Colonialism and Its Patterns Then and Now
The piece of media that has been selected for this analytical work is a video called “Young girl inspires calls for National Ribbon Skirt Day.” This video is about First Nations girls and women who have banded together to defend their ethnic identity against the local school’s discriminatory policies. It was chosen because this recent event resonates with “Legend of the Sugar Girl” written by Joseph Boyden. Both show readers and viewers the struggles of the Natives of Canada. Western society tried to assimilate the Sugar Girl and Isabella Kulak forcibly through an educational institution, making them abandon their culture and history. The Sugar Girl has to come to terms with new norms. Isabella Kulak manages to defend her rights and identity (Gomez). There are several reasons why outcomes vary dramatically.
The video also covers other important and relevant topics. These are the relationship between the colonialists and the colonized, decolonization, and women’s activism. Consequently, the question arises whether there was real decolonization in Canadians’ minds in particular and in Western society in general. One can observe that colonial social patterns in relations between First Nations and non-indigenous Canadians exist even today. However, Isabella Fist was able to defend herself with the help of other native North American women. (Gomez). It shows that the impact of decolonization is real and that this sociocultural practice is effective.
It is necessary to mention that another influencing factor in the case of Isabella Kulak was social media. Other Indigenous women supported Isabella through internet activism (Gomez). Therefore, one may conclude that social media and internet activism affect the effectiveness of decolonization. It is also safe to say that digital activism is already equivalent to real protests, and the influence of social networks will grow every year. Other classmates may explore these topics in their future work.
An Insight into the Experience of the New Colonizers
Louise Bennett-Coverley shed light on how formerly colonized nations and ethnicities see their own colonization of Europe and North American countries in “Colonization In Reverse.” Their perception of colonization was rampant significantly from Western colonialists’ one. People from Jamaica have no bias toward the British; there is no racism in them toward other people. According to Bennett-Coverley, “what a islan! What a people!” Whereas Westerners considered the people colonized as inferior for a long time. Moreover, unlike the British and French, who instituted their policies in other lands and tried to assimilate the indigenous populations forcibly, the Jamaicans are ready to integrate into another social structure and culture. The lines “everybody future plan is fe get a big-time job an settle in de mother lan” indicate it (Bennett-Coverley). Readers can see an example of a brutal colonial policy of Western countries in “Legend of the Sugar Girl” by Joseph Boyden.
One can say that Bennett-Coverley and other Jamaicans saw colonization not as colonization but rather as migration. Such an approach to relations with other nations was the main driver and core of decolonization. The poet tells readers that partnership and friendship are only possible if two countries respect each other’s experiences. According to Bennett-Coverley, “Dem face war an brave de worse.” In addition, there is an evident author’s enthusiasm in the poem for the future result of the interaction of two different cultures.
Works Cited
Bennett-Coverley, Louise. “Colonization in Reverse.” Poetry by Heart, 1966, Web.
Gomez, Marie. “Young girl inspires calls for National Ribbon Skirt Day.” CityNews, 2021, Web.