July 2024: Exploring the Possibilities of Decolonization

Happy July! If you’ve been able to attend a gathering recently, thank you. And if it’s been a while, we invite you to join us again soon. We continue to hear from people how much CWC is helping them deepen their understanding of racism and white supremacy, and more importantly, making it easier for them to engage in these conversations outside of CWC.

For the last couple of years, we’ve used July as an opportunity to examine the themes of freedom and independence. Earlier this year, we went deeper and took some time exploring colonization, which also relates to the founding of this country. In response to that exploration, a member shared:"

I really appreciated the conversation we had in CWC about colonization, but it has me struggling to understand how to separate myself from the systems that are relics of colonization. Like the stock market; I want to be a part of decolonization, but I don’t know how to not participate in capitalism as it currently exists. I want to make money.”

This conversation had us taking a step back and wondering, “What does decolonization even mean?” Then we thought, “What better place to grapple with this question than CWC!” so we’re bringing the question to our July conversations.

We’ll first explore decolonization as a theory using this definition from The Peace Chronicle, “(Decolonization) is about deconstructing or dismantling colonial ideologies and challenging the superiority of western thought and approaches. Unlike decolonization as a process of formal independence, (decolonization as a social, cultural, and psychological process) digs into thought patterns, biases, policies, values, and more.”

You might be thinking, “But what does that mean in concrete terms?” We wondered the same thing, so we pulled this content from New Music USA to help us apply the definition to how different kinds of music are perceived (since most of us have our own opinions and perspectives about music):

“The common thread of colonization…is an ‘either/or’ mentality. One music reigns supreme, while the other is neglected at best or dies away at worst. Thus, the necessity to ‘decolonize’ our music. Decolonizing music involves a conscious decision to move to a ‘both/and’ ‘decolonized’ mentality. Decolonizing music, however, is not about replacing one style or genre with another. Replacing colonial music with indigenous music only perpetuates the either/or mentality that has always been destructive to music, just with a different style becoming preeminent. In order to adequately and effectively ‘decolonize’ music, we must become ‘reconcilers’ or, to use a musical term, ‘harmonizers.’ We must reconcile the new with the traditional…both the new and the traditional are vital to a healthy state of musical and cultural affairs.”

Here are some questions to help focus our thoughts:

What questions come up as you read the definition of decolonization and/or the text about decolonizing music?
Which genre of music were you socialized to believe “reigns supreme?” How has that impacted your access to and enjoyment of music, if at all?
In what other ways does either/or thinking, as a mentality of colonization, show up in your life?
How do/can you use “both/and” thinking as a strategy for decolonization in your life?

Decolonization is a HUGE topic. As always, this month’s prompt isn’t designed to get us to the answer. It’s meant to inspire curiosity and provide an opportunity to practice having the conversation. If the prompt doesn’t inspire you, join us for a conversation anyway and talk about whatever is on your mind and heart.

We look forward to seeing you soon!

"I make bold to say that the Europeans themselves will have to remodel their outlooks if they are not to perish under the weight of the comforts to which they are becoming slaves." – Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi