The Hijacking of Decolonizing

A few years ago, if you mentioned anything related to race or colonialism amongst your colleagues, you would be looked down upon, and isolated from discussions and opportunities.

White practitioners in the field of development were utterly detached from the reality of racism, structural inequality, and neo-colonialism to the point that a few other women of color and I who had set up a BME network as a safe space were accused of being racist for not including them.

Just like that overnight, what seemed like one of the most radical discourses that once guided social movements across the world and inspired us to think of alternative ways of living was now becoming a buzzword co-opted by institutions and individuals.

The same people who once never even fathomed how colonialism and imperialism might have and continue to impact the system are now using the terminology 'anti-racism and decolonization' without actually doing the work of educating themselves, unlearning, and giving recognition to those who had come before them.

Across Africa and Asia, revolutionary leaders and activists spend years underground, mobilizing and strategizing to disrupt, and challenge the status quo and ultimately risking their lives to create new societies for the next generations to come.

Now in Zoom meetings, you will hear the word decolonisation without any mention of what it aims to do and the historical origin. This is because we have moved away from its source of radical intents.

I'm starting to think that this is another calculated tactic of the institutions trying to distract us by disrupting the system and calling into question the continuity of imperialism, and colonialism within the contemporary world.

In the aftermath of the black lives matter movement that ignited the discussions around race and power, many of us felt disillusioned, and confused because all of a sudden we were forced to talk about something that we once only discussed amongst ourselves and safeguarded.

The sudden upsurge of people talking about decolonization while remaining at the surface seems like another white savior complex and hijacking.

The process of decolonization is meant to be uncomfortable and uneasy. However, its emergence in the everyday debate has stripped it of the origin of radicalization.

The discourse has become one that requires little education or references to past anti-colonial thinkers and scholars. As a result, we fail to understand what decolonization entails and thus, we become content with simple practices like 'diversity'.

Decolonization has become hijacked and even advocates have become gatekeepers perpetuating hierarchy structures.

As ironic as it sounds, the discourse of decolonization is now becoming colonized. We are centering around Eurocentric voices, and knowledge, and pandering to white audiences, which is why we need to take a step back and re-evaluate urgently.

I'm not interested in decolonizing systems that were not designed for us in the first place.

Decolonising institutions which continue to reap the benefits of their colonial legacy and the under-development of the 'global south' are somewhat of a delusional mind game.

Decolonization is meant to be disruptive, to question the past, and present forms of coloniality, and unequal power structures, and most importantly, to envision and cultivate a new world, institutions, and knowledge production led by the grassroots realities and experiences of black and brown folks.

So next time we are talking about decolonization, let it be radical and please don't speak for and over us.