On December 16, 2019 Islamic Human Rights Commission organizes an event titled “Decolonizing ecology”. Professor Ramón Grosfoguel, a leading decolonial scholar, and Sandew Hira, the co-director of the Decolonial International Network, will discuss how issues of decoloniality need to be considered in conversations and activism around climate change.
Click here for more information.
The annual Sinterklaas Festival in the Netherands has become a testing ground for the status of ethnic minorities and their attempts to influence what it means to be Dutch. The festival is based on a legend that every December, St. Nicholas travels to the Netherlands from Spain with an army of helpers or “Black Petes”, clownish and acrobatic figures dressed in Moorish page suits. to reward or punish children. In recent years people of colour have pushed back against the racist, colonial vestige with encouraging results.
In the journal The Long View Sandew Hira made an analysis of the movement against Blackface in The Netherlands. He goes into the history of the Sinterklaas festival with the character of Black Pete, the social forces behind the anti-Black Pete movement and the question of strategy and tactics of the anti-racist movement.
The Long View is a quarterly magazine published by Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) in London.
In February 2018 the Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) in London held a conference titled: The New Colonialism: The American Model of Human Rights. The nine contributions from scholar-activists looking at how human rights as theory and practice are now published in a book.
As a human rights research, campaign and advocacy organisation NGO working for over 20 years from its base in the UK, IHRC has had to negotiate the dilemma of dealing with not only institutionalised racism in local, national, regional and international organisations and regimes, but a Eurocentric discourse of rights and justice referencing largely the Enlightenment but compounded with the idea that this lingua franca of rights, though deemed universally applicable, is both the sole provenance of the ‘West’ and at the same time is immutable and unquestionable. The papers presented problematize perceptions of the US as anything other than a violent and rapacious colonial power. Arguably this is the grassroots perception of the US around the world, and even within its own borders there are significant numbers who eschew the self-perception of the country as a leader in freedom and democracy. They speak of the civil rights and indigenous rights movements whose very existence exposes these claims as fictitious.
The book is launched on January 20, 2020 in London. Click here for information about the launch. Click here for order information. ISBN 978-1-909853-04-1
Lecturers at the decolonial Summer Schools in Granada on Critical Muslim Studies explain the content of the program: Decolonial Struggles and Liberation Theologies, from June 15 – June 19, 2020.
Dialogo Global, member of the Decolonial International Network (DIN), has started the enrollment for her annual decolonial Summer Schools in Granada and Barcelona.
The Summer School on Critical Muslim Studies: Decolonial Struggles and Liberation Theologies is from June 15 – June 19, 2020 in Granada, Spain.
The Summer School on Decolonizing knowledge and power: postcolonial studies, decolonial horizons is from July 13 – July 17 in Barcelona, Spain.
Critical Muslim Studies is inspired by a need for opening up a space for intellectually rigorous and socially committed explorations between decolonial thinking and studies of Muslims, Islam and the Islamicate. Critical Muslim Studies does not take Islam as only a spiritual tradition, or a civilization, but also as a possibility of a decolonial epistemic perspective that suggests contributions and responses to the problems facing humankind today. It offers an opportunity to interpret and understand Muslim phenomena in ways that does not reproduce Eurocentrism, Islamophobia or takfiri exclusivism.
The international Summer School, “Decolonizing Knowledge and Power,” is an undertaking that aims at enlarging the scope of the conversation (analysis and investigation) of the hidden agenda of modernity (that is, coloniality) in the sphere of knowledge and higher education.
See the video on the Granada Summer School
Our brothers and sisters of The Decolonial Thought Community in Mexico have taken up the concept of Genocide Memorial Day that is promoted by DIN. On October 12, 1492 Columbus the Criminal opened the doors of hell for the Indigenous people of the America. On October 12 they organize an event to commemorate the Indigenous Holocaust.
The Indigenous Holocaust Memorial is an event that seeks to show a dissent, a disagreement with the narratives of submission that justify colonialism. Almost two centuries after the national liberation struggles and the end of the colonial administrations, these discourses still stand and sometimes, without any dispute. For that reason, it is important for us to disrupt this continuity, not only because of objective rigour but above all because we start from an ethico-critical position.
Already in 1992, when the 500th anniversary of the misnamed “discovery” of America or “encounter” of two worlds was being celebrated, there was an intense intellectual debate about the pertinence of the word “encounter” because it concealed the violence behind the colonization process (which led to the elimination of approximately 60% of the Mesoamerican population during the 16th century) and the asymmetry of power between the components of the supposed hybrid or “mestizo” culture.
