Solidarity and Collectivity in Decolonizing Linguistics

Abstract

This chapter takes a Black Diasporic perspective on the decolonization of linguistics. The authors interrogate longstanding false institutional and ideological divides within linguistics and related fields while strengthening and fostering scholarly solidarity and collectivity for African, African American, Black, and Diasporic scholars. They share personal and professional insights on centering Blackness as part of decolonizing linguistics from their positionalities and intellectual histories as authors, as Black Diasporic scholars, and as white allies, as well as from recent autobiographical scholarship by prominent Black Diasporic linguists. Based on their findings, they offer recommendations for solidarity and collective action toward adopting transformative changes to expand Black individuals’ and communities’ access to linguistics, challenge the white supremacy that undergirds the discipline’s ignorance about and exclusion of the Black Diaspora, and shift ideological standards for academic and scholarly success within linguistics.