My name is Mali and you’ve asked me to share a bit about myself and why I’d like to participate in a Writing Intensive this summer. I have finished writing my masters’ thesis last fall, which took a decolonizing perspective on community-university engagement. As a part of that work I read the work of decolonizing authors, many of whom suggested that an important part of decolonizing work is beginning to explore personal, family, land-based connections to histories of colonization. As a result I’ve been asking more questions, learning more, and becoming intrigued by the ways that I now understand my own family history.
Very few of my family (except myself) acknowledge ‘settlement’ as a part of our family story, however through international travel and charitywe re-enact colonial benevolence through ‘charity’ initiatives which each of us collectively has tried to represent as solidarity. My own growing realization of the colonial underpinnings of this international work have come through my understanding of my own settler-colonial status here in Canada, and the horrific implications of colonial work (especially within education) on Indigenous people here. The learning curve of the past 2-3 years is something that I find challenging to share with my (very conservative, religious) family and with others, both conservative and mainstream, who say to me, ‘so are you still working in Kenya?’, or ‘when are you going back to Kenya?’. I want to have a way to share the complexity of being a settler-colonist working in a former British settler-colony (Kenya)… and I want to share that story through personal narrative.
My goal is write and share the piece that has been sitting inside me for some time now – a series of stories, or perhaps just one powerful piece, that weaves together a) my experiences with living in other countries (Thailand, Nigeria, and/or Kenya); b) my own family history (I have been researching my family’s history in Vancouver and on the BC coast back to 1890 – I helped my grandmother write her memoir; I have a few letters, bare facts, and a lot of questions); and c) a decolonizing perspective that asks questions about colonialism and my location here on unceded Coast Salish territory.
I’m not sure how the work will unfold or how I’ll share this, but I want it to be accessible to those who might not have had exposure to decolonizing approaches, and I’d rather not write for a scholarly audience at this point.
healing is such an important part of the decolonization process. I think being greatful to the land we are living in is a bug part of honoring the land outside of our standard settler-colonial conditioning (I live in the US). Thank you for sharing your journey.