In our state, Tlaxcala, the issue is even more complex. We are heirs of a people, altepetl, that successfully resisted the expansionism of the triple alliance led by the Mexicas (Aztecs), and that did not miss the opportunity to establish an alliance with the European conquerors to free itself from such domination, which would undoubtedly brought some benefits after the fall of Aztec empire. However, this alliance was neither a peaceful process nor an easy consensus. There were, throughout all the process, tensions, such as the initial confrontations with the Spanish of which the Otomí people can give full faith; but in addition, there were those who disagreed with this alliance, perhaps the most symbolic example is Xīcohténcatl the young captain who was executed because of his dissent.
No one can judge the attempt of liberation of a people. However, afterwards, the Tlaxcala people joined the colonizing project of the Westerners and was a relative complice in the violence that it implied. It would take some time to understand that somehow, our people had participated in the construction of their new chains of oppression and material-cultural destruction, that is, the modern regimes of domination (Patriarchy/Racism/Capitalism) that appear in the context of the colonial encounter and will soon take on a global vocation shaping the modern world system.
For us, this event means the testimony of the presence of a critical ethos of Tlaxcala and an awareness that starts by denouncing the violence of human beings against human beings as well as a commitment to contribute to the destruction of the regimes of modern global domination. We therefore join in solidarity in the series of events called by the Decolonial International Network(DIN) as: “Genocide Memorial Day”.
The meeting will be attended by Ahmed Uddin from the Islamic Human Rights Commission, a founding memberorganisation of DIN and initiator of the GMD.
The Decolonial Thought Community
[:es]El Memorial del holocausto indígena es un evento que busca dar testimonio de un disenso, un desacuerdo con las narrativas de sumisión que justifican el colonialismo. A casi dos siglos después de las luchas de liberación nacional y del fin de las administraciones coloniales, dichos discursos siguen en pie y en ocasiones, sin disputa, por ello, para nosotros es importante disrumpir dicha continuidad, no sólamente por fidelidad objetiva sino sobretodo porque partimos desde una posición ético-crítica.
Ya en 1992 cuando se celebraban los 500 años del mal llamado “descubrimiento” de América o “encuentro” de dos mundos, hubo un intenso debate intelectual acerca de la pertinencia de la palabra “encuentro” que encubría la violencia detrás del proceso de colonización (que llevó a la eliminación de apróximadamente el 60% de la población mesoamericana durante el S. XVI) y la asimetría de poder entre las componentes de la supuesta cultura híbrida o “mestiza”.
En nuestro estado, Tlaxcala, la cuestión es todavía mucho más compleja, somos herederos de un pueblo altepetl que resistió exitosamente al expansionismo de la triple alianza liderada por los mexicas, y que no dejo pasar la oportunidad de establecer una alianza con los conquistadores europeos para liberarse de dicha dominación, lo que indudablemente traería algunos beneficios tributarios y de otra índole después de la caída de Tenochtitlán, no obstante, dicha alianza no fue ni un proceso pacífico ni una suave decisión bajo un consenso total, hubo, durante todo el proceso tensiones, como los enfrentamientos iniciales con los españoles de los cuales el pueblo Otomí puede dar plena fe, pero además, hubo quienes estuvieron en desacuerdo con dicha alianza, quizá el ejemplo más simbólico sea Xīcohténcatl el joven quién fue ejecutado a causa de su disenso.
Nadie puede juzgar el intento de liberación de un pueblo, sin embargo, en lo posterior, el pueblo tlaxcalteca se unió al proyecto colonizador de los occidentales y fue complice relativo en la violencia que éste implicó, pasaría un tiempo para comprender que de alguna forma, nuestro pueblo había participado en la construcción de sus nuevas cadenas de opresión y destrucción material-cultural, es decir, los regímenes de dominación modernos (Patriarcado/Racismo/Capitalismo) que aparecen al calor del encuentro colonial y que pronto cobrarán una vocación global moldeando el sistema-mundial moderno.
Para nosotros este evento significa testimonio de un ethos tlaxcalteca crítico y una toma de consciencia que parte por la denuncia de la violencia del ser humano contra el ser humano además el compromiso de contribuir a la destrucción de los regimenes de dominación modernos globales, nos inscribimos por tanto solidariamente en la serie de eventos denominados como por la Red Internacional Decolonial como: “Genocide Memorial Day”.
Nuestras Hermanas y Hermanos de la Comunidad de Pensamiento Decolonial en México se han identificado con el concepto del Día Memorial del Genocidio promovido por la DIN. En Octubre 12 de 1492, Colón, criminalmente, abrió las puertas del infierno para los pueblos indigenas de América. En octubre 12 organizan un evento para conmemorar el Holocausto Indigena.
“Ahmed Uddin de la Comisión de Derechos Humanos Islámicos IHRC, un miembro fundador organizador de la Red Internacional Decolonial DIN e iniciador del Día del Memorial del Genocidio asistirá al evento.”
