Anzaldua’s journey towards a new conscience

Anzaldua in Borderlands carves out a beautiful journey towards a “new conscience” which begins from imagining new possibilities that results in the emergence of a new Self. It is this creation of a Self that I found most striking, particularly because I feel that Fanon and Anzaldua share the same passion and need to create this new Self as a diagnosis against the colonial forces which have rejected them the status of human.

It starts off with the realization that concepts can not be held in “rigid boundaries” for “rigidity means death.” This fear of death gives rise to seeing what was otherwise invisible-the countless doors to possibility which frees an individual from set patterns and goals and move towards a “more whole perspective, one that includes rather than excludes.” This inclusion is unprecedented one that was never experienced in the bifurcated world that has always existed and continued to oppress people like Anzaldua on the basis of their colour, gender, sexuality. It is the same compartmentalized world which Fanon talked about that was divided along rigid lines between those who possess the world and those who borrow it, the haves and the have-nots, the whites and the envious .Thus erasing all traces of heterogeneity. However, Andzaldua is seen as doing exactly the opposite that is retrieving this heterogeneity.

If the rigid boundaries dictated centering of the world to one location, to one way of living, the opening up of new possibilities meant decentering of the universe which gives rise to multiplicity of centers. It must be noted, however, that this is not a time of replacing one social order with another social order, one norm with another norm, one rigidity with another rigidity but it’s a time of closure. It’s a time of possibility.

It is for the longest time, our future belonged to Europe. Its values dictated the norm. But this time of possibility means that the future is not centered on one location. It does not belong to Europe. The future too needs to pluralize.

And it is this through this understanding, that Anzaldua presents a diagnosis which lies only in healing the split between this bifurcated world, “between the white race and the coloured, between males and females” that we see a multiplicity of the futures emerging and it is within this future that we see the birth of a new self.

This entails that you collect the pieces of yourself which were given to you and imposed on you when you first arrived in this world. It is then that you deconstruct them and after this tedious job you construct another image of yourself-an image that Anzaldua calls an “alien consciousness, a conscious of the borderlands.” Because it is the conditions in the borderland which enable her to be different and thus know the world differently where she has the courage to imagine “disengaging from the dominant culture and cross the border into a wholly new and separate territory”

She therefore calls herself “an act of kneeding , of uniting and joining that not only has produced both a creature of darkness and a creature of Iight, but also a creature that questions the definitions of light and dark and gives them new meanings.” It is questioning the very boundaries that has enabled her to break these rigid realities and live a new life with a new Self which will in her best hopes bring an end to rape, violence and war. Like Fanon, Anzaldua finds the answer to colonization in opening up possibilities and allowing a new self to emerge which requires “massive uprooting of dualistic thinking in the individual and collective conscienceness.” It sure is a long struggle but a struggle which is worth every sacrifice, every pain.

MLK, Rigoberto and the Question of Violence

“My mother died in terrible agony. When my mother died, the soldiers stood over her and urinated in her mouth; even after she was dead!” – Rigoberto Menchu

I was first introduced to the realities of coloured folks through Rigoberto. She was my guide who led me into the lives of the colonized people, who have been long oppressed by the colonizers. These people were individuals like us who had a family with whom they could share their happiness and sorrows. The colonizers stripped her people off of any fragment of joy and hope they could latch onto. She wasn’t asking much. Her demand was simple: to be given her due rights. And as simple as this request was, it was very easily dismissed entirely and brutally.

It is this brutal dismissal of rights that have always called the individuals to rise up against the justices. When the pain inflicted becomes unbearable, those with the prophetic gaze extend their hand to take the victims out of their oppressed lives. Martin Luther King was also doing just that.

He understood the grievances of his people. He witnessed his black folk suffer at the hands of the white man. He knew what it feels “when you see vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you see hate filled policemen curse, kick brutalize and even kill your black brothers and sister with impunity.” And he was equally aware “that this community (of white men) has consistently refused to negotiate.

And yet, I still wonder how can MLK answer to this suffering be non-violence alone. Yes, the starting point should always be non-violence but history is a testament how the white has multiple times failed to pay heed to peaceful protests.

In a non-violent campaign, according to MLK, there are four steps namely “collection of the facts to determine whether injustices are alive, negotiation, self-purification, and direct action. “ For any successful campaign towards having your voice heard, I believe there is another step to MLK’s prescription and that is of violence.

