By Aliyana Bailey

This project explores how powerful institutions have suppressed language because it serves as a form of resistance. The goal of these powers is erasure, but when it becomes unsustainable, small means of progress serve as pacification. Tamazight, or Amazigh language, had been outlawed since the rise of the Arab empires in Morocco until 2011. While there have been constitutional amendments that gave the language more freedom, they have not been effective in providing the Amazigh people with equity. This project traces the marginalization of Amazigh people under both the French and Arabs, paying particular attention to how education impacted the exclusion of the Amazigh language and culture. Furthermore, I will provide a personal anecdote from a friendly face in the Central Atlas Mountains that sheds light on who the Amazigh are. Then, I will dive deeper into how and why the amendment was ineffective. Finally, I will discuss the legacy of Amazigh activism.