A Poetics of Anti-Colonialism, Introduction to Discourse on Colonialism, Written by Robin

DJ Kelly.

A Mesa Sair's Discourse on Colonialism might be best described as a Declaration of War.

I would almost call it a Third World Manifesto, but hesitate because it is primarily a

polemic against the old order bereft of the kind of propositions and proposals that generally

accompany manifestos.

Yet discourse speaks in revolutionary cadences, capturing the spirit of its age just as

Marx and Engels did 102 years earlier in their little manifesto.

First published in 1950, it appeared just as the old empires were on the verge of collapse,

thanks in part to a world war against fascism that left Europe in material, spiritual,

and philosophical shambles.

It was the age of decolonization and revolt in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

Five years earlier, in 1945, black people from around the globe gathered in Manchester,

England, for the 5th Pan-African Congress to discuss the freedom and future of Africa.

Five years later in 1955, representatives from the non-aligned nations gathered in Badung,

Indonesia to discuss the freedom and future of the Third World.

Mao's revolution in China was a year old, while the Mao-Mao and Kenya were just gearing

up for an uprising against their colonial masters.

The French encountered insurrections in Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Cameroon, and Madagascar,

and suffered a humiliating defeat by the Vietnam men at Dien Ben-Fu.

Revolt was in the air.

India, the Philippines, Guana, Egypt, Guatemala, South Africa, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia,

...