Decolonized Motherhood
Hola Holaaa… welcome to the home of Decolonized Motherhood! This website is meant to be a hub for my personal work and academic research within the intersections of motherhood, social justice and liberation, un- and de-colonization praxis, and more.
Why decolonized motherhood? While recognizing that un- and de-colonizing may carry a heavy and complex significance, I believe that it is necessary to be bold and direct when practicing social justice work. Essentially, colonial foundations among the systems we interact with in our daily lives affect all of us in various ways, some more than others. One of the groups that is most highly affected by ongoing colonialism, from capitalism to patriarchy, are mothers and it is important to expand the awareness on this topic and its related themes.
As an academic in the fields of social justice education and motherhood, it is important for me to provide access to this knowledge outside the walls of academia and bring my research to local communities and beyond.
Decolonized Motherhood Podcast
Throughout each episode I explore how we as parents, caregivers and educators can make a positive impact on the present and future by raising aware and empowered children. To do this, we must examine ourselves and our approaches to raising children, what impacted our inner child, and what we need to now do differently – it’s an active journey of breaking intergenerational cycles. Essentially, my goal is to educate and support you in this journey by sharing my experiences and me-search approaches, speaking to subject matter experts, diving deep into critical thinking, exploring social justice and human rights topics, uncovering (un)learning and healing opportunities, and much more.
I’m incredibly intentional about the episode topics and how they are presented to the audience. There are episodes which I record solo so I’m able to share my experience and academic insights on a specific topic, and there are other episodes where an expert on the topic joins me and I’m able to co-learn along with the audience.
Tune in to the Decolonized Motherhood Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or on any one of your favourite podcast platforms.
Christie Lazo
First and most importantly, I am a mom to an incredible self-aware and fierce young child. Z, as I often refer to her, is the inspiration for the work that I do within this podcast and my academic research. My intentional methods of raising her while breaking intergenerational cycles, healing, and putting decolonized motherhood approaches into practice has led me to be a much better parent to her than I’d ever imagine.
Outside of being “mommy”, I am a graduate candidate completing a MA Degree in Social Justice Education from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), as well as a Collaborative Specialization in the Harney Program in Ethnic, Immigration and Pluralism Studies at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, at the University of Toronto (Toronto, Canada). My overall academic work explores the themes within the decolonization of motherhood, and my MA thesis presents immigrant mothers as educators and knowledge keepers while exploring the ways in which they provide ethnocultural knowledge to their children as a form of assimilation resistance.
As if #momlife and academia don’t have me busy enough, I am a digital marketing and communications strategist by profession, as well as a community organizer and social activist. With a full plate like mine, rest and downtime are important, so during my free time you can catch me letting my creative juices flow through this podcast, checking out a delicious restaurant recommendation with my husband (date nights are key!), cuddling up at home streaming the latest series/movie with my family and 2 fur babies, or on my own with a good book or academic article.
Interested in working with me? Learn more about sponsorship and collaboration opportunities.
Don’t hesitate to get in touch by sending me a note or via email: hello[at]decolonizedmotherhood[dot]com.
Hope to hear from you soon!
— Christie xo