A cornerstone of the narrative revolution is the decolonization of the creative process. I invite creators to critically examine their creative choices, acknowledging the historical and cultural contexts that shape narratives. By deconstructing colonial imprints and challenging ingrained biases, storytellers contribute to a broader, more authentic representation of the human experience.

I coined the creative neologism “inopolitan” to represent a sense of independence from imposed colonial influences.

inopolitan: 

• A state of being not tied to a specific imposed colonial form of idealized citizenry. 
• A state of being without imposed idealized colonial constraints.

inopolitan defiance: 

• A form of resistance or opposition to the colonial narratives and power structures that have imposed identities and narratives. 
• A form of resistance that emphasizes a sense of reclaiming autonomy and self-definition outside of imposed colonial frameworks and paradigms.

In this talk, I explore the urgency of decolonial storytelling as a form of resistance against colonial narratives that have systematically erased and alienated Indigenous and ethnic minoritized groups from their authentic identities, histories, and senses of self. Drawing from personal experiences, creative works, and the philosophies of theorists like Edward Said, Aimé Césaire, and bell hooks, I dissect how colonialism's ideological domination relies on subjugating the "power to narrate" in order to impose distorted myths about the humanity of the oppressed. 

To rupture these colonial codes constricting realized selfhood, I argue for continually evolving new decolonial languages, stories, mythologies, symbolic praxes, and ways of being/knowing that emanate from the pluriversal cosmovisions and lived truths of colonized peoples themselves. By nurturing these counter-narratives from the margins, new cultural grammars for articulating self-determination and restoring severed existential ties to ancestors, lands, and spiritualities can take root. Decolonial storytelling thus serves as transformative truth-telling to seed decolonial futures where the most emancipated selves of the oppressed can be vividly realized and centered outside the colonial gaze's perpetual othering. In Inopolitan Defiance, I posit this ceaseless generation of decolonial narrative systems as crucial to the sacred work of facilitating collective self-determination, healing, and pluriversal belonging.

In this talk, I build upon the theoretical groundwork laid in its predecessor, "Inopolitan Defiance: Decolonizing Language, Reclaiming Narratives," to provide readers with actionable tools and methodologies for engaging in decolonial storytelling practice. Drawing on multidisciplinary insights and real-world case studies, this book offers practical guidance for researchers, activists, artists, and educators seeking to decolonize their storytelling processes and amplify marginalized voices. From ethical considerations in storytelling research to techniques for crafting decolonial narratives and strategies for community engagement, each chapter offers hands-on exercises, workshops, and examples to support readers in their journey toward decolonial praxis. By centering the voices and experiences of those most impacted by colonialism, this book invites readers to join in the collective work of liberation through storytelling.