“Deconstructing Institutional Racism through a Decolonial Lens” was the title and theme of the first collaborative online event and discussion session hosted by Decolonial Dialogues (DD) in partnership with the Race, Ethnicity and Education Network (REEN), on 14th October 2020. The primary focus of this session centred on an artist’s talk and keynote presentation given by musician, film-maker and activist Pravini Baboeram – producer and director of the documentary ‘The Uprising’
In brief: “The Uprising” is a music documentary that tells the story of resistance against racism in Europe. With commentary and experiences from academics and activists, the Dutch-Indian singer/songwriter Pravini Baboeram offers a decolonial perspective on the anti-racism movement in the Netherlands, UK and France. Key contributors to the film include: Houria Bouteldja, Parti des Indigènes de la République (France); Jessica de Abreu, Stop ‘Blackface’ (The Netherlands); Sandew Hira, Founder of the Decolonial International Network (The Netherlands); Raza Kazim, Islamic Human Rights Commission (UK); and Stephen Small, Professor of African American Studies, UC Berkeley (USA).
Drawing on Pravini’s personal reflections about conceptualising the narrative and creating the soundtrack for this powerful film as the event’s departure point, delegates were able to engage in a wide-ranging Q&A that helped us learn more about the anti-racist praxis, racial justice activism and scholarly research underpinning the poignant socio-political commentary, documentary footage, archival images and featured song lyrics.
To view the full recording of the DD/REEN October 14th event, please follow this link to the Decolonial Dialogues blog post, written by my friend and colleague Riadh Ghemmour (co-founder and co-editor of the shared space): https://decolonialdialogue.wordpress.com/2020/10/24/deconstructing-institutional-racism-through-a-decolonial-lens-recorded-event-14-october-2020/.
I am immensely grateful to Riadh for organising, chairing and moderating this highly successful session. Heartfelt thanks are also extended to our guest speaker – Pravini Baboeram – for sharing so many detailed insights and reflections about her art-political practice during this inaugural event.
Further information / web links:
Pravini Baboeram’s website: https://www.pravinimusic.com/
Decolonial Dialogues (WordPress site): https://decolonialdialogue.wordpress.com/
Decolonial Dialogues (Twitter): @decolonialdial1
Ghemmour, R. (2020) Deconstructing Institutional Racism through a Decolonial Lens – Blog post of the DD/REEN collaborative event, recorded 14 October 2020, 4-6pm hosted via Zoom.
Race, Ethnicity and Education Network (REEN) – Graduate School of Education, University of Exeter: https://reenexeter.wordpress.com/
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