Decolonizing the Mind: A Historical and Personal Journey

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Exploring the historical context of decolonization efforts in Africa, highlighting the contributions of key figures like Kwame Inkrumah and the Pan-African Congress, while also delving into the personal aspect through Amy Cezaire's poem. The chapter emphasizes reclaiming independence, cultural identity, and education, and discusses the necessity of freeing oneself from internalized oppression in a global context.

Colonization in Africa was much more than a land grab. It was a project to replace — and even erase — local cultures. To label them inferior. Music, arts, literature and of course language. In other words, it permeated everything. So how do you undo that? How do you unlearn what you’ve been forced to learn?

In this hour, produced in partnership with the Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes (CHCI) and Africa is a Country — we learn what it means to decolonize the mind.

Original Air Date: March 20, 2021

Interviews In This Hour:

Reckon with the Past To Decolonize the Future — Reclaiming the Hidden History of Blackness — Never Write In The Language of the Colonizer

Guests:

Adom Getachew, Simon Gikandi, Ngugi wa Thiong’o

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