“Where to start with decolonization?” I hear people ask. “Can there be just one starting point?” I think. Colonization is so pervasive and crosses borders. So must we not cross borders in decolonizing? From our minds to our relations and societal structures? Can we say I begin here and not there? Even when we begin [...]

When I worked at the Center for International and Comparative Studies (CICS) at the University of Iowa, I set up a partnership with the university’s well known International Writing Program (IWP). I remember an IWP writer-in-residence at CICS. A poetess from Holland, she traveled across the state of Iowa by Greyhound Bus. Greeted at small [...]

Thanks to the British High Commissioner family in Nairobi for hosting an inspiring International Women’s Day event at the Official Residence. The speakers shared inspiring words that provide hope and direction in these times. As a woman, be confident. Face the world. Bring your competencies. Learn from others. Be collegial. Collaborate. Don’t be grumpy. A [...]

The 4th African Studies Association of Africa (ASAA) biennial conference was all about being human and (re)imagining the human from Africa. About 600 people participated, in person from Cape Town and/or virtually. The theme of decolonization was discussed in many of the 160 sessions over five days in April 2022 2. This chapter explores some of the themes that emerged in the presentations and discussions on decolonization, which some called merely a buzzword. Is decolonization more than a buzzword? And if so, is it even possible to achieve decolonization? To begin the reflection, how is the concept defined? Wunpini Fatimata Mohammed (2022), drawing on other scholars, writes that “Decolonization is rooted in dismantling colonial and imperialist systems… built into the social, economic, political, cultural, and religious realities of colonized peoples” and “requires tremendous work and effort in addressing these injustices.

Whose knowledge counts? Why delve deep to understand self, history and intercontinental relations? How do people and communities heal from the wounds of colonization and related trauma passed from generation to generation? Such intractable questions are explored in this collection of essays on decolonization. To decolonize means to humxnize, which is of even greater urgency [...]

In this travel letter about two days in Halifax, I share about the roles of Viola Desmond and Carrie Best in the fight for civil rights in Canada, and about Pearleen Oliver who fought for Black nurses to be accepted into nursing schools in Canada. I describe my visits to the Black Cultural Centre and the former city of Africville, both of which are well worth visiting. I mention Faith Nolan, a Canadian folk and jazz singer-songwriter of mixed African, Mi’kmaw, and Irish heritage who works to prevent the erasure of Black experiences and contributions in Canada.

I need to take time to check in with me, rather than just rush around doing things in the world. Some ask: Is self-time selfish? I know that when I introspect, I am more centred and grounded in who I am and what I’m about. I can be more present, listen better, and be more useful in the world that way.

Writing an impactful policy brief requires knowledge and practice. This workshop agenda supports learners to gain some of both. It covers what should be considered in drafting a policy brief, what should be included in one, and what makes for an impactful policy brief. The agenda may be adapted for writing policy briefs in relation [...]

In this letter from Nairobi, Kenya, I share pictures and stories from a month of travels to six states in the USA, beginning in Ocean County, New Jersey and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and continuing to magical Brooklyn, New York. In Virginia, friends and I visit Emancipation Oak at Hampton University and “Hearth Memorial to the Enslaved” [...]

Through a “tour” of sessions of the April 2022 African Studies Association of Africa (ASAA) conference, Kathryn Toure tries to show that decolonization, more than jargon or a mere buzzword, is a process in progress.