Anti-Racist Teaching Practices

Decolonizing your syllabus is different from including some Indigenous writers on the reading schedule. Inclusion is a form of diversification but it can also be violent. Inviting voices into spaces not built for them or that undermine their messages, lived experiences, and expertise can often work against the well-intentioned goals of inclusion. This is what is meant by tokenism or “add Indigenous and stir,” where inclusion acts as a sufficient action to deal with underrepresentation, but there is no structural change.

It's simple: Cite Black Women. We have been producing knowledge since we blessed this earth. We theorize, we innovate, we revolutionize the world. We do not need mediators. We do not need interpreters. It's time to disrupt the canon. It's time to upturn the erasures of history. It's time to give credit where credit is due. This site includes resources and a link to their bi-weekly podcast.

This manifesto and resources were developed by Keele University. Decolonising the curriculum is the process of: "identifying colonial systems, structures and relationships, and working to challenge those systems. It is not "integration" or simply the token inclusion of the intellectual achievements of non-white cultures. Rather, it involves a paradigm shift from a culture of exclusion and denial to the making of space for other political philosophies and knowledge systems. It's a culture shift to think more widely about why common knowledge is what it is, and in so doing adjusting cultural perceptions and power relations in real and significant ways."