Fanon – The Wretched of the Earth

- Fanon was a psychologist and a man of color; also, he was a political activist, political
philosopher, and a writer

- he knew about racism towards soldiers in the French army and experienced racism himself

- this racism ignited rage, anger, and negative emotions in Fanon

- he didn't write about those experiences in the moments of rage, he waited to calm down, to
process everything, and then wrote

- how does colonization work – physical way (claiming the land and exterminating people
who live there), psychological way (making natives adapt, hate their own culture and looking
up to colonizer's culture)

- using religion again colonized – talking about God, using the Bible to justify their actions;
colonized should not follow God, but the master (a colonizer)

- how Fanon describes capitalism – people need to work to provide wealth to their colonizer,
getting nothing in return, deluded into the feeling that colonizer will be good to them

- what role does government play in capitalism - government protect bourgeoisie and wealthy
people, it gets all the privileges that the same wealthy people take from the poor; they shape
people into their mold, e.g. through education; it is more evident in e.g. Africa, this molding is
not hidden there

- violence (a domino effect) – once the colonized use violence, it spreads and it is impossible
to stop; Fanon sees violence as the only possible way to change something; the purpose of
their violence is to show dissatisfaction and to reclaim their identity; the problem is that
colonized are so brainwashed that their start fighting among themselves; for colonizer
violence represents a tool of control and dehumanizing the colonized; the mirror image of the
colonizer – native repeats everything after his colonizer (hating everything black)

- mental disorders – the point of his case studies is present because this process of
colonization denies colonized people as human; focus on nervous system and body – if
something is in your body and brain, you cannot influence it, the theory that colonized will
never change, that they are underdeveloped and that they will never use one part of their
brain; social conditions do not create those mental disorders, but life in colonies, oppressive
social structure

- question of national culture – Negro literature and art (movement); intellectuals do the same
thing as colonists, claiming that Africa is the source of bad values; national culture stands
between colonized and colonizer, but it should not be. The point of culture is to show your
true identity, but colonizer made colonized lose all of it, if their culture does not exist, then
natives do not exist as well
- the role of a writer – a writer needs to know his people and to address them; literature plays
a huge role when it comes to identity; Fanon calls for the creation of „New Black Man“, who
is the man of the future; reinventing past that is relevant for the present and for building the
future

- colonial bourgeoisie and concept of non-violence – they follow the pattern of the colonizer;
non-violence seems to empower only the elite; they do not want violence, because they also
invest money, and with violence, they could lose

- political education – the target group are the masses (the poor masses, peasants), that type of
education would lead to a diversity of opinions that is good for politics; they wanted everyone
to have a chance to express their own opinion; it is mind-opening

- once the colonized unite, they forget about the differences and start fighting against
colonizers

- national consciousness – leader and the party - use institutions and power to divide people,
work for their own interests; does not inspire people in rural areas; they need to get to know
these people, need to believe that those people are capable of being productive