The Colonial Line: Recent Episodes
Rohan Chopra
Dissecting global affairs through a critical lens. In conversation with activists and students from around the world, Rohan discusses sensitive issues of gender, race and nationalism in global politics. Tune in to learn about the colonial line — the strand that binds world politics — and how it can create space for global solidarities.
In our third episode, we speak with Kieron, a PhD student at the University of Sussex and an organizer/ activist with the group “Palestine Action”. Kieron talks to us about the contrasts between Zionism and anti-Semitism, Palestinian Liberation and Israeli Occupation. We talk about these in reference to current events in Sheikh Jarrah, charges of anti-Semitism against Shahd Abusalama’s and the siege of Gaza. He discusses the colonial, patriarchal, racial and capitalist underpinnings of the current world order and how these have played out in Occupied Palestine. The solution to this must be found in anti-colonial, intersectional resistance that draws inspiration from struggles for equality and dignity from around the world.
In our second episode, we speak with Hayat, an incoming student at Harvard University. Hayat shares her experiences as a black, Muslim woman in the United States and explains the contradictory meanings of belongingness and solidarity that follow. She talks about how the George Floyd murder and the subsequent protests for Black Lives Matter brought about a radical realisation in her home state of Minnesota about systemic racism and the need to combat it. Hayat connects these themes to colonialism and gives a brief history of how the racist structures that imperialism created must be at the centre of our understanding of racism in the USA and Britain. We also look at the controversy regarding Critical Race Theory and why it raises important questions for the future of America.
On today’s episode, we talk to Ryder Cote-Nottaway, a North American Indian and an indigenous rights activist from Canada. We discuss the history of residential schools, his grandparents' experiences with the same and how this fits into our idea of Canada as a progressive, cosmopolitan country. We take a deep dive into the settler colonial histories of North America, the genocide of indigenous people and the subsequent whitewashing of entire histories. Ryder also tells us about his culture, and how we can continue to learn from its practices in combatting contemporary issues of climate change. Some of the movies that Ryder mentioned as resource materials are here: "We Were Children", "Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance", "Angry Inuk" and "Nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up".