Practical Decolonization

Decolonization isn't a thought experiment, it's an applied lifestyle. You see it discussed a lot in social justice spaces using really big concepts of societal change, but it's pretty rare to hear people give practical advice on what a truly decolonized lifestyle in the middle of a colonized culture looks like. Particularly considering decolonization is a bottom-up process. We are literally working colonization in reverse here, it has to be. And it's one of those "eat the elephant one bite at a time" scenarios - we all do the work, one small step at a time, until we all complete the journey together. But we ALL have to do the work. No riding on coattails.

"Decolonize Your Mind" is a big slogan, but any time I've seen or heard it interpreted for the public (i.e. not in a scholarly work, we are in the middle of a literacy crisis here), it's things like "see non-white people as beautiful" or "recognize money is the root of all evil." None of that is helpful. If you want to decolonize your thought process, you need to understand where your thought process came from, how it relates to colonialism, and where the answer lies in pre-colonialism. The last part is the most important part. Because, then you have to start doing it the way a non-colonized person would. Because you, yourself, are striving to be a non-colonized person. That's what decolonization is.

And, for the record, it's a lifelong process: lore time, and CW for medical procedures and pathology...

After my hysterectomy earlier this month, they sent the organ to a pathologist for full inspection before incineration, and what we thought was my biggest fibroid was actually an exceptionally large example of a rare, benign tumor, found in less than 1% of hysterectomies. This is the second rare, benign growth my body has produced, as I have a rare cyst sitting on my brain stem. My first thought upon reading my pathology report? "So, I have the ability to produce something extremely rare, but it's worthless. There's no way to make money off of it."

I've been decolonizing my mind for 10 years, and that's still where it went at a pathology report. This is going to be a lifelong process for everyone. And that's okay. Good things are worth fighting for.

To break decolonization down in the most basic way, these are the steps:

1. Identify the problem that colonialism caused.

2. Identify how colonialism caused the problem.

3. Research how people did it pre-colonization.

4. Go back to doing it the pre-colonial way.

So, to take yesterday's blog example of food and put it through the steps:

1. A two-pronged problem: a diet of ultra-processed convenience foods that are high in calories and low in nutrients, depending on dopamine reactions instead of actual nutrition. And a culture that rewards the ability to restrict the dopamine reactions to stay not just average weight, but extremely underweight.

2. The ultra-processed convenience foods can be traced back to the Industrial Revolution, through 1950's housewife culture, 1940's war rationing, and 1930's Great Depression desperation meals. Root cause: corporate capitalism, aka colonialism. People got used to it in times of turmoil and hardship, and so it was pushed as the "modern ideal" to keep the money flowing during times of plenty, when people could go back to their pre-industrial cultural diets. And the cultural preference for thinness comes straight from the Puritan ethic of self-denial for religious salvation.

3. We do have the modern convenience of international food trade, which is good, because for the American Diaspora, "indigenous" is going to mean from a lot of different climates and food systems. But, it's all going to be based on whole grains, legumes, fruits and vegetables, seeds and nuts, maybe dairy and eggs, and minimally processed meats. And that's the order you should be eating it all in, in terms of volume. We also have the modern convenience of blood testing for an ideal individualized diet, which should be part of preventative health care for everyone. Period. And as for the religious aspect, people are going to have to address whether that's a belief they truly hold sacred or not.

4. You realize that humans evolved eating pretty large amounts of food that's low in calories and high in nutrients... no wonder the ultra-processed food doesn't work for our brains or bodies.

Okay, how about another obvious one... overconsumption.

1. Break it all down, it goes back to capitalist dopamine manipulation, same as the food - I'm a 1982 American baby, I grew up going to the mall to wander around as a leisure activity to pass the time. We've been conditioned to see shopping as a hobby in general, the scavenger hunt aspect of finding a deal or a rare item adds an additional opportunity for a dopamine hit, and we have the added social manipulation of needing to have the same status symbols as everyone else to retain the same status as everyone else - the same coat, the same stand mixer, the same new fall decor, the same new perfume.

2. Mall culture was one thing, but influencer culture turned it into a whole other monster. Getting the body wash, body lotion, and body spray set from Bath & Body Works used to be the full kit for an "Everything Shower" for the next six weeks, nowadays influencers have whole rooms to store collections of skin and body care that they can never use before it spoils.

3. Shopping wasn't a hobby before the malls were built. It was an errand. You bought things when you needed them. That doesn't mean that you can't have nice things or have collections, it just means that if you take something into your life, it has a use and a purpose. And when it comes to status seeking, well... that one's an internal breakdown.

   1. And this does extrapolate out into a cashless local economy based on swap and barter, such as Buy Nothing Facebook groups and item swap events. But it also takes into account the "will I use it?" factor - many people overconsume at thrift or swap because it is free or cheap, it's possible to splurge because many capitalist limits have been lifted... but that also means that you can't approach the system from a capitalists' scarcity mindset, or you'll be buried in shit you don't need. Here's the secret - community-mindedness can come later, personally realizing the balance of "stuff" that you actually use and that actually brings you joy is a reasonable first step to decolonization. I think that's what Marie Kondo was getting at, she just didn't have the framework of decolonization to hang the concept on, which meant that capitalism could grab it and skew it to their messaging.

4. You find yourself surrounded by things with meaning and purpose that you actually enjoy having and using. You have more time and money for hobbies that give you actual joy, not just dopamine hits.

How about entertainment?

1. We each pay for 10 different subscription services each month to spend our precious free time watching and listening to the same rehashed and recycled shit so the corporations can keep the money flowing in to fund what we're quickly discovering is some of the sickest stuff on the planet. And then we go on social media owned by the same corporations doing the awful shit to discuss what we just consumed, while we get further propagandized in a political information war.

2. Does this one really need step 2? It's... kind of obvious.

3. The big one here is live, local art. Instead of 10 different subscription services, get season tickets to your local theater company. Become a regular at drag night. See who's doing stand-up or improv. Go to a few local concerts. Also, look into independent artists when it comes to books, music, and film - it's so easy to self-publish nowadays, both Curry Barker and Kane Parsons, the two biggest horror directors of 2026, got their start on YouTube with passion projects.

4. You not only enjoy the art you're consuming, you're also creating real community with artists and other fans... not a faceless, toxic, parasocial fandom.

So, the next time something starts to sound like colonizer bullshit, run it through the four-step decolonization process, and make the anti-colonization choice. You'll know it's the right choice when you're genuinely happier with the result.