I can not help but bring in Frantz Fanon who believed that the colonial rule is the, “is the bringer of violence into the home and into the mind of the native. Fanon did acknowledge that an individual is not inherently driven by it. It is not his intrinsic quality and that there are stages to it. However, a stage comes when violence becomes an essential condition. There is no choice but to speak the language of violence.

Dismissing violence, MLK believes that there are “amazing potentialities for goodness” in human nature. And we must deal peacefully to reach the opponent’s heart. But what good can be done to a heart that has hardened to the point that it refuses to acknowledge another person as human and grant his due rights. There may be potentialities for goodness, but it is useless if the enemies are not receptive to this goodness.

MLK is aware of this brutal reality. But perhaps this reality has not touched him the way it touched and affected people like Rigoberto. Her mother was raped multiple times. Her face was disfigured, cut and infected with worms. She was left to die under open air. Her brother was burnt alive. Her family’s body became the site for the display of the colonizers agony. Sure, the time in which MLK has lived is not colonized the way Rigoberto and Fanon’s world was. But, for me at least, their worlds might have changed but the reality has not changed. The black folks were suffering. And they are still suffering. They have a history that has scarred their lives deeply. And even though it may appear that their enemies will not burn them alive, but the potentiality is still there. Just like there is potentiality for goodness, there is possibility of evil too. The trauma is still there. And it is primarily because of this trauma, that I believe that we must not completely disregard violence. It should certainly be the last stage of any campaign. But it should be part of the campaign. I wonder if MLK would have the courage to look Rigoberto in the eye and tell her that non violence alone was the solution all this time.

Malcolm X and CLR James

Malcolm X and CLR James are inventors-inventor of a world that is a safe haven for Black folks. It is the world where the black man can walk with dignity and claim his place proudly. It s a place where he is not reduced to the colour of his skin- to unchanging essences. It is a place where curly hair, full lips, wide nose, dark complexion is not equated with “cruel, barborous, halfhuman, treacherous, deceitful, thieves, drunkards…cowards.” The black face is not the face of the untouchable .He is as human and deserving of respect as the white man. Malcolm X and James then continue to reinvent and imagine a future where the Black people have dignity and place.

Malcom X emerges from the streets, leaves his prison life, connects with Muhammad Elijah, disconnects with him, perceives the white man to be “blond-haired, blue-eyed devils,” fixes his perception of the white men after Hajj to his potential allies in his struggle for black liberation, refuses to beg for civil rights dished out by Uncle Toms, internationalizes the black question, and aspires towards human rights which are inalienable rights. His life was constantly a life of reinvention. If there is anything constant in his life that is his ultimate purpose: to see Black people as dignified individual living their lives on their own terms not on the terms of the white man. He thus specialized in “de-niggerizing Negroes.” These Negroes “scratched when it doesn’t itched; they laugh when it aint funny.” By de-niggerizing them, he stripped them of the shame, intimidation and submissiveness that they felt towards the white man. He took them out of the life of indignity into the life of dignity and pride.

James is also seen resuscitating this same dignity and pride for his black people from history. From being just a footnote to French revolution, The Haiti revolution is presented by him as a true revolution which is not just a slave rebellion but one that marks the inauguration of the history of revolutions. This time, however, history is not originated from Europe but from the Caribbean. This revolution is understood not from the perspective of the French but from Haiti itself. James overturns the idea from where history is originated and in doing so he ingeniously reimagines the entire past.

And in doing so, James turn our attention to the Malcolm X’s claim that the black man is not indebted to the white man. He is a dignified man in himself. He doesn’t need to beg Uncle toms to have his rights granted. He doesn’t need to be at the mercy of white men to have their share of history. The black man, then, doesn’t need the white man.

This is only done through an astounding display of language. James makes use of his imagination and describes the minutest of details of the happenings of the Black individuals. He paints vivid pictures of the black slaves at the ship, which otherwise could not have been imagined with such precision. Malcolm words have a sonic quality to them. Transmittive in nature, his speeches ring so loudly in our ears primarily because he has once lived the life of a common black man, living in streets. His words appear more visceral and immediate which resonates with black folks. He has played the role of both the trickster and the minister. While he has defied the norm of decency, he has redeemed souls from the abyss of the white torture.