La Comunidad de Pensamiento Decolonial
Pravini Baboeram is an artist and activist of DIN in The Netherlands. She is creating art to contribute to social change. As an independent artist she has set up her own label Pravini Productions, that has produced 5 albums, 6 singles and 5 international tours. She is co-founder of action committee Holi is not a Houseparty, a campaign against cultural appropriation of the Hindu spring festival Holi, and initiator of the Anti-racism Voting Guide. In addition, she led the campaign Tetary Must Rise, a crowdfunding campaign for the replacement of the statue of colonizer Barnet Lyon by the Hindustani warrior of resistance Janey Tetary. Pravini also set up Indian History Month to celebrate stories and contributions of people from the Indian diaspora.
Now she produced a documentary about the social struggle in Europe.
The documentary is based on the album The Uprising, also written and produced by Pravini. The nine songs from the album act as a common thread in the film. In these songs, Pravini connects the fight against Blackface, the struggle for the recognition of colonial crimes committed by the Netherlands in Indonesia, the liberation movement for Palestine and the struggle in the political field for an inclusive society. The Uprising thus offers a unique view of the fight against racism in Europe through the eyes of people of color.
More info about The Uprising is available at: www.pravinimusic.com
View the trailer here: https://vimeo.com/329425921
The Uprising premiered in Pakhuis de Zwijger earlier this year and since then has been screened in various places within the Netherlands and abroad: Filmhuis Den Haag (The Hague, NL), Hiphophuis (Rotterdam, NL), Seminar on Reparations for Slavery and Colonization (Caracas , Venezuela), UCLA (Los Angeles, USA), UC Berkeley (Berkeley, USA), Centro Cultural de la Raza (San Diego, USA), Museum of African Diaspora (Smithsonian Affiliate, San Francisco, USA) and IWPS Convergence (Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota, USA).
It has been selected for the international film festival DocuDonna, which takes place from October 25th until October 27th in Massa Marittima, Italy. The film festival focuses on female filmmakers and social justice issues.
In October Pravini will tour the UK, where various educational institutions and social organizations will screen the film. Afterwards she will continue her journey to Italy, where she will participate in the DocuDonna film festival for a screening of The Uprising.
The Uprising can also be seen in various places in the fall:
The Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC), a founding member of the Decolonial International Network has set up a campaign to free Sheikh Zakzaky in Nigeria. Zakzaky is a leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria who has consistently campaigned for social justice in Nigeria, the Palestinian cause and is a supporter of the Iranian revolution. He was detained after a massacre that the Nigerian army carried out in the city of Zaria in December 2015 in which up to 1000 people were massacred.
IHRC has consistently documented the crimes of the Nigerian state against the Islamic Movement and the struggle to free Zakzaky. The court in Nigeria has ordered his release but the state refuses to act. Most recently (5 August) the court ordered his release for medical treatment in India, but he remains in detention.
The Decolonial Thought Community is a Latin American collective network of political action and decolonial thought based in Mexico and Ecuador. Born as an idea on June 7, 2017, it was originally conceived as a small online hub to spread the decolonial question and translate some articles and recorded lessons of some Latin American decolonial thinkers who remained invisible in discussions outside Latin America, but we were also interested in contributing to the contact between the different decolonial traditions of the global south. At first, the Ecuadorian anthropologist René Toapanta Mejía (Salesian Polytechnic University) who had a special interest in Latin American colonial history and the Mexican economist Ulises Tamayo Pérez (Polytechnic State University of St. Petersburg) who at that time carried out a critical research on social economy from the decolonial point of view, engaged in that project creating the site Decolonial Thought Community which has currently over 1800 members. In November 2017, following our participation in a forum where the importance of the relationship between feminism and coloniality was discussed, we established bonds of affinity with the Mexican internationalist Milén Aragón Dominguez (Benemerita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla), who came into contact with decolonial critiques while studying the communitary feminism, she soon joined the community. After some meetings and reflections we glimpsed the need for a shift to local action, from then on we tried to open spaces for discussion of the decolonial question. In February 2018 we inaugurated at the Autonomous University of Tlaxcala (Mexico) the first diploma course on Decolonial Studies in the country and probably in the continent, it was a free course that lasted around 6 months and to which around 25 people attended, the course allowed us to establish links with activists and local academics. In April 2018 we took part in the congress “Thinking psychology in the light of our realities”, putting on the discussion table the relationship between gender and coloniality; In January of the following year we organized a seminar on the rebellions in colonial America, a reading from Walter Benjamin’s diachronic-political