Dr. Audrey Hudson is an artist, educator, researcher, and a faculty member at OCAD University. Dr. Hudson recently defended her PhD thesis on Decolonizing Indigenous Youth Studies, and believes through the arts we can engage young people on the topics of colonization, race, representation and sovereignty.
Dr. Audrey Hudson
What does decolonization mean to you?
It’s a heavy word. You may not have given it much thought, but I hope you can consider it now, with me.
Simply put, decolonizing is re-centring the centre onto Indigenous knowledges.
Let’s start to think about how we can use the arts to begin the process of decolonizing education. I propose that our educators start teaching with histories outside of a Eurocentric lens, apply culturally relevant pedagogies and ethical conduct, and realize creativity as a spark for change.
My vision to decolonize education is to insert, recover, and honour Black and Indigenous voices that have been silenced by colonization, and use the arts to work towards creating healing and conversational spaces for difficult topics.
One of the art forms supporting this transformation is hip-hop. I use this as an example because of the power it holds for historically marginalized communities. I am not saying that hip-hop goes without fault, not at all, but like no other, hip-hop is a creative explosion of sonic energy and strength, voice and vision, emotion and activism—and above all, it should be a representation of your authentic self.
Finding resilience and strength to move away from colonization is a difficult process, but I see this in young people who have used the arts to express their lived experiences and speak to how they have started to overcome issues in their lives. Bella McWatch is a young Rapper who I had the honour of working with. Her resilience shines through her narrative lyrical rhymes. You can see her in action here.
The resilience of young people is wondrous. Many of the young people that create art at SKETCH are examples of strength through tough times. And so, I suggest that we listen and look towards young people for inspiration, focus on their greatness and potential in everything they do. Let’s encourage and uphold a vision of decolonization through the arts, and let’s jump in through the expressions of young visionaries. I can’t do this alone, so I hope you will join me on this lengthy, and critical journey of decolonization.
-By Dr. Audrey Hudson
You can contact Audrey at audrey.a.hudson@gmail.com.