Hence it can be said that in the end , both Malcolm X and James look for dignity and place, as the latter stated, “one could trap them like animals, transport them in pens, work them alongside an ass and a horse and beat both with the same stick…they remained, despite their black skins and curly hair quite invincibly human beings.” And these humans very much deserved their place and dignity in this world. Through their prophetic gaze, they saw what is otherwise not seeable. They were able to tear apart the veil of ignorance and envision a world where the white man sits with the black man but this time with both their plates filled.

Negritude and Visual Arts

Nkrumah had an economic theory not cultural. So those of us who wanted to create something, belonging to and reflecting just us, had little to inspire us but Negritude…What interested me in finding a kind of authenticity was NOT to create pure decoration but to create a language of visual forms which defined my for myself– Papa Ibra Tall

When words failed to do justice to the cultural and the spirit of Africa, Senghor gave rise to Negritude, which he defined as the “sum of the cultural values of the Black world.” Negritude then gave rise to a new school of arts namely the Ecole De Dakar which celebrated these cultural values through the medium of Arts.

Black painters poured out their feelings on a canvas. Through these works of arts, the black souls were at complete liberty to express themselves fully. And thus painters like Papa Ibra Tall and Iba N’Diaye began to pursue an aesthetic form that was inspired by the spirit of Negritude. Through their work, they forged their identity in the face of the white men.

My project, will primarily focus on the paintings of the aforementioned painters who are the founding fathers of Ecole De Dakar. By looking at their specific series, I will aim to understand their world view and how they represent Black culture to the outside world. And most importantly how they coalesce their identity.

Through this, I will learn to appreciate how some of the silences that are difficult to articulate can be so beautifully depicted in an art form. These painting not only appeal to the eye but to the heart and mind, which allows it to open doors of imagination, letting the viewer enter the world of the painter. Most importantly, this project will allow me, and hopefully others, to witness the beauty of the African culture that has remained untouched through all these painful years of oppression and injustices.

My endeavor will most likely take the form of a pictorial essay or a scrap book. In either case, I will try to present these painting in a form a story line shedding light on the life of the black man.

Alexander Crummell’s Struggle

In the Book, Souls of Black Folks, DuBois gives a face to Fanon’s words- the face of Alexander Crummel.

Fanon’s struggle against colonialism gives birth to a new revolutionary subject. And this struggle allows him to tread on the path of self-discovery. DuBois’s Crummell treads on this path and unveils layers of this painful journey which makes him pass through the Temptation of Hate, despair and doubt. While this struggle doesn’t lead him to find his “place” on Earth, like Fanon’s revolutionary subject, however, Crummell becomes conscious of the forces of this bifurcated world. If nothing else, Crummell learns this bitter truth as stated by Fanon: “When I look for a man, I see a denouncement of man.”

And the struggle continues.

This journey begins from the day Crummell’s dreams are shattered. His bright days waiting ahead of him are stolen from him and made inaccessible to him. The temptation of Hate takes control of his life. He begins to detest the veil which stands between him and his vision of Life.

A white hand is then extended for his help.

Crummell is then taken out of this temptation of Hate as he is admitted in a school. This black boy is understood as having emotion. The black skin is considered capable of possessing warm blood which pumps a heart that is filled with emotions such as hope and aspirations.

These hopes and aspirations are then met with a cruel reality. Temptation of doubt melts into despair. Crummell’s request of being a priest is rejected. He blames the institution, The General Theological Seminary of The Episcopal Church which refuses to admit a Negro and not the individuals that make up those very institutions. He calls them “calm, good men.”

Then again, a white hand is extended for his help

Jhon Jay, the son of the father, allows him to preach to his black folks. Crummells is jolted back into life. And he begins to treat the “fatal weaknesses” of his people. These weaknesses in reality are defined by the colonizers. In Crummell’s struggle to self-discovery, to finding his own place, he falls into the mistake of viewing his people with the gaze of the white man. He wants to cure them of a disease that is inflicted by the white man onto his people. This disease is only a disease in the eyes of a white man. And Crummell begins to see it as well.

The black man, however, is unaware of this. He refuses to be taught by Crummell. And then his Despair melts into Doubt. And he begins to doubt the very people for whom he is struggling. He begins to doubt the “destiny and capability of the race of his soul loved because it was his.” However, he doesn’t lose hope and continues to look for the best of the Negroes.

This time too, a white hand is extended for his help

Now, however, he refuses.

