Decolonize the Classroom: Song Analysis, Utilizing Indigenous Teaching Practices & Colonized Narrative

On my first day of spring break, I thought I would get some work done for my own projects before I would turn grades in early so I could relax and here I am writing this piece as I caught myself weeping over “Shelter” by Vic Mensa, Chance The Rapper and the legendary Wyclef Jean. I am weeping as I am trying to prepare a lesson for teachers on decolonizing the curriculum and as I am grabbing evidence in hopes to bring awareness on why it is imperative for us to change the way we are teaching our students I am feeling the weight of colonization. These colonial systems are killing thousands of people everyday. When I say colonized people I am speaking as an African on Turtle Island which is the land referred to as the amerikkka. I am an African, and most of my students are African or Mexican (which still doesn’t even embrace their full indigenity) and yet the amerikkkan education system brainwashed them to believe they are apart of this amerikkkan system that has waged war on them and their ancestors for hundreds of years. Understanding who my students are indigenously helps inform me that these students and their ancestors have learned through art, music, dancing, and storytelling for centuries. Understanding that, I know that I can utilize a song like “Shelter” as a historical document and a source…