I didn't learn about the effects of colonization (British Empire) until my first year of university. I chose an elective course on Third World history. Kind of crazy to cram that in 1 course, because that covers huge continents..Africa, Asia and South Pacific where each country has distinctly different histories. Course was taught by a dynamic prof. THere was grad school tutor to handle our seminar groups after lectures. He was the first black I had ever met from ..Jamaica. I was raised in town with hardly any blacks.

Here in Canada there were situations in the aboriginal (First Nations as we call the 'native Indian) where some of the students were punished by the nuns, etc. in school for using their native language.. Over 40-50 years ago or so. So that type of cultural 'colonization'/forced assimilation, was happening in some situations well after Canada became an independent political country from Great Britain.

I didn't realize myself until started university that there were other different people worldwide of Chinese descent outside of North America and China. ie. the Chinese born and raised in the Carribbean, etc. Just even their English patois made them different that what I knew before. I didn't know anything about Malyasia nor Singapore until entering university. Zero. My high school history education was on British history, Canadian history, some American. Knew some of the major New World explorers..or conquerers (in the eyes of the First Nations/native Indians). That's all.

The whole situation of the U.S. civil rights, black slavery. Underground Railway (escape to Canada) most of it I read history books on my own as a teen. Same for Nazi German history..read most of it on my own, as a teen.

The political is personal because all this reading..knowledge helped me understand some blacks I met, my partner, his mother and how events in Germany brought them to Canada. Same for my parents....political is personal..because it can force a person to make major life changes.