3.25.2005

The Wretched of the Earth

The truly horrible recent history of colonialism needs to be remembered over and over and over as Britain and the U.S. continue to occupy Iraq. Maybe the French learned; at least we can revisit a classic.

In a new introduction to Frantz Fanon's The Wretched of the Earth , Homi K. Bhabba notes:
What seems to survive the contingent movements of historical change is Fanon's passionate hope that a liberated consciousness should be grounded in a historical sense of "time [that] must no longer be that of the moment or the next harvest but rather of the rest of the world." Is Frantz Fanon Still Relevant?
Bhabba comments that Fanon anticipates configurations of contemporary globalization.

If we knew more we would protest more strongly current occupations of other nations. As librarians we must continue to promote books that show the truth. We must preserve the records.
Fanon's biographer, David Macey, has written of the importance of libraries in pursuing the truth.

Book:
David Macey
Frantz Fanon: A Biography
Picador

2001