EP 60 - Colonialism and COVID-19: When past is present

Conversations from the Leading Edge

The so-called “discovery” of the world by European navigators in the XV century is the event that defines the beginning of the historical process known as colonialism, a system marked by the exploitation of labor and expropriation of land that is still present in different forms in the international geopolitical arena. In this episode, the first of a small series, we will discuss how these colonial structures are present in modern times and how they are reflected in the Covid-19 crisis we currently live. Our attention will focus on the Navajo Nation and the Republic of Zimbabwe. Our guests today are Dr. Farina King, a citizen of the Navajo Nation and an Assistant Professor of History as well as an affiliated faculty of Cherokee and Indigenous Studies at Northeastern State University and author of The Earth Memory Compass: Diné Landscapes and Education in the Twentieth Century; and Tinashe Goronga, a physician from Zimbabwe who is focused on social medicine, public health, and health equity. Tinashe is also member of the Global Campaign Against Racism’s, Zimbabwe chapter. ** This episode was recorded on July 10th, the data presented refers back to that moment and might have changed by now. Here are links to further the discussion, based on the conversation: NAVAJO INITIATIVES Dr. Farina King’s website - https://farinaking.com/dinedoctorhistorysyllabus/ Healing Songs sung by the Navajo and the Sioux – https://youtu.be/x1uJidwo77s The Official Navajo Nation COVID-19 Relief Fund - https://www.nndoh.org/donate.html Utah Navajo Health System - https://www.unhsinc.org/ NDN Collective COVID-19 Project – https://ndncollective.org/covid-19/ Pueblo Relief Fund - https://pueblorelieffund.org/ Far East Navajo COVID-19 Response Fund - https://www.gofundme.com/f/far-east-navajo-covid19-relief Utah Diné Bikéyah - https://utahdinebikeyah.org/contribute-2/ K'é Infoshop - http://keinfoshop.org/donate The National Council of Urban Indian Health - https://www.ncuih.org/index ZIMBABWE INITIATIVES CHEZ- health education – https://twitter.com/CHEZimbabwe Zim Citizens COVID Response - https://www.instagram.com/zimccr/ Rare Diseases & Disabilities Africa Foundation – https://www.facebook.com/RaDDA.Foundation/ Kufema - https://kufemazimbabwe.org/ Kufunda Village Community – https://www.kufunda.org/ National Art Gallery of Zimbabwe - http://www.nationalgallery.co.zw/ Institute of afrikology - https://instituteofafrikology.wordpress.com/ Women for the Environment Africa - https://www.womenforenvironment.org/ Feministing while African - https://twitter.com/FeministingWAF BRAZILIAN INITIATIVES UNEAFRO Brazil - https://uneafrobrasil.org/ Popular health agents project - https://agentespopularesdesaude.org.br/