On December 10th author Hatem Bazian presented his book “”Palestine…it is something colonial” in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Sandew Hira spoke at the book launch to understand the relevance of the book in a broader decolonial framework. With thanks to Critical Collective for the footage.
Is diversity a good thing? I guess the community of GAPS will resolutely answer: “Yes, of course.” After all, the mission statement says that GAPS want to “promote equality of… Read more »
On July 20th, 2015 publicist and columnist Sandew of the Surinamese news website Star News, wrote an open letter to the Surinamese President Bouterse who had won the elections on May 25th and had received an absolute majority in parliament. With the title The truth sets us free, he called on Bouterse to testify about the December murders of 1982 and all the events of violence in which the president was involved. On July 25th Bouterse responded positively to this proposal. Since then, a process begun with confrontation, polarization, dialogue and reconciliation. Hira has been involved with this process for over one and a half years. This book gives an account of his experiences.
In celebration of the 20 Questions & Answers book series we are inviting you to ask 20 questions to the authors of this series! During a 1 hour Facebook live stream our authors will give you 20 answers. Each author will have his/her own live stream session. Our first live stream will take place on October 12th with Sandew Hira, author of 20 Questions and Answers about Reparations.
“Early 2015 white students and staff from the University of Amsterdam (UvA) occupied the administrative buildings as a protest against announced budget cuts. They demanded more democracy: election of the… Read more »
This book brings together the most relevant facts and insights on reparations and it positions the debate on reparations as part of the continuing struggle to decolonize the mind. The goal is to provide material for debate and discussion. It deals with reparations for both trans-Atlantic slavery and colonialism more generally. In some sections the discussion focuses specifically on slavery because many propositions and arguments are related specifically to slavery. The final chapter presents a new economic model for the calculations of reparations. These calculations are based on a mathematical model that performed simulations to reveal the damage that the colonizers have caused and the impact on the wealth of the colonizer nations.
Most people in the Netherlands think of slavery and the slave trade as something that happened a long time ago, did not affect many people, and have little relevance to Dutch society today. Nothing could be further from the truth. The truth is that politics, economics, religion, architecture and art in Amsterdam, Middelburg and other cities across the nation are inseparable and inextricable from Dutch slavery and the slave trade. This book details the history and legacy of Dutch slavery and the slave trade in the form of 20 questions and answers.
From 2010 until 2016 Sandew Hira published columns on the Surinamese news site Star News every Monday. In his columns he covers various topics such as relationships, sexuality, politics, history and decolonization. This publication contains the first 75 columns for Star News. The purpose of a column is to stimulate opinion. A columnist without a strong opinion is not a columnist, at most, a beautiful writer.
This book is about how heterosexuals in the Surinamese community deal with homosexuality. These heterosexuals are the parents, children, relatives and friends of Surinamese gays and lesbians. Based on interviews with Surinamese gay, lesbian and heterosexuals, Sandew Hira constructs a picture of the complex emotions that come up when it appears that a father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister or friend comes out for his/her homosexual orientation. The process of rejection, tolerance and acceptance is shown and expressed in moving stories that demonstrate how a community changes as forbidden loves open up and blossom.
Nederlands