analysis to which even attendees from nearby cities attended and at the same time we began to organize the second edition of the Diploma in Decolonial Studies inviting notable Latin American decolonial thinkers, this event did not take place due to some administrative requirements within the universities that would host the project, on May 9 of the same year we held a conversation session with Nelson Maldonado about the Coloniality of Being at the Center of Studies for Economic and Social Development of the Autonomous University of Puebla (where Milén Aragón and Ulises Tamayo carry out their Phd studies), between July 15 and 17 we organized a small Introductory Course to Decolonial Thought with around 40 attendees from different cities, also, during the summer, we committed ourselves to lead some study groups of left-wing political activists in some municipalities of our state. During the course of these activities we have been weaving links with activists, collectives and organizations (feminists, students, politicians and cultural) at the local level, for us are both important, articulation and political praxis, of course, we believe in the grass roots activism and autonomies, but we also believe in the intervention and action at the macro institutional level and we are conscious too of the necessity to consider the geopolitical situation in a global level, therefore, we are interested in the intercultural dialogue and the linkage, above all of the Global South.[:es]La comunidad de pensamiento decolonial es una red colectiva latinoamericana de acción política y pensamiento decolonial con sede en México y Ecuador. Nació como idea el 7 de Junio del año 2017, originalmente se concibió como un pequeño hub en linea que permitiera difundir la cuestión decolonial y traducir algunos artículos y lecciones grabadas de algunos pensadores decoloniales latinoamericanos que permanecían invisibles en las discusiones fuera de América Latina, pero también nos interesaba contribuir al contacto entre las distintas tradiciones decoloniales del sur global. En un primer momento en ese proyecto nos embarcamos el antropologo ecuatoriano René Toapanta Mejía (Universidad Politécnica Salesiana) que tenía especial interés en la historia colonial latinoamericana y el economista méxicano Ulises Tamayo Pérez (Universidad Estatal Politécnica de San Petersburgo) quién por entonces llevaba a cabo una investigación crítica sobre la economía social desde la visión decolonial, creamos entonces la página Decolonial Thought Community que cuenta ahora con poco más de 1800 miembros. En noviembre del 2017 a raíz de nuestra participación en un foro en dónde se discutió la importancia de la relación entre feminismo y colonialidad establecimos lazos de afinidad con la internacionalista mexicana Milén Aragón Dominguez (Benemerita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla) que entró en contacto con las críticas decoloniales mientras estudiaba el feminismo comunitario, y que al poco tiempo se incorporó a la comunidad. Después de algunas reuniones y reflexiones vislumbramos la necesidad de un giro hacia la acción local, a partir de entonces comenzamos a tratar de abrir espacios para la discusión de la cuestión decolonial. En Febrero del 2018 inauguramos en la Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala, México, el primer Diplomado en Estudios Decoloniales del país y probablemente del continente, se trató de un curso gratuito que duró alrededor de 6 meses y al que asistieron y finalizaron cerca de 25 personas, el curso nos permitió establecer vinculos con activistas y académicos locales. En abril del 2018 intervenimos en el congreso “Pensar la psicología a la luz de nuestras realidades” poniendo sobre la mesa de discusión la relación entre género y colonialidad; en enero del siguiente año organizamos un seminario sobre las rebeliones en la América colonial, una lectura desde el análisis diacrónico-político de Walter Benjamin al que acudieron incluso asistentes de ciudades cercanas y al mismo tiempo empezamos a organizar la segunda edición del Diplomado en Estudios Decoloniales invitando a notables pensadores decoloniales latinoamericanos, dicho evento no se pudo llevar a cabo debido a algunos requerimentos administrativos al interior de las universidades que acogerían el proyecto, el 9 mayo del mismo año llevamos a cabo un conversatorio con Nelson Maldonado sobre la Colonialidad del Ser en el Centro de Estudios para el Desarrollo Económico y Social, de la Benemerita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (en dónde Milén Aragón y Ulises Tamayo llevan a cabo sus estudios de doctorado), entre el 15 y el 17 de Julio organizamos un pequeño Curso Introductorio al Pensamiento Decolonial con cerca de 40 asistentes, también, durante el verano, nos comprometimos a guiar algunos grupos de estudio de militantes políticos de izquierda en algunos municipios de nuestro estado. Durante el curso de estas actividades hemos ido tejiendo vinculos con activistas, colectivos y organizaciones (feministas, estudiantiles, políticas y culturales) en el nivel local, para nosotros es importante la articulación y praxis política, desde luego, creemos en la acción de base y las autonomías, pero también creemos en la intervención y acción al nivel macro institucional y estamos conscientes también de la necesidad de considerar la situación geopolítica en un nivel global, por tanto, nos interesa el dialogo intercultural y la vinculación, sobretodo del Sur Global.
Massoud Shadjareh, chairman of the Islamic Human Rights Commission, explains how Zionism is pressing for shrinking the spaces for freedom of speech and organizations.