Decolonizing The Mind: A Primer

Introduction

This document provides an introduction to the process of decolonizing our minds – the ongoing work of identifying, understanding, and unlearning the colonial mindsets that shape our thinking, organizing, and relationships. Decolonization is not a metaphor but a concrete process of dismantling systems of domination while reconnecting with indigenous knowledge systems and ways of being that have been suppressed through colonization.

As we work toward building communities aligned with Ubuntu Freedom principles, this internal decolonization becomes essential. The structures of oppression we seek to dismantle exist not only in external systems but also within our consciousness. This primer offers entry points for beginning this lifelong journey of unlearning and relearning.

Understanding Colonization

What is Colonization?

Colonization refers to the process by which European powers occupied territories across the globe, subjugated indigenous populations, extracted resources, and imposed their economic, political, social, and cultural systems. However, colonization extends beyond physical occupation to include:

Military Conquest and Occupation

• Violent suppression of resistance
• Forced displacement from ancestral lands
• Creation of arbitrary borders dividing peoples
• Establishment of settler populations

Economic Extraction

• Theft of land, resources, and labor
• Destruction of indigenous economies
• Creation of dependency relationships
• Imposition of capitalist economic systems

Cultural and Intellectual Domination

• Suppression of indigenous languages
• Criminalization of spiritual practices
• Imposition of European education systems
• Rewriting of histories from colonizer perspectives

Psychological Warfare

• Creation of racial hierarchies
• Internalized inferiority among colonized peoples
• Severing connections to ancestral knowledge
• Normalization of European standards and values

Colonization as Ongoing Process

While many nations have achieved formal political independence, colonization continues through:

Neocolonialism

• Economic domination through international financial institutions
• Unequal trade relationships
• Military intervention and political control
• Cultural imperialism through media and education

Settler Colonialism

• Continued occupation of indigenous lands
• Denying sovereignty of indigenous nations
• Ongoing cultural genocide and assimilation
• Resource extraction from indigenous territories

Coloniality of Power

• Persistence of colonial hierarchies and thinking
• Continued privileging of European knowledge systems
• Global systems that maintain white supremacy
• Internalized colonial mentalities

Colonial Mentalities

The most insidious aspect of colonization is how thoroughly it has shaped our consciousness. These internalized colonial mentalities influence how we think, organize, and relate to each other, even when we are committed to liberation work. Recognizing these patterns is the first step toward unlearning them.

Eurocentrism

Eurocentrism places Europe (and by extension, whiteness) at the center of history, knowledge, and value systems. It manifests as:

• Viewing European history as universal human history
• Treating non-European knowledge as “primitive,” “superstitious,” or merely “cultural”
• Centering white/European aesthetics as the standard of beauty
• Assuming European intellectual traditions are more rigorous or valuable
• Treating European languages as more sophisticated or precise
• Using Europe as the unstated reference point for “development” or “progress”

How it shows up in our movements:

• Prioritizing Western academic theories over ancestral or lived knowledge
• Focusing primarily on European revolutionary thinkers and traditions
• Assuming organizing models developed in Europe/US are universally applicable
• Prioritizing written documentation over oral traditions
• Dismissing spirituality as irrelevant to political work

Individualism

Colonial capitalism promotes an individualistic worldview that contradicts the relational ontologies of most indigenous cultures. This manifests as:

• Seeing ourselves as separate, autonomous beings rather than fundamentally interconnected
• Prioritizing individual rights and freedoms over collective wellbeing
• Valuing personal achievement over community contribution
• Believing in personal merit rather than collective systems of privilege/oppression
• Treating land, water, and other beings as resources rather than relations

How it shows up in our movements:

• Celebrity activism and individual leadership
• Competitive rather than collaborative approaches
• Focus on individual identity rather than solidarity
• Difficulty sustaining long-term collective efforts
• Reluctance to share resources and knowledge

Linear Thinking

Colonial worldviews impose linear rather than cyclical or relational ways of understanding time, progress, and change. This manifests as:

• Seeing history as a straight line of “progress” moving from “primitive” to “advanced”
• Viewing technology and complexity as inherently better or more evolved
• Believing in single, direct causes for complex phenomena
• Expecting change to happen in predictable, controllable ways
• Separating past, present, and future rather than seeing their interconnection

