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Aimé Césaire's Discourse on Colonialism is a critique of European colonialism and its devastating impact on colonized societies. Césaire was a poet, politician, and intellectual from Martinique. He was a leader of the Negritude movement. Discourse on Colonialism challenges the supposed civilizing mission of European colonialism. Césaire argues that colonialism, rather than being a benevolent force of progress, is a brutal system that degrades both the colonized and the colonizer.

Set against the backdrop of mid-20th-century colonial struggles, Discourse on Colonialism condemns European imperial powers for perpetuating economic exploitation, cultural destruction, and racial hierarchy. Césaire critiques Western humanism, asserting that it is a selective ideology that values European lives while disregarding the suffering inflicted on non-European peoples. He draws connections between colonial violence and European fascism, arguing that the atrocities committed in the colonies laid the groundwork for the horrors of World War II.

His main argument is that colonialism is not about spreading civilization but about maintaining economic dominance. Through historical examples, Césaire tries to dismantles the moral and ideological justifications for this idea of  “empire,” advocating instead for the liberation and self-determination of colonized peoples – like himself.

Discourse on Colonialism is a powerful and incisive critique that should resonates with those from formerly colonized nations. His argument that colonialism was never about civilization but rather about economic greed and racial subjugation is compelling. I strongly agree with his assertion that colonialism dehumanized not only the colonized but also the colonizer. Césaire’s exposure of European hypocrisy—claiming to champion human rights while systematically oppressing non-Europeans—remains extremely relevant today as former (and not former) colonial powers continue to exert economic and political control over their former (and not former) colonies. For example, Martinque is still a colony of France, under the label “overseas department.”

What I found most impactful, albeit obvious, was his emphasis on how colonialism erases and distorts indigenous cultures. His argument that colonized societies had their own systems of governance, culture, and knowledge—systems that were deliberately destroyed—challenges the Eurocentric idea that colonization was a necessary step toward modernization. This is a reminder of how history often hides the voices of the marginalized

Césaire’s background in the colonial world profoundly shaped his view of global power structures, including his perspective on the United States. The United States, in his view, perpetuated a new form of imperialism to enforce Western dominance. Does he mention the Cold War? He does mention Communism/Maxist and its influence and him and other around him – but I cannot recall him talking about the Cold War. He does talk the World Wars which I interpreted to be WW1 and WW2.  Césaire’s Marxist influences would have played a part in his critique of the US.

Discourse on Colonialism is an important text understanding the historical and ongoing effects of colonialism. Césaire’s passionate denunciation of imperialism, his critique of European hypocrisy, and his insights into the connections between colonialism and fascism, this work as relevant today as it was in 1950s. His analysis urging us to center the voices and histories of those who resisted.

2025 rating 4.5 stars
Authors could learn how to do parallel universes from Taylor. I like that the book ends, not completely finished - open ending are my favorite at some points. The romance and tension is everything I wanted. This series is everything I remember.

2015 Rating 5 stars

Feb 2025 rating 3.5 stars
Days of Blood and Starlight does not fall into the second book trap. I appreciated that the plot continues on. The characters keep growing. The romance and tension is palpable. Taylor does multiple universes WELL. Other authors need to take notes.


Oct 2015 rating 4 starts

I might have DNF'd this if I wasn't listening to it on audiobook. I love that romance books are dropping the gross tropes - like not gaining consent around certain issues. BUT do we have to get hit over the head with it every few pages? I liked that Eleanora was the older one of the two. I also liked that Ben was a softer partner in the relationship. This book was missing the thing to take it over the edge though.

Nathan Connolly explores the more durable world that held and harden under the feet of marchers and rioters as Jim Crown died and segregated. The point of the book is to see the shared assumptions between how real estate and white supremacy nurtured in their subjects, regardless of skin colour or class. He focuses on the political and commercial transactions that inspired events like concrete parks.

"Order meant, among other things, protecting white commercial interests under the banners of capitalism, democracy, and modernity."

Connolly argues that Americans, immigrants and indigenous made investments in racial apartheid that helped govern growing cities and unleash the value of land as real estate. He says Black and White landlords worked together to bind real estate to structural racism and white supremacy to political power.

Overall it was a fascinating book.

In the most recent preface, Knight writes that The Caribbean focuses on social and economic factors to tell the story of Caribbean. He moves away from political history and telling the story of national heroes or great men. He also does not focus on specific dates to tell his story.

I only recently became familiar with Franklin Knight’s work, and I was pleasantly surprised by The Caribbean. His writing style was quite enjoyable. He does a great work of incorporating other prominent scholars on the Caribbean and primary source material into his narrative. While Knight covers the entire Caribbean, a hard task, he tends to focus his narrative heavily on the Anglo Caribbean then the Spanish and French Caribbean. The Dutch Caribbean is mentioned from time to time, but it is more neglected in the narrative. Particularly when Knight mentions statistics, he focuses on Anglo-Caribbean.

