Blog

An African Renaissance: Ngugi wa Thiong’o

An African Renaissance: Ngugi wa Thiong’o

Ngugi wa Thiong’o is one of the most important voices on language and decolonization. His works include Decolonizing the Mind (1986) and Theory and Politics of Knowing (2012). This post shares some notes on his 2009 Something Torn and New: An African Renaissance (copy appears available here). “colonialists did not literally cut off the heads […]

Tags: #decolonization #decolonize #Language #Ngugi wa Thiongo #postcolonial

Thought Provokers
Between the World and Me

Between the World and Me

Ta-Nehisi Coates’ book on the Obama years (We Were Eight Years in Power, 2017) attracted the scorn of Cornell West. Coates’ earlier book, Between the World and Me (2015), is a bestseller. In the form of a letter to his son, the book tells his journey of his own experiences and reflections of being Black […]

Tags: #America #Between the World and Me #Race #Racism

Thought Provokers
A Dying Colonialism – Fanon (1959)

A Dying Colonialism – Fanon (1959)

Fanon is well known for his Black Skin, White Masks (1952) and Wretched of the Earth (1961). Another of his works, A Dying Colonialism (1957), seems less spoken about (originally titled L’An Cinq, de la Revolution Algerienne). The first chapter reminded me of Said’s Orientalism, which was written much later (1978). Going back to Orientalism, […]

Tags: #Colonialism #decolonization #Dying Colonialism #Europeanization #Frantz Fanon

Thought Provokers
Nkrumah – The Struggle Continues

Nkrumah – The Struggle Continues

This is the third of Kwame Nkrumah’s publications I have shared notes on. The first was the Handbook of Revolutionary Warfare (1968) and the second was Class Struggle in Africa (1970). This post shares some notes from The Struggle Continues (1973), a collection of short publications that were written between 1949 to 1968. A reprinted […]

Tags: #Capitalism #Kwame Nkrumah #Neocolonialism #Positive Action #Socialism

Thought Provokers
Class Struggle in Africa

Class Struggle in Africa

Kwame Nkrumah wrote a number of books and pamphlets. Here are a few notes from his “Class Struggle in Africa” (1970): “Many members of the African bourgeoisie are employed by foreign firms and have, therefore, a direct financial stake in the continuance of the foreign economic exploitation of Africa. Others, notably in the civil service, […]

Tags: #Class Struggle in Africa #​Kwame Nkrumah #Liberation #Neocolonialism #Power Politics

Thought Provokers
Theory and the Politics of Knowing

Theory and the Politics of Knowing

Ngugi wa Thiong’o is one of the most influential and read postcolonial literary critics. His Decolonizing the Mind (1986) is essential reading. He has also penned many works of fiction and theatre, as well as other non-fiction works. The following are some notes from his 2012 Globalectics: Theory and the Politics of Knowing (which is […]

Tags: #Alienation #Globalectics #Ngugi wa Thiongo #Poor Theory #Recentering knowledge

Thought Provokers