The process of ending colonialism and the liberation of the colonized. Decolonization includes many different intersecting struggles including not only the return of colonized lands to indigenous inhabitants, but also the affirmation of indigenous ways of knowing and the reclamation of indigenous lifeways, languages, and other cultural forms which have been stamped out through the ongoing process of colonization. Decolonization fights back against imperialism, colonialism, and colonial mentalities that dominate our education, media, and governmental policies.
For people not indigenous to the land they exist on, decolonization begins by recognizing that they are settlers, living on and benefiting off of stolen land. This theft has been made possible through processes of colonization, genocide, and slavery of indigenous people. These oppressions are not merely unfortunate pieces of history that have no effect on contemporary reality, but continue to be wrought on indigenous communities world wide. Furthermore, decolonization requires solidarity with, and active support of on-the-ground resistance to corporate and national take-overs of land and land defense efforts which aim to protect the land and people from toxic industries and profit-driven decimation. |
Interview with Harsha Walia on decolonization, anti-oppression, and allyship presented by the Indigenous Peoples Solidarity Movement.
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