It feels like it continues to be a time for gathering, pathfinding and contemplation, a phase that was perhaps triggered by the Black Lives Matter (#BLM) protests, accelerated by the pandemic, and that’s being exacerbated by the tumbling, bewildering world we seem to live in now. This entry into this space of way-making by Aida Mariam Davis is directed particularly towards Africans and Black people. It’s a book that’s thinking deeply about lineage and legacy: It describes itself as “a call and response to dream and design better worlds rooted in African lifeways” and as “a path to Black freedom, a love letter to Black futures, and a blueprint to intergenerational Black joy and dignity”; importantly and centrally, "all (and always) on Black terms.”

This call to Blackness through design and design thinking lays out a formal thesis’s work of philosophical groundwork. *Kindred Creation* exposes all of the ways settler colonialism has acted violently against African and Indigenous ways of being and lifeways—in attempts to define and erase these cultures—and how Indigenous people and Africans in particular (on the Continent and in the Diaspora) can design new worlds for themselves in three parts: Re-member: Contexts And Characteristics Of Colonialism (Land, Language, Lifestyle, Labor); Refuse: Unsettle the Settler; and Reclaim: Return To Right Relationship.

What’s special about Aida Mariam Davis in particular is her positionality as an Ethiopian American: in *Kindred Creation*, she brings both perspectives to bear. *Kindred Creation* is not so much a primer or manual as Davis’s own profound meditation on these themes and her sharing of her thoughtful perspective; it should be read as such. The book enlarges on a particular theme for me: utopian thinking, and African and Black futurisms.

Recommended for theorists of Black lives, culture, and design, Black creatives, and everyone who thinks deeply about Black futures.

Read with:
- The Afrofuturist Evolution - Ytasha L Womack
- Decolonizing Design - Elizabeth (Dori) Tunstall
- The Black Utopians - Aaron Robertson

Thank you to North Atlantic Books and NetGalley for DRC access.

A vital work to reclaim Black cultural wealth, refusing the erasures of settler colonialism and slavery. I look forward to reading more, and thanks for the arc!

Thank you northatlantic for the alc and finished copy of this book!

I’m sure you all have heard me post about this book. This book is special for many reasons - 1. I know Aida personally and 2) I had the opportunity to moderate my first in-person book club with her!

I always keep my reviews honest so just know these thoughts are all my own. I loved this book because of all of the things I learned from it. Aida has done so much research and that’s evident in this book. The book is broken down into three parts, Remember, Refuse and Reclaim. And in the bok, she challenges to Remember the past, Refuse what doesn’t serve us, and Reclaim our freedom and joy.

As a first generation Ethiopian American, there were so many elements to this book that I related to. I highlighted so much because there were so many parts that just spoke to me. This book has me thinking about what I've learned in all aspects of my life: as a black woman in America, as a project manager, and as a person; how do I want to show up?, what do I want to refuse? and what do I want to reclaim?

One of things Aida said in our conversation is that experiencing joy is our birthright and I couldn’t agree more.

This book is a must read. The lenses and view point of decolonization, especially in our current social climate was refreshing and inspiring!
Thank you to netgalley and the publisher!

First off, this is a powerful and practical book which opens up opportunities for Global Majority People to work together, Black and Brown people with their Indigenous siblings, to reclaim their power and freedom from the colonial settler impositions and mindsets. I requested and downloaded it so I could share it on my blog, my only real platform; as I started to read it, I realised it wasn't really appropriate for me to be poking around in this Own Voices / African content, so I'm limiting myself to sharing it here and on my blog so people for whom it will be useful might see it.

‘Kindred Creation’ is a call to design a world that honors and sustains Black futures, rooted in African lifeways. It’s structured in three sections —Remember, Refuse, and Reclaim. Aida invites readers to unforget ancestral connections and resist colonial structures that have sought to sever these ties.

This work is a blueprint for Black freedom, a love letter to intergenerational joy, and a powerful reminder of the worlds we can birth on our own terms.

Aida’s journey from grassroots organizing with Malcolm X Grassroots Movement to her work with the Sierra Club and her founding of Decolonize Design brings depth and authenticity to ‘Kindred Creation’. Her BDJJ (Belonging, Dignity, Justice, and Joy) framework offers an alternative to the often superficial DEI industry, emphasizing deep, relational movement-building that speaks to our universal sacred personhood and the sustainability of our earth.

For anyone seeking a guide to freedom, joy, and the reclamation of African lifeways—‘Kindred Creation’ is a must-read.

“Simply put, I don’t want a seat at the colonizers’ table and I don’t want to renovate their house.”

I acknowledge that I am not the intended audience of this book, but as someone passionate about decolonisation and Antiracism, and the parent of a Black child, I found this a brilliant and integral book with a seminal approach to decolonising your mind and life.

I am very thankful to Aida Mariam Davis, North Atlantic Books and Netgalley for the ARC

An important and integral reading to people who are passionate about decoloniality. It requires ability to sit with hard to unlearn facts, and the next steps for future-making.