Recipe

read everything you can, read widely cited authors

read the canons, read critiques of the canon

read critiques of the critiques

read the works of junior scholars and of scholars in the borderlands,

read black and indigenous scholars in north america,

read black and indigenous scholars in the global south

read eastern, feminist, and queer philosophers

read and read, and never stop reading

read but never confuse academic readings for lived experience

and do not project academic readings onto lived experiences

question everything you read but do not become comfortable with critiquing

never assume that you “know” more than what you’re critiquing

spend time on the grounds with the people whose lives get erased even in so called “critical” scholarship

spend time with people in your life

not as a researcher, academic, or student but as a human being

listen to this people

pay attention to who isn’t speaking

who is being silenced?

listen but do not “give voice” to them

pass the mic

watch documentaries and academic talks

attend conferences and workshops

feel uncomfortable in those spaces

always critique

question the theoretical assumptions

question the methodology

how would the results differ with a decolonizing method?

be informed by your teaching, always listen to your students and value their knowledge

center that knowledge in your work but remember to cite them

remember that there are things your students don’t know

do not be afraid of the hard work

question, interrogate, examine, and question again

never stop questioning your own work and assumptions

don’t just critique

reimagine your work

read poetry and fiction

listen to music

watch films and documentaries

understand that artists are visionaries

write your own script

listen to communities and activists

cite them

please do not objectify your research participants

don’t be afraid to break away from the academic canons

be terrified to break away from academic canons

what might you lose? what might you gain?

remember your work isn’t just your work

cite the conversations that inspired you, even the stranger on the subway

cite your kindergarten teacher and your grandmother

their knowledge is always with you

honor the collective

i am because we are

ubuntu

but do not lose your voice to the collective

dream and dream and dream

what kind of world do you want to be part of?

what kind of world do you want to help create?

think hard and long if your work is contributing to that world

or if it’s sustaining the status quo

always assume the latter

critique. critique. critique.

but remember that critique is not enough

you must always imagine new possibilities

never stop imagining

never stop dreaming

hope for the best

come up with your own recipe