How it shows up in our movements:

• Always seeking “new” and “innovative” approaches rather than reviving ancestral wisdom
• Impatience with long-term transformation processes
• Focusing on “winning” rather than cyclical struggle
• Separating strategy from ceremony and spiritual practice
• Inability to hold complexity and contradiction

Binary Thinking

Colonial epistemologies rely on strict binaries that divide and categorize, rather than seeking integration and wholeness. This manifests as:

• Rigid categorization of gender into male/female binaries
• Separation of mind from body, reason from emotion, spiritual from material
• Classification of people into distinct racial categories
• Dividing human from nature, culture from nature
• Creating artificial boundaries between disciplines and knowledge domains

How it shows up in our movements:

• Separating “political” work from healing, cultural, or spiritual work
• Drawing rigid boundaries between allies and enemies
• Creating unnecessary divisions between tactical approaches
• Struggling to hold both/and rather than either/or positions
• Separating theory from practice, thinking from feeling

Hierarchical Thinking

Colonial systems are fundamentally hierarchical, organizing everything into ranked categories with some inherently “above” or “better than” others. This manifests as:

• Assuming superiority of humans over other beings
• Ranking racial groups with whiteness at the top
• Valuing certain work (mental, professional) over other work (physical, care)
• Creating vertical organizational structures
• Believing expertise comes from credentials rather than experience

How it shows up in our movements:

• Reproducing hierarchical leadership structures
• Valuing certain skills and contributions over others
• Creating insider/outsider dynamics
• Prioritizing “expertise” over lived experience
• Restricting decision-making to a chosen few

Decolonizing Our Minds: Practices and Approaches

Decolonizing our minds is ongoing work that requires both individual and collective effort. Here are some entry points for beginning this journey:

Reconnect with Indigenous and Non-Western Knowledge Systems

• Study indigenous philosophies and worldviews, particularly those from your ancestral homelands
• Learn about anti-colonial thinkers and movements from the Global South
• Seek out perspectives that have been marginalized in dominant discourse
• Identify and question the Western/Eurocentric assumptions in your education
• Practice intellectual humility when encountering unfamiliar knowledge systems

Reclaim Language and Communication

• Learn your ancestral languages if possible
• Notice how colonial languages shape your thinking
• Challenge Western academic language as the only “legitimate” way of expressing ideas
• Value oral traditions, storytelling, and non-verbal ways of communicating
• Develop vocabulary that reflects indigenous and non-Western concepts

Reconnect with Cyclical and Relational Ways of Being

• Observe natural cycles and align your work with them
• Practice relating to land, water, and non-human beings as relatives
• Develop awareness of how past and future exist within the present
• Notice how everything is interconnected rather than separate
• Challenge the urgency that capitalism imposes on our work

Build Community and Collective Practice

• Shift from individualistic to communal thinking and living
• Practice consensus and collective decision-making
• Create economies of sharing and gift rather than transaction
• Develop systems of collective care and responsibility
• Celebrate interdependence rather than independence

Embody Integrated Ways of Knowing

• Reconnect mind, body, spirit, and emotions in your work
• Value dreams, intuition, and spiritual knowing alongside analytical thinking
• Practice embodied learning through ceremony, dance, art, and ritual
• Challenge the separation of spiritual and political practice
• Integrate intellectual understanding with emotional and physical wisdom

Decolonization as Collective Process

While internal work is essential, decolonization is ultimately a collective process that must include material change. True decolonization requires:

Land Back

• Return of land to indigenous stewardship
• Respect for indigenous sovereignty and governance
• Reparations for stolen resources and labor
• Restoration of ecological systems

Knowledge Reclamation

• Revitalization of indigenous languages
• Preservation and transmission of traditional knowledge
• Challenging Eurocentric education systems
• Validating diverse ways of knowing

Healing Justice

• Addressing historical and ongoing trauma
• Reviving cultural healing practices
• Creating spaces for collective grief and transformation
• Supporting self-determination in wellness and healthcare

