Inquiry 1: Awakenings

"Ovuh Dyuh", the first chapter in The Skin That We Speak, is Joanne Kilgour Dowdy's tale of a (seemingly) minor anecdote that in fact transformed how she thought about and perceived not only the differences between schoolmates that her use of Trinidadian brought forward, but also the systematic control and even possibly tyrannical rule that the users of "the Master Discourse", the British who colonized her native country, used via language to enact upon her people. Stemming from interaction amidst her peers, Ms. Dowdy mastered use of both her native language and "the King's English." By doing so, Dowdy gained a definitive edge and insight into her society as a whole. She even references the methodology used to put down Trinidadian as a "war" on her people. She also includes her stipulations for the war being won. In my reading, it was clear that Dowdy was cognizant of this war on her and her people. The problems with subtle social control such as this is that typically the people as a whole who do not ever register that it is even occurring. My inquiry is in question to what else can be done to awaken groups of people worldwide who themselves are in the same situation: i.e. the many secular caste systems throughout the world. Ms. Dowdy's method of rising up is to gather and utilize all of the intricacies of the language exerted on her. But is this the only method to create dialogue between the oppressor and oppressed?