Margarida Nzuzi Waco on Decolonial Publishing in the 2020s

In an essay published March 24, 2021, as part of ArtSchool's 'Decolonisation in the 2020s' series, Margarida Nzuzi Waco examines the political dimensions of publishing. The essay, produced in partnership with Museu de Arte de São Paulo, UAL's Decolonising Arts Institute, and Goldsmiths Department of Visual Cultures, argues that publishing remains a contested terrain where colonial legacies persist. Waco critiques the performative 'inclusiveness' and 'diversification' efforts by institutions in the Global North following the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests after George Floyd's death. She contends that these efforts often fail to challenge underlying imperialist and capitalist structures. The essay traces how colonial powers historically controlled literary production through censorship and monopolies, and contrasts this with the Pan-African project's use of publishing as a tool for liberation, citing figures like Frantz Fanon, Aimé Césaire, Amilcar Cabral, and Léopold Sédar Senghor. Waco calls for attention to the material operations of publishing—commissioning, editing, production, distribution, and labor conditions—not just representation. She highlights historical examples such as The Black Panther newspaper, Pacific Indigenous Periodicals, and Présence Africaine as models that built transnational solidarity. The essay concludes that decoloniality is an ongoing process requiring a fundamental rethinking of storytelling and power hierarchies.