A3BARAKAT
I’m Ahmed Ali Barakat, but Ali is not my middle name. Ali is the identifier of my father’s family branch, and Barakat is my tribe. The 3 in the name A3BARAKAT comes from the Arabic letter Ayn (ع), the first letter in Ali, which does not have an English equivelant and so, in Arabizi typing, it is replaced with 3.
I studied History and Political theory for four years at the settler-colonial-university of Melbourne. I completed a decolonial thesis on Algerian history in 2023. Everything I do is in the pursuit of decolonisation.
Colonialism was simply a tiny marker in our long histories. The first step to decolonising is refusing to play the game of colonial history, the one that tells us that everything before the West invaded us was pre-history.
I will try to maintain the following rules in my posts:
Simplicity.
My audience isn’t academics. Rather, my goal is to take what I’ve learnt, decolonise it, then give it to you. We are powerful when we are all able to criticise the concepts using the language they use. Because, in truth, they don’t like to listen to us until we speak their language.
Actively decolonising knowledge.
I will do my absolute best to not pass on harmful and colonised knowledge. If I absolutely must, I will warn you prior. If I somehow miss it, let me know, because I am not perfect.
If there are any concepts you’d like me to explain, let me know and I will endeavour to deliver it. If I have said something confusing, let me know and I will do my best to make it understandable. This is my oath, and I promise that I will have patience and love for you.
Contact me, reach out to me, I will respond, I promise. You don’t have to subscribe to contact me. I turned on the chat feature, so if you have the app you can message me here, otherwise you can also find me on instagram (@a3barakat).
You will start receiving updates right here in your inbox if you subscribe. You can also log in to the website to read the full archives and other posts as they are published.
All images are my own, unless otherwise stated. I found it fitting to begin this post with a flare.