Most significant modern revolutionary leaders were educated in the West. After all, the West is famous for its many revolutions and has had every incentive to gatekeep the ideas and methods behind them.
In this vein, diasporas — especially the children of immigrants in the West — have a critical role to play in Third Worldist movements. Much of the difficulty here comes down to social pressures around self-identity. Members of minority groups are often pushed to compartmentalize their racial identity as a “flavor of existence,” or else risk complete alienation from the majority. If they choose to stick close to the minority group they belong to, they give up many of the financial, educational, and social opportunities that life in the West offers.
There is a need to negotiate identity — that much is indisputable. It’s often a complex, years-long process that culminates in adulthood. A well-educated, empathetic diaspora member can act as an effective bridge between the land they grew up in and the land their family came from. This role can carry significant implications, especially when a large portion of diaspora members take it on.
Unfortunately, many diaspora members assimilate completely, or maintain only a minimal, depoliticized connection to their racial identity. This contributes to the phenomena of “brain drain,” in which a Third World nation’s brightest youth are lured to Western nations and kept there. Most diaspora youth may never move back to the nations of their ancestry — but that doesn’t mean they have nothing left to contribute.
Education in the West can be brought to Third World nations without the need for permanent relocation. To some capacity or another, diaspora members will need to become educators.
This can happen online, through creating and sharing resources that Third World communities can use — ideally in a native language where possible. Diaspora youth can also become in-person or online teachers, engaging with their ancestral communities abroad or at home.
They also ought to educate themselves on the West’s history of colonialism, slavery, and exploitation. There’s a significant body of literature on the subject, and if enough diasporic youth inform themselves, they’ll be far better equipped to organize effectively.
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