Decolonial Bibliography Against Hegemonic Syllabuses: Strategies of Blackness in the Face of Academic Violence

Abstract

From decades-old works like The Mis-Education of the Negro (Woodson, 1933) to contemporary texts by Black thinkers such as bell hooks and Grada Kilomba, there is repeated evidence that there is no neutrality in science, nor in academic environments. Given the mechanisms that maintain the university as a white, racist, and elitist space, Black female students are required to make extra efforts to obtain a master's degree, as we are forced to remain vigilant against intersectional oppressions. In order to reflect on the presence of non-white bodies in stricto sensu programs, I offer a phenomenological interpretation of racist episodes experienced during my master's studies. If Blackness was never reflected in the official curricula, it was through a decolonial framework and the formation of alliances that I found ways to combat racism that allowed me not only to enter but also to remain in good company.