colonization — Blog — Rebel-Mouthed Books

Commentary: “An Indian Among Los Indigenas”

Ursula Pike’s debut An Indian Among Los Indigenas follows 25-year-old Ursula during her two year stay in Bolivia as a volunteer with the Peace Corps and poses the question: What does it mean to have experienced the effects of colonialism firsthand, and yet to risk becoming a colonizing force in turn?

Commentary, For ReadersChava PossumJuly 19, 2021An Indian Among Los Indigenas, Ursula Pike, Native Travel memoir, Memoirs written by Indigenous writers, Indigenous writers, Indigenous stories, mission trips, colonization, colonialism in Bolivia, white supremacy, white savior industrial complex, Teju ColeComment

Commentary: As Long as Grass Grows + full-metal Indigiqueer

The Decolonize This Book Club read Dina-Gilio Whitaker’s As Long as Grass Grows: The Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice, from Colonization to Standing Rock paired with Joshua Whitehead’s debut poetry collection called full-metal Indigiqueer for our June and July meetings. Together, the two texts ask the question: How do we save the world when the apocalypse has already happened?

Commentary, For ReadersChava PossumJune 14, 2021As Long as Grass Grows, As Long As Grass Grows book, Dina-Gilio Whitaker, Indigenous authors, indigenous writers, As Long As Grass Grows: The Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice, As Long as Grass Grows: The Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice, from Colonization to Standing Rock, environmental justice, ej, books about environmental justice, books about ej, Indigenized Environmental Justice, indigenized EJ, Standing Rock, #NoDAPL, Indigenous resistance, books about indigenous resistance, nonfiction, nonfiction written by indigenous authors, environmental activism, indigenous environmental activists, full-metal Indigiqueer, joshua whitehead, poems, poetry collection, poetry collections by Indigenous writers, indigenous poets, Oji-Cree writers, two-spirit writers, two-spirit poetry, joshua whitehead poetry, member of the Peguis First Nation, books written by members of Peguis First Nation, colonization, books about colonization, books about decolonizationComment

Commentary: In Search of Appalachia

I entered In Search of Appalachia with excitement at the prospect of reading about Appalachia by an Appalachian, rather than through the eyes of outsiders, as is so often the case in media, who typically present Appalachia as a backward and dirty place— one characterized by lacking, rather than a destination draped in rich culture. But I left In Search of Appalachia with a furrowed brow, disappointed in the missed opportunity of really grappling with our history as colonizers on the frontier.

Commentary: A History of the Peoples of Siberia: Russia's North Asian Colony 1581-1990

If our goal is to decolonize, then we must start by learning how colonization works; its patterns could be its downfall.

Commentary, For ReadersChava PossumDecember 24, 2020siberia, history of siberia, james forsyth, books about the history of siberia, books about russian colonization of siberia, Russian colonization, colonization, indigenous siberians, an indigenous history of siberia, similarities between america and russiaComment

Commentary: Tragic Spirits: Shamanism, Memory, and Gender in Contemporary Mongolia by Manduhai Buyandelger

Through Buyandelger’s extensive and dedicated fieldwork, we are allowed to glimpse into how one tribe of Mongolians— the Buryats— are recollecting their personal and communal histories after centuries of suppression and persecution, not only as the marginalized tribe within Mongolia, but also under Soviet domination and Russian aggression dating back to Catherine the Great.

Commentary, For ReadersChava PossumJuly 20, 2020Mongolia, Buryat, Manduhai Buyandelger, Tragic Spirits, Shamanism, Memory, Gender, colonization, healing

Commentary: How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence by Michael Pollan

White people/European colonizers punish Indigenous communities for EVERYTHING they do, not because what they do is wrong, but because those practices don’t fit our agendas and quests for power. Now; however, that white people have realized that psychedelics have immense potential for healing (and profitability), we want to control them again, but this time with FDA approval. ⁣

Commentary, For ReadersChava PossumJuly 20, 2020Michael Pollan, How to change your mind, Psychedelics, Consciousness, LSD, Shrooms, DMT, Mental health, psychedelics and therapy, colonization, How to change your mind review, Indigenous