As the Kenyan novelist and post-colonial theorist Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o so deeply revealed in Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature, the politics of language has always played a key role in understanding and dismantling power structures. Here are a few syllabi that have been put together to bust the neo-liberal, colonial structures that are also crucial in understanding the complex, boiling issues affecting the temperament of the fast approaching U.S. elections.

1. The Rise of the Trump phenomenon and how to combat it

 

This course is assembled by historians N.D.B. Connolly and Keisha N. Blain. The multi-disciplinary compilation of readings consist of over one hundred scholars. The syllabus  introduces one to the undercurrents of the political and social issues that have been instrumental in shaping the temperament of the upcoming U.S. election. Some of the  key areas it focuses on are Donald Trump's rise amid several controversies and his contentious nativism and positions on race, imperialism, immigration and sexism. His personal and political gains are based on a deep-rooted history of segregation and exploitation.

The curriculum talks about the urgency of the Dakota Access pipeline situation and address the controversial project, which is set to destroy thousands if not millions of lives that come in its way. The non-profit collective-New York City Stands with Standing Rock has come up with the syllabus to highlight the struggles of the Indigenous peoples who have persistently been fighting to protect their land and water. It seeks to contextualize DAPL within Sioux and settler-colonial  history by bringing to fore the historic work of the Sacred Stones Camp, Red Warrior Camp and the Oceti Sakowin Camp in resisting the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL).

Inspired by Beyonce’s famous album, “Lemonade,” the syllabus is created by writer and educator Candice Benbow with contributions from over 70 Black women and citations of over 250 works. The syllabus, which went viral, focuses on Black womanhood “in historic and contemporary manifestation” with the idea being "the essence of Black Girl Magic, a phrase created to celebrate the power, beauty and resilience of Black women.” It is split into categories ranging from Black feminist studies, religion and womanist theology, theatre, photography, film and music. Some of the seminal works in the curriculum are

Zora Neale Hurston's “Their Eyes Were Watching God,” Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's “We Should All Be Feminists,” Nina Simone's “The Pastel Blues,” and more.

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4. Black Lives Matter Syllabus

The iconic hashtag movement also has a syllabus. The 2016 Fall syllabus, developed by the New York University professor, Frank Leon Roberts, who specializes in 20th century African American literature, analyzes contemporary U.S. social movements and seeks to distinguish between the contemporary  #BlackLivesMatter movement versus a much older, broader U.S. movement for black lives that has been in existence for several centuries (which can be traced back to at least the first slave uprisings in the antebellum south). The curriculum focuses on  four important components:

1) the rise of the U.S. prison industrial complex and its relationship to the increasing militarization of inner city communities

2) the role of the media industry in influencing national conversations about race and racism and

3) the state of racial justice activism in the context of a neoliberal Obama Presidency and 4) the increasingly populist nature of decentralized protest movements in the contemporary United States.