Because the help is wrapped in disgust and prejudice against the black souls. Bishop Onderdonk lays out the terms on which Crummel can continue teaching. His terms are nothing but preventing any Negreo priest sitting in his convention. This church which is run by the white man leaves no room for any coloured man to enter. Dignity and sacred are supposedly traits sacred to the white man only not black man. Despite standing in this Valley of Humiliation, Crummell refuses to be humiliated. And so he enters the Valley of the Shadow of Death because now he had decided not to succumb to the terms of the white man. He wanted work on his own terms-terms of dignity.

So while Crummell continues to speak and influence others within the veil, but through his speech he is splitting the veil. It is not just the splitting of the viel that is important but the extra ordinary effort it takes to see through the veil.

It appears that throughout this journey, a white hand is extended through the other side of the veil- the side dominated by White- which stirs the black man in the right direction. It is, however, once the black man refuses to take help that he enters the final stage, the valley of shadow of death and he is able to let the revolutionary subject that Fanon has talked about to emerge out, who continues to struggle, but struggles on his own terms not those defined by the white man. Even though Crummel is denounced at every stage, sometimes by having his dreams crushed other times by being refused a respectable place in this world, he keeps walking.

Above all, this tale is a tribute to Alexander Crummell, whose struggle is marked by indomitable perseverance. Pulsating with emotion, this account is meant to acknowledge this unsung hero who continued to move forward, not because a future was certain but because stopping was not an option for him and for his people. Alexander Crummell is remembered for his courage and determination. He is remembered for he was forgotten.

“In another age he might have sat among the elders of the land in purple bordered toga; in another country mothers might have sung him to the cradles.”

Universality through Particularity

Senghor in his article introduces its reader to the concept of negritude which is the “the sum of the cultural values of the black world.” This very definition introduces a universality that encompasses all Africans. However, Senghor adds complexity to this universality that he talks about. In other words, he introduces a process that begins with particularity and ends with universality. It does not end by clumping all Africans together but he ensures to bring all men together, possessing the same roots. Hence his argument is much more nuanced than saying whether universality exists or not.

To begin with, Senghor defines Negritude as a “sum of cultural values.” This sum is crucial to cause sir. He appreciates the differences that exist within the Africans because of which he uses the phrase “sum of cultural values”, values with an “s”. These different values makes up the sum, the negritude. It is through the “rich complexity of African culture” that he is able to arrive at a certain universality of Black people. He strives to achieve this universality through particularity: “every being, everything – be it only a grain of sand – radiates a life force, a sort of wave-particle; and sages, priests, kings, doctors, and artists all use it to help bring the universe to its fulfillment.” In other words, the beauty of universality lies in particularity. Each individual contributes to the universalism of the Black race.

Once this stage is achieved, he brings together all individuals, all civilizations together, thus achieving universality in total. Quoting Pierre Tielhard, Senghor brings to our attention how traditional dichotomies were distorted and “a living, throbbing unity of the universe” was established. This entailed “a single reality.” This, however, was not a static and uniform reality but a “network of relations” each possessing its unique characteristic, its own rhythm. All the beautiful differences existing within the universe illustrate nothing but different shades of the “same reality.”. This universality, however, transcends all boundaries, may it be of geography, gender and above all of race. The white man and the black man then are just men part of a single reality; It is a reality where black man is no less than a white man. Both are equal in their experiences-experiences of being human. Romanticizing on the idea of universalism, Senghor, however it appears, falls into making the same mistake as his colonizers: the mistake of calling his people wiser than the “other” for he believed that Africans are more sensitive in foreseeing this reality. While this universalism strives for a utopia, it would be unfair to dismiss the universalities that exist within this overarching universality: the Black world and the white world.

This process, however, is not as simple as it appears. These multiple universalities are pitted against one another. Even more unfortunate is that this black universality appears to be a necessity to respond to the European humanism. It seems like a mere cry to be recognized. And to achieve this, black universalism is observed- bringing to life a force great enough that cannot be dismissed. But then is everything done in response to the white man’s activity. The “Man” that Senghor talks about who is composed of matter, spirit, body and soul, is he only a man in relation to the White? Do the coloured have no choice then to continue to prove their existence in relation to the white man, to his universe? Here two universalities come into conflict. This harmonious universalism which never really existed then seems threatened.

All in all, Senghor outlines a universalism that brings the Black race into the limelight. This universalism, which is achieved through particularity, also hopes to unite all men together. However, in reality, this too seems like a tool that is used to help the Black man assert their humanism in relation to the European humanism. Then the question really is if the latter is giving birth to the former? Would Senghor’s negritude cease to exist without European humanism?

