Category: Colonialism

Decolonization, A Guidebook For Settlers Living On Stolen Land

By Tanya Rodriguez, Medium I learned something yesterday…. When I share with a white person they can not decolonize on stolen land they get really really fragile and pissed that yet again, another brown azz takes away their new shiny thing… Decolonization. The process of decolonization is a violent, brutal, and involuntary act. It costs […]

Decolonization, A Guidebook For Settlers Living On Stolen Land

I expect this article to be something that a) I need to read (and likely re-read), and b) will make me uncomfortable.

Notes on fake decolonization

Things I need to learn more about…

Photo by Mohd Aram on Unsplash What counts as “authentic” decolonization as the term takes over our social media and influencer bubbles? And how we can sharpen our activism. By Bhakti Shringarpure, Africa Is A Country Decolonization has taken over our social media timelines with a vengeance. With hundreds of thousands of “decolonize” hashtags, several […]

Notes on fake decolonization

Indigenous peoples, in Oregon and beyond, are decolonizing maps | OPB

Decolonizing isn’t just changing the labels on our maps. It’s reorienting what maps are based on, what purposes they serve.

‘Maps can tell the tribal story, not just that of the conquerors.’

Unlike nomadic or sedentary Indigenous tribes, Harrelson explained that many tribes in Oregon lived the seasonal round.

“The seasonal round is essentially: Each tribal group had a winter storehouse and then they would go to different areas when resources were ready,” Harrelson said. “They would travel to those locations, have temporary encampments, process their food and their goods, and then bring them back to their winter lodges, where they would spend all winter.”

“The killings are horrible but I don’t agree with the riots…”

I see quite a few people I know – and friends of people I know – expressing horror at the recent murders of Black people. It is and has been outrageous for years… decades… centuries. Unfortunately, some follow that outrage with some version of “… but I don’t agree with their methods/the property destruction/the rioting/etc.”

As recently as two or three years ago I would totally have agreed with them. However, after taking part in several anti-racism, anti-white-supremacy programs through my church plus the loving and firm guidance of several people of color, I respectfully – and strongly – disagree on several points:

1) I do not tell people of color or other marginalized groups how to feel about people or institutions who are oppressing them. I realize, now, that by siding with their oppressors I become one of their oppressors. In fact, by being white and not actively opposing that oppression, I participate in their oppression.

2) As a white person in this culture and nation, I do not know – and can never know – what it is like to be Black in America. The closest I can come is to listen to them, hear what they say, and believe them… and I still won’t know. Also, I know full well that there are many voices in the Black community and that few, if any, opinions will be shared by every one of them. Finding one Black person’s opinion that I agree with and telling other Black people that they should conform to that is racist.

3) Anything I say that implies that I will no longer support their otherwise-righteous cause if the resistance leads to destruction of property will be taken as me valuing property over lives.

4) When I fail to realize that any conflict may have more than two sides it is easy for me to think I know enough to make an informed opinion. However, I know that every narrative angle will oversimplify to some degree to support the view of that narrative. It behooves me to listen to the marginalized people instead of the powerful people.

This has not been easy work. It has been painful at times and almost always uncomfortable for me. I am trying to learn to exist in this discomfort. I feel that it allows me to sympathize – in a very watered-down way – with the existential discomfort that is an acute, daily reality for the Black, Indigenous, other people of color, and LGBTQ people in this world and the intersections of these identities.

I acknowledge that the wording of this post centers me and my feelings. Since I am not a person of color, this is problematic. My intended audience is other white people and I need them to know that they should take up this work and that they will also have feelings of some sort. The work needs to happen despite the discomfort of these feelings and I will support them on their journey.

How Namaste Flew Away From Us | NPR Code Switch

How many of our references to other languages and cultures also impose a burden on people who are part of those traditions (or who aren’t but we, in our ignorance, lump them in anyway)? We can, in our minds, have the highest regard for the traditions of others and debase them simultaneously. It’s not necessarily either/or.

One bit in this NPR Code Switch piece stood out for me:

Putcha says that deciding which languages get made fun of is one way society establishes which people and cultures are the norm and which are not. (Can you imagine Target selling tote bags and water bottles with a play on the word “hello”? Who’s going to shell out big bucks for a HELLO-M-G yoga mat?)

There are entire websites that show pictures of strange English usage on signs and products. It’s presented as humor. The assumption appears to be that the people who made these “mistakes” were stupid or ignorant. Hmm…

Unlearning the Doctrine of Discovery | Sojourners

Tricky doesn’t mean we shouldn’t work on it.

Besides merely saying “sorry,” what would it mean to concretely repent for the doctrine of discovery? What would it look like to act against it? The truth is that undoing the doctrine of discovery would destabilize our entire western legal tradition. Our society is organized around private property and various claims to national territory which have discovery as a foundation. Take away discovery and society as it is currently built falls apart.

https://sojo.net/articles/unlearning-doctrine-discovery

Glossary: Latinx

I have no standing to define “Latinx”. I am, however, interested in speaking respectfully of people and referring to them as they feel is appropriate. However, with such a large, wide-spread, and diverse set of populations it is all but impossible to choose one word that will make every stakeholder happy. Going forward I will use “Latinx” keeping in mind the information in this article, “The X In Latinx Is A Wound, Not A Trend” on EFNIKS.com