Decolonizing the Mind

03/20/21 • 51 min

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?

Original Air Date: March 20, 2021

Guests:

Adom Getachew — Simon Gikandi — Ngugi wa Thiong’o

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

Original Air Date: March 20, 2021

Guests:

Adom Getachew — Simon Gikandi — Ngugi wa Thiong’o

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

Previous Episode

Discovering America's Black DNA

DNA tests are uncovering family histories. In some cases they're also revealing mixed bloodlines and the buried history of slavery. For African Americans, this can be emotionally-charged. What do you do when you find out one of your direct ancestors was a slave owner? And does it open the door to new conversations about racial justice and social healing?

Original Air Date: March 10, 2018

Guests:

Alex Gee — Erin Hoag — Annette Gordon-Reed — Anita Foeman

Interviews In This Hour:

How Do You Know Ruben Gee? — Searching for America's Racial History in a Graveyard — Uncovering America's Buried History: The Story of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings — Changing Our Conversation About Race Using Genetic Testing

Further Reading:

"Black Like Me" podcast

Next Episode

Who Owns Seeds?

It's easy to take seeds for granted, to assume that there will always be more corn or wheat or rice to plant. But as monocropping and agribusiness continue to dominate modern farming, are we losing genetic diversity, cultural history, and the nutritional value of our food? We speak to farmers, botanists and indigenous people about how they are reclaiming our seeds.

Original Air Date: September 14, 2019

Guests:

Bob Quinn — Robin Wall Kimmerer — Seth Jovaag — Cary Fowler

Interviews In This Hour:

Where Did We Go Wrong With Wheat? — The Wisdom of the Corn Mother — The Seeds Of Tomorrow: Defending Indigenous Mexican Corn That Could Be Our Future — Saving Seeds For Future Generations — Ancient Grains, Native Corn, And The Doomsday Seed Vault: How Growing Food Might Survive Disaster