I.
The United States is a post-colonial nation. It may not seem post-colonial – India, Kenya, South Africa… Those are the nations that come to mind when many think “post-colonial,” if you’re one to think about postcolonialism, that is.
But the States are nonetheless post-colonial. We too bear the racial, social, and economic wounds left by imperial despots. We too grapple with the legacies of colonial divisions. It’s not as if racism existed here indigenously. It’s a colonial import.
That’s what colonialism does: it segments people by social constructions like skin color, religion, gender – anything colonialism can use to turn people into subjects and create an idolized “ideal” that dominates a dehumanized “other.”
In this invasive way, colonialism distorts every civil interaction, warping history and identities to make its self-serving philosophies seem sane. Right and wrong, deserving and undeserving, legitimate and illegitimate – these concepts are manipulated to suit the oppressor’s needs, and the stink lingers long after the overlords are ousted.
“Imperialism leaves germs of rot,” postcolonial theorist Frantz Fanon wrote.
The only way to cleanse this grotesque, colonial canker is by “removing” it from our minds, hearts, and society. America never did that, and we’re still paying the price. The only way forward is through Truth and Reconciliation.
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In addition to being a die-hard advocate for women’s rights, a champion for people with disabilities and totally anti-war, Helen Keller, whose 138th birthday is today, was also fiercely socialist. Economic inequality was anathema to America’s promises of equality and opportunity, she said.
On this date in 1844, Samuel Morse typed out the first telegraph, sending a message from DC to Baltimore: “What hath God wrought?” Quite: we all know the technological revolution would accelerate exponentially in decades ahead, ending with, at the moment, smart phones. Who knows what will be next… Something more inescapable, intrusive and indispensable, that’s for sure.
May 14th sure is a great day for launching unprecedented expeditions: it’s on this date that both the Lewis and Clark adventure and SkyLab took off to new frontiers, albeit almost two centuries years apart.
I’ve been away from the site for far longer than I intended, for which I apologize. It will be another few days before the regularly scheduled program starts cranking again, as I continue clearing my desk of pesky editorial debris.
The group that would become the Girl Scouts turns 106 today. In honor of the organization, here are six quick facts about the Girl Scouts.
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