Cultural Resurgence

• Revival of traditional ceremonies and practices
• Supporting indigenous arts and creative expression
• Rebuilding intergenerational knowledge transmission
• Celebrating cultural resilience and continuity

Reflection Questions

The following questions are designed to help you begin identifying colonial mentalities in your own thinking and practice:

1. What educational systems shaped your thinking, and what colonial assumptions did they instill?
2. Which knowledge systems or ways of knowing have you been taught to dismiss or devalue?
3. How do you relate to time, productivity, and “progress” in ways that reflect colonial thinking?
4. In what ways does individualism show up in your life and organizing work?
5. What hierarchies do you unconsciously accept or reproduce in your relationships and work?
6. How does your relationship with land and place reflect or challenge colonial patterns?
7. What ancestral knowledge systems are you connected to, and how might you deepen these connections?
8. How do you separate spiritual/cultural practices from your political work?
9. Where do you notice binary thinking limiting your ability to hold complexity?
10. What does genuine decolonization look like in the specific context where you live and work?

Exercises for Decolonizing Practice

Ancestral Connection Timeline

Create a timeline of your ancestral history, focusing on:

• Where your ancestors came from
• How they related to colonization (as colonized, colonizers, or both)
• What knowledge systems they practiced
• What aspects of their wisdom have been lost or preserved
• How their experiences shape your position today

Language Inventory

Make a list of terms and concepts you commonly use, then explore:

• Which have roots in colonial languages/thinking
• What alternative terms exist in indigenous or non-Western frameworks
• How changing your language might shift your thinking
• Words or concepts from your ancestral languages that have no direct English equivalent

Relationship Mapping

Draw a map of your relationships with:

• The land where you live
• The water you drink
• The food you eat
• The non-human beings around you
• Your ancestors and descendants

Reflect on whether these are extractive relationships or reciprocal ones, and how you might transform them.

Collective Decision-Making Practice

With a group, experiment with consensus-based decision processes that:

• Ensure all voices are heard
• Take the time needed for genuine agreement
• Integrate spiritual/intuitive knowing with analytical thinking
• Honor the wisdom of those most impacted by decisions
• Balance immediate needs with responsibility to future generations

Media Decolonization

For one month:

• Stop consuming mainstream news and entertainment
• Seek out indigenous, Black, Global South voices and perspectives
• Notice what shifts in your understanding of the world
• Pay attention to what feels uncomfortable or challenging
• Track how your worldview begins to transform

Resources for Continued Learning

Books

• Decolonizing Methodologies by Linda Tuhiwai Smith
• Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World by Tyson Yunkaporta
• Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
• The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon
• Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire
• Decolonizing the Mind by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o
• Indigenous and Decolonizing Studies in Education edited by Linda Tuhiwai Smith, Eve Tuck, and K. Wayne Yang

Organizations and Online Resources

• Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society (Open-access journal)
• Indigenous Environmental Network
• Rethinking Schools
• The Red Nation
• Decolonize This Place
• Idle No More
• Native Land Digital (interactive map of Indigenous territories)

Practice Communities

• Land-based education initiatives
• Indigenous language revitalization programs
• Traditional knowledge sharing circles
• Healing justice collectives
• Food sovereignty movements

Conclusion

Decolonizing the mind is not a destination but a continuous process of unlearning, remembering, and recommitting to ways of being that honor all life. This work is both deeply personal and necessarily collective. As we undertake this journey, we recognize that decolonization is not metaphorical but requires concrete action to dismantle colonial systems while rebuilding just relationships with each other and the earth.

The Ubuntu Freedom principle “We are the Environment & the Environment is Us” reminds us that true decolonization reconnects us with our fundamental interdependence—with each other, with our ancestors, with the land, and with all beings. From this reconnection flows the possibility of creating systems and communities that embody liberation rather than domination.

As you engage with this primer, remember that decolonization is not about guilt or shame but about healing and transformation. The colonial mindsets we are unlearning were imposed through violence and continue through ongoing systems of domination. By consciously choosing different ways of thinking and being, we participate in an ancestral lineage of resistance that spans centuries and continents.

May this resource support your journey toward freedom—not as an isolated individual, but as part of the interconnected web of life seeking balance, justice, and right relationship.