I did not totally buy into his idea of the two major social groups in chapter four. The separation between Maroon and Pirates as one group, and everyone else as another group seems to neglect the fact that merchants and free people of colour were also transient people in the Atlantic. I did not know that The Bahamas had one of the highest percentages of Free People of Colour in the Atlantic. It was neat to learn.

Knight states multiple times throughout the narrative that settler colonies and exploitative colonies were not always distinct but that sometimes they changed from one form to another or were both simultaneously. I see where Knight is coming from with his distinctions, and I lean on agreeing with him. I think it depends on the majority of the population in the colony. Many White settlers from Europe wanted to create their own micro-metropoles to model the society they left, while other Europeans wanted to extract as much as they could from the land which (usually) meant no modeling after their previous society.

I agreed with Knight’s observation that in British territories “to excel according to the criteria of the mother country’s culture was the ultimate achievement.” You can still see it in the British Caribbean today. When talking about education in the British Caribbean, Knight mentioned the high literary rates. I cannot help but wonder what the rates in the modern-day Caribbean are today. As this book was last updated in 2011, I cannot help but point out that Barbados is also now a republic within the Commonwealth.

Towards the last few pages of the book, Knight mentions the diverse challenges that the Caribbean faces. He points out specifically natural disasters. I believe it is important to note that the region is experiencing a lot of issues due to climate change, such as sea levels rising but also (and something that affects us in Miami) stronger hurricanes. Last hurricane season was ridiculous.

While I was reading, I couldn’t help but think about a number of great books that have come out quite recently that cover some of these countries. Cuba: An American History by Ada Ferrer, Puerto Rico: A National History by Jorell Meléndez-Badillo, and Awakening the Ashes: An Intellectual History of the Haitian Revolution by Marlene L. Daut (She also just published a biography on Henry Christophe).

Zong! is the most experimental poetry I have had the pleasure of reading. It is a book to be savoured and read piece by piece. At times, Philip had me in tears while in other places I marveled at the way she pieced words together. This read -in and of itself- can be exhausting though. It is not just the content but also the way Philip has written it. It's hard to put into words the experience of Zong!. That's because it is just that - an experience!

 I ate this book up. It was super readable; very free flowing. 

 

I'm obsessed with paranormal creature media like vampires and werewolves, but only the light media version of them. not necessarily the dark media of them. 

 

Fang fiction was a very light fun read. I enjoyed it but that's all it was, a fun light read. There was the subject of S.A. that plays a part in the plot, but my mind did skip over it some what. 

 

There wasn't a lot of depth to the characters, the characters were either good or they were bad. There was no humanizing complex emotions to them. The twist of who the writer of blood feud was really nice. 

 

Overall I liked Fang Fiction. It hearkened back to my wattpad days and it was just a really fun, quick, light read. 

3.5 stars - 2025
I enjoyed reading Meyers, it was like a welcome back home. The book is a tad long, though I feel like every point of the plot was necessary. Though I agree with my sentiments from before that while each of the characters were in danger at different points of the book they were never enough danger to die and that took away the suspense. 

The POVs were well done. It was never confusing. I enjoyed listening to it on audiobook. 

5 stars - 2016
Let me just say that the Lunar Chronicles has been one of the best series I've read to date. 

I've been dying to get my hands on this book as you'll see in this video...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkMDckaE89o

So when I got Winter I just had to dive right on in. I picked it up and was immediately transported back to the Lunar Chronicles universe. This book was everything it needed to be and so much more. I loved seeing all the conflicts the characters had to go through. I love how many OTPs there were in this book. The writing was great, the switched POVs were so well done so it wasn't confusing at all. The ending was everything it needed to be. Queen Levana was an AWESOME villain. She'll be one of my favorites forever I think. 

On the downside I must admit that while the characters were in danger at almost every turn. (It seemed like each one got

captured by the queen at least once.

)  It didn't really feel like they were going to lose or die. (Especially towards the middle end.) I have no other grievances that that. 

I will buy any book by Marissa Meyer..

 

Imani Perry writes a book about blue threading through the history of blackness and the concept of blackness. Perry roots the book in black America; she traces history all over the place from Africa to Latin America but she always comes back to Black American history.  She draws her own experiences and memories into the narrative running them into the history that she traces. 

 

The chapters are quite short. Perry’s chapters have a loose theme of blue but chronologically they bounce all over the place. It was jarring in places. They did not seem well connected but more a jumble of thoughts attempting to be coherent by the vague theme of blue. 

 

I wished Imani Perry cited or had a references page in the back. Even though this is not a strictly academic book because my academic mind kept wondering “where are we pulling this from?” 

 

However Perry’s writing is like water. It flows. It ebbs. It runs over you in a way that you feel like you have to keep reading. The blue theme covers not just material items, but also the environment around us, the mental and emotional blues, the musical blues among other blues. 

 

The Black in the Blues forces you to be more aware of the world around you. Perry weaves a narrative that forces you to be very imaginative.