yaspora

This is admittedly A Take, but it's genuine and I hope it will be engaged as such.

I noticed the language here refers to "minorities" in regards to race often. I think that should stop. It isn't demographics that are responsible for racial oppression, it's power dynamics and ostensibly anti-racist language should reflect that.

Some might try to point out that in some areas, non-white communities are literally minorities. I only think this is true from the viewpoint of majority-white, European colonialist countries, and that isn't a viewpoint which should be assumed or taken for granted, given they are the oppressors in this situation. Globally, no single race constitutes a majority. Locally, "minorities" quickly become "majorities" if you draw boundaries appropriately—for example, a given group may be 20% of the population of a given city, but in certain neighborhoods of that city they are 60-90% of the residents.

I'm pointing this out because in general decolonization is neglected in "people of color" spaces so that racially oppressed people strive to become equal participants in a racially oppressive system rather than destroying that system altogether. It would be nice if that did not happen here.

cross-posted from: https://baraza.africa/post/299555

Some excerpts I pulled are below.

with extremely few exceptions, especially outside of southern Africa, scholars of continental Africa do not engage the complex ways that race continues to be significant in this postcolonial moment.

The North–sub-Saharan Africa divide shapes continental and global politics (take, for example, the coverage of the “Arab Spring”). … in treating these two geographical areas as distinct—without the associated analysis of the basis of this distinction—we lose sight of the impact of global racial projects in maintaining such a separation

We need to take bold steps to dismantle the established theoretical, methodological, and epistemological structures that continue to impede race analysis on the African continent.

So that if you paste a link to one of those big social media platforms, it offers to replace it with a working alternative front-end.

cross-posted from: https://midwest.social/post/561669

The product of a decade of research, this landmark collection … seeks to document and map the extraordinary and diverse landscape of African women’s oral and written literatures. Presenting voices rarely heard outside Africa, some recorded as early as the mid-nineteenth century, as well as rediscovered gems by such well-known authors as Bessie Head and Doris Lessing, this volume reveals a living cultural legacy that will revolutionize the understanding of African women’s literary and cultural production.

Each text is accompanied by a scholarly headnote that provides detailed historical background. An introduction by the editors sets the broader historical stage and explores the many issues involved in collecting and combining orature and literature from diverse cultures in one volume. Unprecedented in its scope and achievement, this volume will be an essential resource for anyone interested in women’s history, culture, and literature in Africa, and worldwide.

cross-posted from: https://baraza.africa/post/292797

Would like to know if people are trying it and how well it's working.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/217045

Discussion at Reddit