A collaboration between The Racial Justice Network, University of Nairobi, African Digital Media Institute and University of Manchester.

Between the 13th and the 16th January, 6 of us from the UK and 5 others from Kenya have curated a programme of events focused on the decolonization of education and activisms. This programme seeks to bring a range of partners together in order to build international solidarity between activists, artists and scholars in Kenya, and their UK counterparts.

Whilst calls to ‘decolonize’ are now commonplace on UK university campuses, the term is at risk of being reduced to a mere buzzword, bereft of historical and socio-political context, and emptied of its radical impetus. Through this programme of events, we hope to recapture the radical potential of decolonial thought and action. 

Given the colonial relationship between Kenya and Britain, and given the decolonization that Kenyans fought for, this international collaboration enables us to engage in meaningful and generative ways as we seek to explore what contemporary decolonize movements should look like. 

The four day series of events have been designed as an intervention against the systems of colonial power that structure our places of learning, our existence and ways of living. We ask: what do colonial legacies look like? What do we learn? How do we build and reinforce decolonial resistances and solidarities across borders. All of the sessions will feed into a decolonial framework that will be made available after the event.

This framework will be developed for attendees to implement in their educational spaces, workplaces, and in the prospective international network. Whilst decolonization cannot be reduced only to a ‘framework’, we hope that this is a starting point from which our network might build. As the framework will become an open-online-resource, we hope that it will be drawn upon (and refined) by a range of other activist organisations, including ourselves

Activities over the course of the week:

Monday 13th January – Rep the road workshop in a high school in Nairobi ( not open to public). 

Tuesday 14th January – Decoloniality workshops at Arboretum Nairobi,10-3 pm. Bringing community, scholars and activists together. 22 places available for community members, activists and scholars only. EMAIL TO RESERVE YOUR PLACE

Wednesday 15th January – Resistance and solidarity workshops at PAWA 254, 10-2pm. Bringing 22 community members, scholars and activists only. EMAIL TO RESERVE YOUR PLACE

Followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium, 6-8pm. By asking if we are complicit in colonial legacies, we will share and listen to a range of speakers covering topics like Education, Culture, Politics, Land and much more. BOOK YOUR PLACE HERE.

Thursday 16th January – Decolonising Education conference at the University of Nairobi (Kikuyu campus), 9.30-5pm. Bringing all of the week’s activities together, a day of focused discussion, response, solidarity-building and planning for decolonial resistances. This conference includes an opening and closing plenary as well as presentations from scholars, community educators and activists. BOOK YOUR PLACE HERE

Booking, admission and other details:

Admission to all workshop events is free of charge, however spaces are limited and booking for each event is required, followed by further information including location details. 

Light refreshments and lunch will be provided.

The events will be filmed and recorded.

Speakers and workshop organisers for this event include:

Racial Justice Network – with Desiree Reynolds, Remi Joseph-Salisbury, Sharon Anyiam, Sai Murray, Kwame Gad and Peninah Wangari-Jones.

Field Marshall’s- Githuku Ndungi

From the roots – Wangui wa Kamonji

University of Nairobi- Dr. Christine Kahigi

For any questions or further queries, please contact:

info@racialjusticenetwork.co.uk

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/decolonising-education-kenya-2020-tickets-88116945155

Legacies of Colonialism: How are we complicit

Happening on the 15th of January 2020 and held at PAWA 254, 2nd floor, Africa Alliance of YMCAs Building, Nairobi, Kenya