Member Reviews
This book is a must read. The lenses and view point of decolonization, especially in our current social climate was refreshing and inspiring!
Thank you to netgalley and the publisher!
First off, this is a powerful and practical book which opens up opportunities for Global Majority People to work together, Black and Brown people with their Indigenous siblings, to reclaim their power and freedom from the colonial settler impositions and mindsets. I requested and downloaded it so I could share it on my blog, my only real platform; as I started to read it, I realised it wasn't really appropriate for me to be poking around in this Own Voices / African content, so I'm limiting myself to sharing it here and on my blog so people for whom it will be useful might see it.
‘Kindred Creation’ is a call to design a world that honors and sustains Black futures, rooted in African lifeways. It’s structured in three sections —Remember, Refuse, and Reclaim. Aida invites readers to unforget ancestral connections and resist colonial structures that have sought to sever these ties.
This work is a blueprint for Black freedom, a love letter to intergenerational joy, and a powerful reminder of the worlds we can birth on our own terms.
Aida’s journey from grassroots organizing with Malcolm X Grassroots Movement to her work with the Sierra Club and her founding of Decolonize Design brings depth and authenticity to ‘Kindred Creation’. Her BDJJ (Belonging, Dignity, Justice, and Joy) framework offers an alternative to the often superficial DEI industry, emphasizing deep, relational movement-building that speaks to our universal sacred personhood and the sustainability of our earth.
For anyone seeking a guide to freedom, joy, and the reclamation of African lifeways—‘Kindred Creation’ is a must-read.
“Simply put, I don’t want a seat at the colonizers’ table and I don’t want to renovate their house.”
I acknowledge that I am not the intended audience of this book, but as someone passionate about decolonisation and Antiracism, and the parent of a Black child, I found this a brilliant and integral book with a seminal approach to decolonising your mind and life.
I am very thankful to Aida Mariam Davis, North Atlantic Books and Netgalley for the ARC