Ep 189: Let’s Talk About Colonized Unschooling Kris Richards & Moji Yai on decolonization in parenting and society

Another Mad Question Askin’ episode! Episode 189 addresses this question from our Make-it-Happen family:

“Hi Akilah and community! Episode 182 with Genesis Ripley (Partnering with Our Pain) was so amazing! I need to listen again so I can absorb all the thought provoking things you both brought up. Akilah, you and Genesis mentioned Colonized Unschooling. I had this idea that if you do Unschooling with your family, especially Radical Unschooling you are automatically on the path to Decolonization. I definitely don’t want to do Colonized Unschooling! What does that mean? I think you and Genesis said something about how Colonized Unschooling is letting your kids do whatever they want and then supporting them. And this is related to the Colonial idea that white people think they own the world and can rape and pillage and dominate without caring how they are harming and impacting the community. So is Colonized Unschooling basically narcissism? What does Decolonized Unschooling look like? We give our kids a lot of freedom and support them in doing pretty much anything they want as long as they aren’t harming themselves, other people or the environment.”

Moji Yai and Kris Richards share their responses as unschooling parents and social justice oriented people.  Moji, who we've heard on Episode 168: Resistance + Returning, Episode 62: Deschooling Through Deciding is an unschooling mother and entrepreneur from Benin, West Africa. She recently moved back to Benin after spending much of her youth and adulthood in the U.S. South, and offers women and families space to study, an environment to explore, and a community to gather with, learn, play, and expand knowledge. See Moji’s invitations online at Wise African Woman (WAW). Kris has chatted with us on episodes 186 and 187 on the topic of community and capitalism, if you haven't heard don’t miss them! We’ve also heard Kris talk this season about Deschooling Corporate and Community Relationships and about the Ways Capitalism Invites Indoctrination.

WHAT WE DISCUSS:

Moji and Kris chat about their perspectives on decolonization and privilege as they relate to unschooling. Moji talks about privilege as ignorance, pointing out the importance of paying attention to pervasive whiteness and how disruptive it is to acknowledge, unlearn and shift away from it, by recognizing it and questioning how the things that gave you that sense of privilege are the things you need to let go of, so that your “privilege” becomes a useful

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