ive got time today so let’s talk about why decolonisation is not the same as diversity (directly lifted from my gender agenda workshop!)

i use the example of OITNB because most of the students of the room know the basic plot and it gets a few laughs. i always ask “what is the show about? if you think it’s s good show, why?”

most answers are “it’s a show about women in prison from different ethnic/class backgrounds” etc

“It’s a diverse show, right?” it’s an obvious question and people always agree. the next question is important “okay but who is the main character?”

piper is! a white, albeit, queer woman, is the main character. most ppl agree with this even if the general vibe is that she’s a fucking annoying character. the fact still remains we are still viewing this story through her eyes.

next I ask, who writes this show? Who are the writers? If you don’t know, google image it right now. i’ll wait

as you can guess, it’s a sea of white faces! decolonisation is not black and brown stories told by white peoples for entertainment. White ppl taking very real realities for POC and turning into entertainment is not decolonisation !!! and this is the lie diversity sells

okay so now let’s talk about WHY white people writing about POC lives is bad, especially in OITNB. let’s talk about poussey washington (spoilers ahead)

so if you don’t know poussey (a black queer woman) is murdered in s4 by one of the correctional officers and she lies there choking she is saying the words “I can’t breathe. Help me, I can’t breathe.”

an obvious attempt at an “homage” to Eric Garner who murdered by he NYPD in 2014 whose dying words were the same. This scene didn’t do anything to fight against police brutality or inspire a new generation of protestors, all it did was remind how profitable black pain is.

I can go on more about how the correctional officer is portrayed as vulnerable young boy who has made terrible choices but that’s not the really the point is it? Decolonisation as a practice, is always meant to be about resistance and most important ACTION

After I watched that episode, I cried for days. Poussey is a character that like so many other black queer ppl, I felt such a close connection to. Her murder echoes what we go through every day and was simply a plot device engineered to bring a Netflix original more views.

“but isn’t shedding light on police brutality a good thing?” Did her death bring about social change? Did white people collectives demand a change to a system they made? No it did not. What it did do was prove that not only is black pain entertaining it’s profitable.

“Diversity” has no intention of changing the system. It does not address the rot in the foundation. “Diversity” will keep you complacent.

When we ask for decolonisation, we are dreaming of a whole new world. We will not be satisfied till we are telling our own stories for our own good. OITNB is a reminder that even our stories and lives won’t be recognised till white people write it.

This is getting long so I’m gonna end with this: Colonisation is a violent process and as such, decolonisation must be more so. Don’t be complacent. Do not settle for scraps.

If you want to know more of about decolonisation (especially decolonisation of gender and queerness) or even want to see the whole workshop you should hire me :)

glad to see ppl really liked this thread! if you feel like you wanna show your appreciation pls feel free to donate to a broke student ! http://PayPal.me/fopeolaleye