E4: Decolonizing Public Health Research with Abaki Beck

Decolonize Yourself

Aditi Mayer, a sustainable fashion and labor rights activist, reminds us that "a return to Indigenous wisdom is the first step towards decolonization" (Green Dreamer podcast, Episode 253). We get a sense of what this "return to Indigenous wisdom" looks like, as public health researcher Abaki Beck shares her journey of decolonization in this episode. A member of the Blackfeet and Red River Metis, Beck calls us to recognize Native knowledge as legitimate and to share power (not just space) with Native people. In so doing, she offers a key tenant of decolonization: that the solutions to systemic oppression are found in communities most harmed by those systems. Put another way, Native communities don't hold the problems; they hold the solutions.
Resources:
Abaki Beck's Website (learn more about her here!)
"Hey Nicki Minaj, Pocahontas was a rape survivor, not a sex symbol," (Bitch Media’s top read story in 2017)
As We Have Always Done by Leanne Simpson