I Have Increasingly Been Communing With The Concept of Decolonizing Education.

In doing so, I find myself reaching less towards the formal systems of information that we have legitimized and uphold in the West. Instead, I am leaning into the literature and content of the ancestors, artists, liberation-fighters, Indigenous Peoples, abolitionists, scientists, and other free-thinkers who dare dream of a decolonized and indigenized world. The people whose creations and existences have been systemically left out of our curriculum and syllabi.

I count myself privileged that, while I endured a wealth of educational abuse growing up, I also avoided full participation and indoctrination into a system of learning that was built from, and to continue, the principles of racism. I reflect on why 250 years of ‘American’ history continue to be told to our children, yet I did not learn the names, beliefs, leadership strategies, community practices, religious ceremonies, migratory patterns, family rituals, funny anecdotes, or native language of my direct ancestors, who were enslaved on this same land, and created just as much historically relevant content, over 250 years.

What is Lost to Time and Death Will Not Come Back to Us.

Now, more than ever, I am drawn to continue growing my knowledge of the truths of my communities, as well as documenting it. We are living through a period of change and social reckoning with the consequences of generations of socially sanctioned colonial and fascist control. Since the stories of the colonizers have been prioritized, I am left with a gaping hole of unknowns, and a burning desire to pay homage to and consume as many works of oppressed creativity as possible. I remember James Baldwin’s reminders that to lean into the core of your human creativity is to see the truth and be oppressed in your telling of it, until you are dead and can tell it no more (1962).

Feeding and Nourishing Your Creative Core.

I am a beacon of creation; to be human is to create, observe, repeat, reflect, turn over, reproduce, and share. I take home in the thought that I will leave behind creations for others to wonder and learn from, or laugh and cry to. I feel my creative center through thoughtful engagement with the people and things who honor my truth as I open myself to theirs. I sit back to examine my place in a greater process of honing, collecting, and transmitting knowledge that would otherwise be lost. These are the ways that I feed the ancestor, artist, liberation-fighter, Indigenous Person, abolitionist, scientist, and free-thinker within me.

For today’s thought exercises, I wonder:

What are the things that you find yourself wanting to know? Who do you go to to find out, and what does that tell you about whose knowledge you value?

When have you created something with the intention of passing it on or preserving it (ex: a memory, art piece, new tradition)? What are the things in your life or lineage that you hope are never lost to time?

If you find yourself ready to explore more questions like these, or to otherwise create a space dedicated to values-aligned support, email me to schedule a FREE life and liberation coaching session today: [email protected]!