This week at Butte Community College was Decolonize Week, an event held by the college under the DEIA2 program (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Anti-Racism, and Accessibility). The week started on April 1, 2024, yes, April Fool’s Day, but this event was no joke.
If you were at the Butte Community College main campus, then you may have noticed some of the signs, the dancers, and the drum group Wolf Thump.
The main campus provided free food and ice cream sticks, lemonade or water, and hot dogs (vegetarian or beef) and chips. Besides food, dancers and the band, there were public speakers as well.
With “Call to Action” theme, every day of Decolonize Week featured the theme by either supporting or having a way to engage the public in open dialogue.
Each day, from April 1-4 will be different events some in person and some via Zoom. A different theme for each with a focus and an aim to reach more with a message that aligns with DEIA2 and what they support and value.
A menu of workshops and activities were hosed to enhance a culture of inclusiveness. The overall intent wA to inform and inspire current and future actions by offering sessions that provide attendees with knowledge, training, and inspiration” according to the Butte College website.
On April 2 the keynote speaker was Angela Davis, an activist and a professor University of California Santa Cruz who played a large role in social justice and an icon in the 1960’s Civil Rights era.
April 4 was the last day for the event, along with another interactive cultural exhibit. The closing compression plus food trucks/elote (corn)/ pizza/paletas. An arts and crafts station provided supplies to make bracelets/Reiki/painting. A sound bath was located under the solar panels by the Arts Building. 
They also helped with financial aid workshops, interactive cultural exhibits, celebrating our identities and diversity art shows.
This was also a good time for those on campus to open yourselves to new ideas and expand your mind, even challenging the beliefs that you may hold now. Isn’t that the main part of the college experience anyway?
The whole event was a great opportunity to get people talking and engaging in conversations that were once silenced or put to the backburners of the societal conversation.