The First World Feminist: A Victim?

The First World Feminists are out on the mission to rescue the Third World Woman. This woman is a victim of oppression. But funnily enough, in reality it is not the third world woman who is a victim but the first world woman. She is a victim of colonization. Certainly not in the sense as the coloured races but she has succumbed to the ideas of the colonialists and in the guise of rescuing the coloured women, and women in general, she is advancing the civilization mission. Oblivious to this, she continues to fight the colonial men for equal wages, employment opportunities’ all the while perpetuating their message. This First world feminist is then nothing but another tool for spreading colonialism.

And to serve this mission of colonialism, first world woman need the third world woman. Without ‘us’, ‘they’ cannot exist! Hence whatever scholarship is produced is tainted by colonialism. It is not merely a production of knowledge based on the subject ‘women’ but knowledge that is “directly political and practice that it is purposeful and ideological’’ as outlined by Chandra Mohanty. Then it wouldn’t be wrong to say that this knowledge on women is inherently flawed.

Firstly, because, as Mohanty states that western scholarship on third world women paints them all with the same brush, condensing them in a “composite singular” group, trying to resist a ‘universal patriarchy’ in place. This third world woman is then constructed as ‘ignorant, poor, uneducated, tradition-bound, domestic,’ and most importantly as victimized. In other words, she is portrayed as someone who is backward and needs to be rescued. The first world woman wants to bring this poor woman out of the darkness of her socially and politically oppressed situation into the light of the first world that is advanced and progressive. But what she fails to understand is that what may appear as black to this white woman may be white for black woman. This Third world woman then is not backward. She does not need to be rescued from the ‘past’ of the first world. First world’s past is Third world woman’s present, that which is robbed off by the colonialists.

So in reality, it is not the third world woman that needs to be rescued but the first world feminists. One needs to burst their bubble who believe to be working for women when in actuality they are just working for the colonialist men.

Colonialism: A Cultural Project of Control

The secret to the long lasting rule of the colonizers lies in their meticulous dealing with the culture of the colonized. Culture was not just a part of the lives of the people they were governing but was the part of the dominated which had to be dealt with carefully in order to sustain and strengthen their hold. Colonizers were then smart enough to use this tool of culture by both “destroying” it and supposedly “protecting” it to perpetuate their rule.

The significance of culture is beautifully captured by Cabral that ‘it is the vigorous manifestation…. of the historical reality of the society.” Hence destroying their culture meant destroying a part of their past. And by taking away their past, the colonizers aimed to erase any identity the colonized could hold onto. Their identity was strongly dependent on their glorious past-a timeless past that is not tainted by colonial influences. With their present taken up by the colonial powers, the past was all they had.

As Cabral highlighted that “culture…is perhaps the product of history as the flower is the product of a plant” Hence suppressing the culture of a population meant ripping the flower off of the plant. This divorce of the plant from its stalk is divorcing culture from its history which places people in existential crises. Through crushing their culture, the dominators not just eradicate their past, their identity, their ability to be human but also their capacity to make history.

Since culture ensures “continuity of history”, imperial domination restricts the ability of its people to make history as all their activities are then connected to the imperial power, having no roots in their past, benefiting the rulers alone.

This culture then becomes the very tool for the oppressed to liberate themselves. These liberation movements crave for a past that is oriented towards a brighter future. Since they don’t have control of their present, the colonized want to control their future through their past, advancing a certain utopia. Their quest to find their identity, their rights, and their aspiration to be a human is driven by their culture. Their culture narrates a story different from that recounted by the colonizers- a story where the oppressed are not the oppressed after all.

When the imperial powers witness the simmering of these people, they supposedly protect this very culture which they ought to destroy initially as Cabral points out that the colonizer “creates chiefdoms where they do not exist, establishes and develops cordial relations with religious leaders, builds mosques, organises trips to Mecca, etc.” This tactic allows the pets of the oppressors to be installed as the forefront of the liberators. These culturally alienated people then serve in the nationalist liberation movements. Nothing more than coconuts-brown on the outside and white from the inside- are left who sell themselves and their country to the imperial powers in the guise of culturally appropriating, putting to rest people like Patricia Lumumba, who dare to envision a different future whose beauty hasn’t been tarnished by the imperial powers.

All in all, at the heart of all national liberation is always an attempt to find the oppressed’s distinct identity . This identity is searched for in a past that is long corrupted by the colonizers as they advance imperial domination on the wheels of culture, destroying it and manipulating it to their advantage. Culture, for them, is then reduced to nothing but another weapon- a major weapon- for colonial rule.

