Ngugi’s book is easily the most overlooked book of this semester. No Ngugi’s book certainly isn’t fun nor is it light-hearted. The arguments Ngugi makes are difficult to swallow, but his ideas, to me, are brave in the face of towering issues that not a lot of people are clamoring to address. I once again wanted to try and make light of this book with my own lived experience. On page 16 Ngugi says about Colonialism, “Colonialism imposed its control of the social production of wealth through military conquest… But its most important area of domination was the mental universe of the colonized, the control, through culture, of how people perceived themselves and their relationship to the world.” What this brings to mind is my own education in the Texas public school system, especially when it comes to the history of the Alamo. Being a native of San Antonio, the narrative of this conflict between the Mexican Government and those who fought for Texas Independence is dear to our city. But for young Mexican-Americans in Texas, how does the Alamo make us look at ourselves, and our people’s contribution to the state? What kind of effects does it have on the “mental universe” of these young Americans to read about a conflict that occurred in their own state in which they can’t really relate to any its of its heroes? Ngugi asks this very question when it come to African writers and intellectuals. How do they view themselves when they have nothing in common with their heroes? For me the construction of the narrative of the Alamo was used as an “area of domination.” The white men who fought for the side of the Texas republic are made to look like nothing more or less than brave, righteous warriors, the roles played by the Tejanos (Mexican-Texans) in the revolution are downplayed, and the Mexican side and its leader Santa Anna are made to seem like one-dimensional haters of freedom. Now of course if you are able to take a college level course on the Alamo and Texas history, or you able to get your hands on some more recent books, you will get a more complicated and honest picture of what happened. The reality is that for most Mexican-Americans living in Texas, they won’t ever get that chance. I’m not an expert on the Alamo and I’m not going to argue over what happened, I just think to teach kids in elementary (this when I remember my first Texas history lessons which included a trip to the Alamo) this complicated historical event as if its this clear cut battle between good and evil, could definitely affect psyches in ways Ngugi alludes to.