A new book published by Y Lolfa aims to transform the way people think about Welsh independence. Authors Jim Wingate and Jen Llywelyn share personal experiences and practical exercises in this compact book that aims to decolonise minds.    

The book,  20 Radical Steps to Welsh Independence: By first decolonising our minds , is a self-help guide, giving the reader various examples and actions to transform the way the reader thinks about Wales. Jim has worked in 21 independent countries and uses that experience to show how things need to change in Wales. Jim and Jen say: “There’s a well-researched process called ‘decolonisation’. Every independent country has to go through decolonisation. Every individual citizen has to go through decolonisation – for example, going from being a colonised, ‘passive spectator’ to ‘taking action’ as a decolonised person. Many of these attitudes and beliefs are unconscious. This book enables you to identify all 20 of them and to liberate yourself from them all.”  

The book gives true stories, from the drowning of Tryweryn to housing and planning developments for your local area, giving ideas on ‘What can  you  do?’ yourself, and what can work in practice. There are also inspiring examples from throughout the world, including messages from the lives of Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela. The book also suggests ways of dealing with incomers and tourists in Wales, and has useful facts and statistics about thriving independent nations much smaller than Wales.  

The authors and campaigners Jim Wingate and Jen Llywelyn both have Welsh-speaking forebears. They were born in Cheltenham, Gloucester, and moved back to Cymru in 1997. Jim is a storyteller. He travels to Bavaria regularly to work in schools with pupils and teachers. Jen is author and editor of many books on Welsh culture; she has learned Cymraeg, and has spoken/written on Welsh independence on radio, television, and in newspapers. After 20 years in Ceredigion, Jim and Jen now live in northern Pembrokeshire.