Dr Valentino Alily is an author, researcher, graphic novel creator, business-development and relationship-sustainability expert, as well as the CEO and co-founder of Vanimax Comix.

He has been through the [everlasting] process of decolonisation in Nigeria and now lives in South Africa where he continues to write a multitude of books. We spoke about the delicacies of the subject of Decolonisation and how misunderstood the word is.

For more from Dr Alily you can see his many books on Amazon and also check out @vanimaxcomix

Its taken us a very long time to come to terms with the fact that colonisation has had a detrimental impact on nations and cultures that have been affected. Its taken us even longer to realise that decolonisation is not a dirty word but rather an opportunity for all of us to grow and develop as artists, philosophers, parents, educators, scientists, politicians and most of all as human beings. Colonisation cant be removed but cultures will evolve and be re-established as we incorporate indigenous structures and knowledge into it. Africa and South Africa has been under colonial rule for so long that insitutions, learnings, religion, science, politics, family dynamics, history and more have washed over our own understandings, learnings and philosophies. Colonial systems were so deeply ingrained that we couldn't even see that they are not our own. The conversation about addressing that has now begun, with historians revising our understandings of historical events and peoples. People are reclaiming their personal ancestral identities, stories, triumphs and knowledge. Artists are speaking directly to colonialist practices and norms, finding a way to speak out against colonial structures.

#decolonisation #colonisation #colony #culture #kindness #knowledge #indigenous #IKS #academia #nigeria

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in_ covid-19: Silindile Pearl Mhlongo

in_ conversationBy in_Apr 15, 2020