mexican economy by United States business interests and dollarization. To the benefit of the Mexican elite, the agreement had many disastrous implications for the impoverished indigenous communities of the Chiapas.

In response, the Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional staged an armed insurrection on January 1st, 1994. Zapatistas marched overtaking five towns and 500 ranches.

A Place Called Chiapas takes an in-depth look at life in the rebel territories after the 1994 insurrection. The fight for indigenous survival continues today in the Chiapas.

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Decolonizing Culture

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October 2015

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FILM OF THE MONTH: CONCERNING VIOLENCE

Concerning Violence

This 2014 documentary written and directed by Göran Olsson is based on Franz Fanon's famous 1961 essay "Concerning Violence." The film explores through archival footage the mechanisms for understanding Third-World decolonial struggles in Africa. Narrated by Ms Lauryn Hill, the film relies almost exclusively on excerpts taken from Fanon's landmark essay.

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Decolonizing Culture

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September 2015

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WRITER OF THE MONTH: TA-NEHISI COATES

Between the World and Me

In his latest work Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates gives a masterful personal and literary account of race in America. Coates writes of his experiences and realizations in the form of letters to his adolescent son. Powerful, griping, poignant, and timely, Coates writes during a era when black bodies become hashtags on social media outlets, and the violence of state policing is caught on mobile video. In great strides Coates comes to terms with the construction of race as a fixture of American empire.

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Decolonizing Culture

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September 2015

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WORD OF THE MONTH: MULTICULTURALISM

This months word is multiculturalism. Many use this word to legitimize structures of power, superficially promote inclusion, and erase the experiences of people of color. THE DECOLONIZER has come up with their own definition.

Multiculturalism (noun): The radical reintergration of experiences across ethnic, geographical, historical, gendered, sexual, class and racial lines which centers the oppressed and their experience of systemic oppression.

Multiculturalism is NOT people of various skin tones standing next to each other in a brochure. Multiculturalism is NOT that one Black guy at your job. Multiculturalism is NOT that one Bengali friend you have. Multiculturalism is NOT ordering Chinese food. Multiculturalism is NOT talking salsa classes. Multiculturalism is NOT drinking fair trade coffee. Multiculturalism is NOT wearing dreadlocks. Multiculturalism is NOT converting to Buddhism...

We could go on and on.

Multiculturalism used in a sentence:

"The active recruitment of people of color and centering of their voices in the organization was a wonderful show of multiculturalism."

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Decolonizing Culture

THE DECOLONIZER
September 2015

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BOOK OF THE MONTH: THE EMOTIONAL POLITICS OF RACISM

The Emotional Politics of Racism

With stop-and-frisk laws, new immigration policies, and cuts to social welfare programs, majorities in the United States have increasingly supported intensified forms of punishment and marginalization against Black, Latino, Arab and Muslim people in the United States, even as a majority of citizens claim to support "colorblindness" and racial equality. With this book, Paula Ioanide examines how emotion has prominently figured into these contemporary expressions of racial discrimination and violence. How U.S. publics dominantly feel about crime, terrorism, welfare, and immigration often seems to trump whatever facts and evidence say about these politicized matters.

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Decolonizing Culture

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September 2015

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