colonization

Sonthonax Abolition of Slavery (1794)

1700-1830s, Consciousness Raising, Date, Self Institution, Tactics of Disruption

On August 29, 1793, Léger-Félicité Sonthonax, civil commissioner of the northern part of the French colony Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti), issued a decree that formally abolished slavery forever in his region of the colony. This proclamation, which was seemingly the first of its kind, created a snowball effect that eventually led to the National Convention’s official Feb 4, 1794, decree abolishing slavery throughout all of the French colonies. Used initially as a tactic for securing the colony for French control in the face of British invasion and colony-wide slave revolt, Sonthonax can easily be credited with paving the way for early calls for the abolition of slavery, and was a primary initiator for the French being one of the first countries to formally abolish the institution of slavery throughout all of their provinces and colonies. What began as a “small” political action in the northern region of a colony with a very large slave population established one of the most disruptive chains of events for the abolition of the institution of slavery.

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Lafchenke Machupe Resistance Sabotage

2011-Present, Authority, Date, Defining the Enemy, Indigenous, Privatization, Sabotage/Ecotage, Subjectives of Refusal, Tactics of Disruption

In Chile, the Machupe people are an indigenous group that have been fighting off outsider invaders to their land and livelihood for years. The Lafchenke Machupe groups are a resistance group that use tactics like sabotage, arson, and violent resistance to push out the Chilean government, who they now see as invaders to their ancestral land, and protect their forests/land from destructive practices. Below, there is a statement the group released in which they take responsibility for sabotage and arson against corporations and government efforts.

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The Weapon of Theory (1966)

1946-1989, Colonized, Date, Subjectives of Refusal

Amilcar Cabral delivered this address at the first Tricontinental Conference of the Peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America held in Havana in January, 1966. He discusses the foundations and objectives of national liberation in relation to social structures.

“We will not shout hurrahs or proclaim here our solidarity with this or that people in struggle. Our presence is in itself a cry of condemnation of imperialism and a proof of solidarity with all peoples who want to banish from their country the imperialist yoke, and in particular with the heroic people of Vietnam. But we firmly believe that the best proof we can give of our anti-imperialist position and of our active solidarity with our comrades in this common struggle is to return to our countries, to further develop this struggle and to remain faithful to the principles and objectives of national liberation.”

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The So-Called Dependency Complex of Colonized Peoples by Frantz Fanon (1952)

1946-1989, Black, Colonized, Date, Defining the Enemy, History/Theory, Imperialism, Subjectives of Refusal, Subjects Redefined, The Bourgeoisie, Theory, White Supremacy

This excerpt is from Black Skin, White Masks, an autoethnography written by Frantz Fanon in 1952. Fanon shares his own experience while relating these experiences to a historical critique of racism and colonization.

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