Learning and Growing: The Goal of Anti-Racism and Decolonization Work

My name is Adetola Adedipe and I’m a poet. My family is Nigerian and I was born and raised in South Africa where I lived my whole life. When I moved to Canada, I felt alone so I wrote poetry and I joined the University of Calgary Spoken Word Club. People always find it funny when I tell them that I write poetry because I'm studying Kinesiology.

I think what people don't understand about anti-racism work is that we're not trying to make them feel guilty. That is not the goal. Just because you said something racist does not mean that you are an inherently bad person. However, if you say something racist and someone says “that was racist” but you refuse to learn then there's a problem. The goal is to learn and grow. I had to learn about my prejudices/biases, and it was a humbling experience. On social media, people were saying all kinds of racist, ableist and homophobic stuff. Now, when someone brings up someone's old tweets it’s because something hateful was shared. I said in one of my poems “we're not suddenly offended”. It's always been wrong but now we are aware of it. When you're growing up and you hear something racist you don't realize why it is making you so uncomfortable. You don't realize it until you learn what racism and microaggressions look like. I think it's hard for people to hear “that was racist” and not automatically feel like they're being attacked.

No one wins in a situation where you don't learn or grow. And that's all the Black Lives Matter movement wants, for people to learn and grow. We're not born racist. Kids are so pure and innocent. But then a Black child comes home and says “my friend said that I'm too dark”. Kids at school commented on her skin colour because they've heard their teachers or parents make racist comments. Anti-racism work is about learning so future generations can grow up without negative prejudices in their lives. People learn to be racist from racist media, ideas, books, science and religions. The Bible was interpreted by racist people and claimed they were made in God's image as white. Therefore, if you are not white, we're going to save your souls because you're satanic. This is a colonial narrative of meeting people who were different and enforcing religion onto them. Even that institution of Christianity is rooted in racism.
Learning and growing is not a negative thing. It's humbling. The human ego is the problem because the ego does not want us to get better. You may not be great, but you're trying. If you stop trying, then you will never change. We must learn and grow.

You can keep up with Adetola on Instagram @lot.of.poetry and on YouTube. Note, interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.