The Power of One

Dada and Sukarna, albeit separated by time and geography, are together in their fight against colonialism. Their march towards a world free from colonial traces is marked by acknowledging the power of one. Dada, through his experiences in Soviet, realized the strength of an individual person and Sukarna pledged to bring these people together to raise their voices as a united front. This unity paved way for a brighter future- a future not tainted by silence, rejection and suppression.

In a time where voices of the coloured race were largely silenced, Dada took the courage to tread on a path that directed him to opening unprecedented doors. This unique experiment exposed him to acknowledge his self worth. Upon his induction in the university, Dada’s supposed weaknesses became his strengths. The very colour of his skin which has always been the cause of his rejection became the reason for his appreciation. Dada was just an insignificant person back at home. However, at the Soviet Union, he was the very person who could bring about change.

Through Dada’s travelogue, it becomes apparent that the university in Moscow not just educated its students but prompted a ‘new’ person to emerge from within. The focus of the rigorous curriculum was then to bring the best out of them that would inform each learner of what stands ahead and prepare them to be sent away to export these notions to other areas. While the university focused on equipping students with the necessary skills to become a new well informed individual, Sukarna emphasized on these new characters to come together as an African Asian nation, leaving behind superficial differences of language, ethnicity and religion behind. The university aimed to craft new individuals. Sukarna aimed to build a new lost unity among them.

Since each one possesses the ability to make revolution, Sukarna recognized the magnitude of the change that can be brought about by uniting these passionate people. He thus invited them to come together and become part of this struggle. They were all united by a common abhorrence of colonialism, regardless in whatever form it appeared. Through his speech, he drew upon examples from the past for instance settling the fight in IndoChina by unanimously doing their part and instilled confidence in his fellows that together they can save each other from the claws of colonial powers. And they can impact the world affairs, for when standing shoulder to shoulder they become a majority, ready to fight the minority that has silenced them for centuries.

The struggle of both Dada and Sukarna is based on the power of one. Dada embarked on a journey to break away from the shackles of capitalism. This one individual was driven by hope and determination to fight the injustices. Sukarna also worked along the same lines and invited people to unite for a common desire- a desire to shun away the evil of colonialism. For together if they will speak, the world is bound to listen.

The Invisible Other

The notion of the ‘Other’ has always subjected the conquered to unprecedented challenges. It is not just marked with subjugation but also a repression of their culture. Hence, the natives are left with little choice but to cling onto preserving their culture

Rigoberta, in her testimony, highlights her struggles; a struggle towards life. Becoming a voice for the voiceless, Rigoberta narrates how native Indians in Gautemala are subjugated, exploited and discriminated. This reality is instilled in them from the very beginning of their lives when at several instances they are exposed to the truth of ‘white men’ dishonoring their ancestors. These white men are the reason why children die of hunger and why they must not reveal their secrets because in a world dominated by White men, Indians will always be misunderstood.

A classic example of this is when they organize themselves to retrieve their lands back. They are labeled as guerrillas, working as communist agents. Rigoberta’s father is burnt alive along with other protestors who only wished to protest peacefully with orphans by their side outside the Embassy. Any form of representation is misunderstood by these White men. It goes unrecognized primarily because the conquerors wish to understand and evaluate them using their own tools, painting them all with the same brush. Hence if anything exists then it is a dichotomy between us vs them.

This dichotomy forces native Indians to be seen as filthy and dirty. Worked as a maid, Rigoberta narrates how she is treated worse than a dog during her work in the capital. Their culture is automatically considered inferior and hence anything coming out of them is subjected to scrutiny. They are bound to become passive recipients of the injustices that are imposed on them by the conquerors. These conquerors inevitable know better than them. These injustices, as recounted by Rigoberta, range from their people dying from malnutrition to their houses being forcefully taken away. The biggest injustice remains a rejection of their identity and their culture.

The Native Indians are then left with no choice but to use the very tools of colonialism to get their message across. Bible serves as a tool to help unite their people. Weapons are employed for their own protection. And Lastly Spanish, the language of white men, is used to get their voice heard. However the dilemma remains that the mere sight of these Indians dressed in their unique clothes which is a testament to their simple way of life and hard work are viewed as a creature, incapable of thinking and working for their future. These natives, thus, remain an alien being for the white men and for the world that is run by these people.