Dismantling the Commonwealth: the death of Queen Elizabeth prompts us to take into account the colonial past in Africa

The death of Queen Elizabeth II has focused worldwide attention on the British royal family and sparked further criticism of the monarchy, both in the United Kingdom and abroad, particularly among the people colonized by Great Britain. “There's a certain level of psychosis that you can go to another people's land, colonize them, and then expect them to honor you at the same time,” says Kenyan-American author Mukoma Wa Ngugi, who teaches literature at Cornell University and whose own family was deeply affected by the British's bloody suppression of the Mau Mau revolution. He says that with the death of Queen Elizabeth, there needs to be a “dismantling” of the Commonwealth and a real reckoning with colonial abuses. We also speak with Harvard historian Caroline Elkins, a leading scholar of British colonialism, who says that while it's difficult to know how much Queen Elizabeth personally knew about concentration camps, torture and other abuses in Kenya at the start of its reign, the monarchy must take this heritage into account. . "Serious crimes occurred under the Queen's imperial watch. In fact, her picture hung in every detention camp in Kenya as inmates were beaten in order to demand loyalty to the British crown," says Elkins .

Democracy now! is an independent global news hour broadcast on more than 1,500 television and radio channels Monday through Friday. Watch our live stream at https://democracynow.org Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. ET.

Support independent media: https://democracynow.org/donate
Subscribe to our daily email digest: https://democracynow.org/subscribe

#DemocracyNow

Please take the opportunity to connect and share this video with your friends and family if you find it useful.