‘there is something grossly problematic when a Tanzanian student knows more about Shakespeare and Beethoven than he does about Shabaan Robert and Bi Kidude, the ‘Father of Swahili’ and the ‘Queen of Taarab’ respectively… it is essential we start with the premise that decolonizing academia is not about excluding anyone. It is about including everyone… It is not about what is in a curriculum but it is about what is left out. It is about broadening a history curriculum to include the history of Roman Empire and the Malian Empire. It is about expanding a language curriculum that has French, Italian and German to also include Mandarin, Hindi and Kiswahili. It is about challenging the cherry picking of history curriculum that has William Wilberforce ‘stopping’ slavery and an empire ‘giving’ independence to a colony without affirming successful anti-slavery and anti-colonial insurrections by the enslaved and the colonized. It is about ensuring students are conversant with the 50 states of the United States and 55 countries of Africa and hopefully putting to bed the widespread prejudiced misconception that the second largest continent in the world is a country. ‘
[…] recent social media campaigns like #oscarssowhite #Rhodesmustfall #whyismycurriculumsowhite. The decolonising movement is also fuelled by questions of mis(representation). ‘If you cannot see it, you cannot […]