I found Decolonial Daughter to be intelligent, thought-provoking and fascinating. The author is impressively knowledgeable and passionate about her subject and it is easy to get caught up in her enthusiasm and hope. The things she has to say about racial and personal identity, Blackness, colonialism and racism provided me with much food for thought. Her personal history was fascinating and, for me, those sections were the most absorbing parts of the book. I was also intrigued by her belief that knowing where we came from and who came before us is knowledge that is immensely valuable and indeed essential to truly know ourselves. Moreover, only by truly knowing ourselves can we begin to understand one another and begin to change the world for the better. Interesting and inspiring, this was an illuminating read that I found thoughtful and profound.

This is a collection of letters from the author, a woman who was born in American and is of Trinidadian descent, to her son, who was born in Denmark and is half Danish. Through these letters the author explores the history of Trinidad and Tobago, the Caribbean and Europe's colonial history.

Because this exploration is through the personal history of herself, her son and her family, I found it to be a little light touch, so struggled to relate to it, and it felt quite meandering in places.

There was a lot of interesting content about colonialism, and I could easily have taken 'Denmark' out and replaced it with 'UK' in the way she describes the colour blindness and the total unwillingness to see how the current anti-immigration rhetoric is a direct product of our colonial past and deeply embedded institutional racism. It was also interesting to read about the experience of being a parent of a biracial child, for example when her son could speak Danish better than her, or the way she is trying to pass on her Trinidadian heritage to her son who was born in the country that has as much to answer for in terms of colonialism and anti-immigration as many of its neighbours.

It is relatively short, so this is perfect for anyone wanting to start exploring colonialism but who is put off by heavy or jargon-filled books, though it wasn't one I was particularly drawn in by.

The author writes a series of letters to her 18 year old son to help him (and the book's readers) to understand her life and the world we find ourselves in. These letters have an originality and vitality, at times meandering off on a tangent before getting back to the story she was telling.
The author is a Black woman born in Brooklyn, she spent her teenage years in Trinidad and Tobago and now 18 years living in Denmark. Her letters are at times very personnel and cover the modern world sins - racism, sexism, US international interference, US democracy gone wrong, the impact of colonisation on the colonised, the forgotten histories of slavery and imperialism, US imprisonment rates of Blacks and the poor, refuges, climate change and capitalism.
As the author has the advantage of living in three different countries her thoughts are worldly, compassionate and based on both practical experience and various studies, papers, books, music and folk tales. She has given her son and all readers much to reflect on.