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Junot Díaz Advocates for “De-Colonial Love”

In a video the writer discusses his work and the issues he is interested in as an artist and activist

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It’s been a good year for Junot Díaz. His critically lauded and highly awaited collection of short stories, This is How You Lose Her, was published in September and, soon after, he was awarded one of the Macarthur Foundation’s “genius grants.” As Best of 2012 lists are churned out this month, This is How You Lose Her will most likely be included in more than a few.

Recently, Díaz was invited by Colorlines, the news outlet advocating for racial justice, to be the keynote speaker of their  Facing Race conference held November 15 through 17 in Baltimore, Maryland. I stumbled upon the 24-minute video excerpt they posted last week and was, once again, pleased with Díaz’s frank analyses of his own work and the broader social issues he’s been concerned with as a writer and activist — rape, abuse, privilege and the problems that plague both families and social movements. Because “our economies of attraction continue to resemble, more or less, the economy of attraction of white supremacy,” he proposes we practice “de-colonial love.”

Do yourself a favor and watch-it really gets going at the 6:45 mark.

 

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