Decolonizing the Mind
In my last Substack post of 2025 I stated that 2026 was looking to be a year where I was going to put a lot of focus on decolonizing my mind. Recent events and the continued escalation of the crazy factor only seems to make that more urgent. I didn’t try to define what I meant by “decolonizing my mind” and I certainly didn’t coin the phrase. I do know that the Kenyan novelist and post-colonial theorist, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, wrote a very influential 1986 book entitled, Decolonising the Mind: the Politics of Language in African Literature. It is also clear that both Franz Fanon (French West Indian psychiatrist and political philosopher) and Edward Said (Palestinian-American scholar) were instrumental in the creation of what is called postcolonial studies.
I think the topic of decolonizing the mind is a huge umbrella topic and it would be hard to do it full justice as a concept, much less accomplishing it in one’s own mind. But try we must. And as much as I hate to admit it, AI seems to provide a useful overview:
Decolonizing the mind is the critical process of dismantling colonial mental frameworks, challenging Eurocentric narratives, and reclaiming indigenous knowledge systems to free thought from the lingering effects of colonialism, fostering new ways of seeing the world by centering marginalized perspectives and creating an “ambidextrous consciousness” that integrates diverse worldviews. It involves actively questioning internalized beliefs, societal norms, and educational structures imposed by colonizers to understand how they shape identity and knowledge. It includes:
Critically analyzing dominant narratives: Questioning the assumption that Western thought is the default or superior, as articulated by thinkers like Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o.
Reclaiming suppressed knowledge: Actively bringing back and valuing diverse philosophies, histories, and cultural practices that were silenced or marginalized by colonialism.
Challenging internal biases: Recognizing and working to overcome internalized oppression and stereotypes that limit one’s worldview.
Shifting perspective: Moving from a “what’s wrong with you” (pathologizing) to a “what happened to you” (trauma-informed) approach.
Intellectual audit: Evaluating ideas from colonizing cultures to determine their usefulness, rather than passively accepting them, and integrating them with indigenous knowledge.
In practice, this means:
Learning indigenous languages to access ancestral concepts.
Questioning “shoulds” and societal expectations imposed by colonial structures.
Building a decolonized curriculum and educational system.
Creating inclusive mental health practices that respect diverse cultural healing traditions.
Ultimately, it’s about achieving intellectual liberation, becoming an active creator of knowledge, not just a consumer of Western-centric ideas, and seeing the world through multiple lenses.
As Americans, we have a tremendous and poignant responsibility in this arena. It is us, my friends, as recent events so clearly demonstrate, who are leading the world into a deep pit of violence, injustice, and chaos, from which there is no clear path out other than total destruction. I know that my work is to focus on my own mind, with its general (American) and personal aspects. It’s still a very tall order and there is a lot to unlearn!
In searching the web, I found interviews with Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, Franz Fanon, and Edward Said, great places to start grappling with the concept of decolonization. Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, naturally, offers an African perspective on colonialism. Franz Fanon brings a heavy focus on French Algeria and his own lived experience. Edward Said puts his attention on western stereotypes of the peoples of Asia, in particular the Middle East, in his seminal book, Orientalism. I am currently reading, and very much appreciating, his focus on the roots of the imperial worldview in his later work, Culture and Imperialism.
I’ve reviewed several Ted Talks on decolonizing the mind and they are all helpful and partial. Native Americans speakers focus on that part of the American story. African Americans on slavery. That makes perfect sense and those are obviously essential aspects of decolonizing the American mind. For myself (and many others), this work started in earnest with Black Lives Matter and building my own library of African American history and texts specifically related to unlearning racism. And well prior to that, there was learning about the history and legacy of the Native American genocide.
Our history of violent imperialism doesn’t end there, but is a defining theme connecting presidents and political parties, and ultimately involving us all in the web of domination and destruction. It hasn’t ended, and it’s on full display right now in Latin America, Iran, Palestine, and Nigeria (1).
Learning history is key, and it helps us unlearn things like the American Myth (2).
My next post will provide a timeline of U.S. interventions in Latin America. It’s very telling and shows that throughline of imperialism. There’s nothing new here except for the fact that our current administration is fascist authoritarian, alarmingly unhinged from reality, and increasingly desperate to maintain control for the benefit of themselves and the aligned elite (3). Hence our responsibility to empower ourselves, resist, and participate in the co-creation of what amounts to a whole new way of being, with the mind—the mindset and worldview—as the foundation.
Notes
1. In this Democracy Now! interview, Mehdi Hassan offers a fabulous riff on the Trump regime’s current imperial aspirations.
2. G. Scott Brown, Unlearning the American Myth, Active Peace, December 2024.
3. G. Scott Brown, The Shadow King Enthroned, Active Peace, January, 2025.