Strength & Solidarity
By Strength & Solidarity
54. Human Rights: The Symposium is ending – what did we learn?
What are the big takeaways from five years of conversation between 200 human rights leaders from nearly 70 countries? How did activism and solidarity get sidelined as vehicle for human rights work, in favour of the multilateral review bodies and government advocacy? Why do many younger leaders avoid creating organisations? And what do activists from the US civil rights movement or South Africa’s anti-apartheid movement have to teach today’s activists? These and other questions get an airing as the moderators of The Symposium on Strength and Solidarity for Human Rights, look back over the project and reflect on its final meeting.
Although the Symposium is ending, this podcast will continue. We’re grateful to have you along!
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53. Mexico: A new home for Central America’s exiles
Fleeing your country to avoid persecution is a deeply disruptive experience, whether it is the loss of contact with loved ones, being marginalized from the work or activism that gave you purpose, reckoning with the danger you escaped, or simply feeling isolated in a new place. With repression increasing in the Central American region, many more people are being forced into exile and where they most frequently end up is in Mexico. Two Guatemalan exiles, Gabriel Wer and Bettina Amaya talk about the center they are creating for exiles in Mexico City – a place of community, activism and solidarity.
And in the Coda, Venezuelan human rights lawyer Mario D’Andrea Canas who was last year forced to go into exile, misses the mountain that towers over his hometown of Caracas but he is learning to love the sunsets in his new city
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53. [Excerpt] The Coda: Missing a beloved Venezuelan mountain
When Venezuelan human rights lawyer Mario D’Andrea Canas, escaped from Venezuela last year, he could no longer glance up every morning at the mountain that towers over his beloved home city of Caracas. Nature’s grandeur makes our problems feel more manageable, he reflects, as he learns to cherish Peruvian sunsets.
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Music by Charlie Papa - "La Cima"
52. Nigeria: What’s happening to the activists?
Passionate political debate is a cherished pastime in Nigeria. There’s a rich tradition of active participation too, whether it is in support of a favoured electoral candidate, or protesting against oppressive practices by security forces and price hikes that hit a struggling population hard. On the face of it, that tradition is being upheld – there have been several big campaigns in recent years to defend rights and democracy. But two civil society leaders tell host Akwe Amosu that all is not well with grass roots activists and that the government of President Tinubu – ironically once an activist himself – is coming down hard on those who challenge his policies. Yemi Adamolekun of Enough is Enough, and Funke Adeoye of Hope Behind Bars break down the causes of the malaise.
And in the Coda, Lebanese human rights defender Farah Abou El Sel reflects on the music of Fairuz and how it has guided her path.
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52. [Excerpt] The Coda: How Fairuz’s songs pointed to a life defending rights
Farah Abou El Sel recalls the mornings in her Lebanese childhood, when the silken, plangent voice of Fairuz could be heard in every street, welcoming the day. Farah grew up hearing and loving the songs without thinking much about the lyrics. But in hindsight she sees how profoundly Fairuz’s empathy and humanist message has shaped her life choices, including her decision to work in human rights.
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Music credits:
Fairuz - Wahdon, 1979
Fairuz - Le Beirut, 1989
51. Iran: Building a movement for rights in exile
In the quarter century since Iran’s Islamic revolution, thousands of Iranians have left their home to live in exile. Although they all have a country in common, that diaspora is hugely diverse – coming from different generations and with a wide range of origin stories, political allegiances and views about the change they would like to see in Iran. When in 2022 a young woman in Iran was beaten and killed by the morality police for wearing her hijab incorrectly, anger across the exile community suggested favorable conditions for a diaspora movement for rights in Iran to emerge. But what form should such a movement take? The founder and co-director of Azadi Network, Negin Shiraghaei, reflects on the choices she and other organizers faced as they took up that challenge.
And in the Coda, Turkish eco-activist Burcu Meltem Arik shares a poem by Nazim Hikmet reminding us of what nature can teach us about resilience. Music Credit: Ben Sığmazam by Özge Arslan, 2023
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51. [Excerpt] The Coda: Learning lessons in resilience from nature
When Burcu Meltem Arik first read Nazim Hikmet’s poem, The Walnut Tree, she exhaled with relief at its message. She reflects that nature has much to teach us - especially the value of community and connectedness for resilience – but we don’t always notice the lesson.
Music Credit: Ben Sığmazam by Özge Arslan, 2023
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50. US Aid freeze: Catastrophe or Opportunity?
The Trump Administration’s freeze on US aid has caused a global outcry. Poor and vulnerable communities in famine and war-afflicted locations are suddenly without food, and without the medications that keep people with chronic conditions alive. That aid also helped to protect persecuted activists and human rights defenders who are now at greater risk from violence and authoritarian abuse. But the freeze has also made obvious the scale of dependency around the world. Now that the danger of relying on donor funds is so clear, what can those who need the services do? Farnoosh Hashemian, global health expert and Dzikamai Bere, National Director of the Zimbabwe Human Rights Association discuss the implications with host Akwe Amosu.
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49. Myanmar: What a decade of democracy meant for LGBTQ rights
In 2011, nearly 50 years of military dictatorship came to an end in Myanmar, allowing LGBTQ activists to organize publicly to repeal a homophobic law, and advocate more positive attitudes towards SOGIE (Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and Expression) rights. They were making big strides in their campaigns when a military coup returned the generals to power, making open activism impossible. Despite that, Hla Myat Tun Executive Director of LGBTQ group, Colors Rainbow, says the gains they made are holding strong and they continue to work underground.
And in the Coda, an Indonesian activist tells us why books mean so much to her.
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49.[Excerpt] The Coda: ‘Books are a freedom for me’
Indonesian human rights defender Fatia Maulidiyanti spent over two years fighting criminal defamation charges brought by a government minister, charges that could have landed her in jail. But when life gets complicated, Fatia has her own private refuge to which she can retreat and recharge.
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48. North Korea: What future do Koreans want, and do they agree?
With North Korea becoming ever more repressive and closed to the outside world, what is the best path to change? For some, aggressive advocacy for human rights is needed; for others, especially an older generation of North Koreans who have found their way to the south, unification of the two Koreas should be the priority. Still others, particularly the younger generation of South Koreans, doubt the value of devoting a lot of energy and resources to changing the status quo. Hanna Song, Executive Director of the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights, reflects on what underlies the differing views and ambivalence and argues that it’s critical to understand and listen to those who have escaped from North Korea.
And in the Coda, a Zimbabwean human rights lawyer relies on soccer to keep things cordial. Music by Oliver Mtukudzi.
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48. [Excerpt] The Coda: Soccer as a strategy for cooling passions
Things can get tense between lawyers, police and judges when human rights cases are being litigated. But veteran human rights lawyer Arnold Tsunga has a tried and tested strategy for keeping things cordial.
Music by Oliver Mtukudzi.
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47. Gaza: Is the global human rights system at risk?
Israel’s war on Gaza and its population has now been underway for 13 months. An estimated 42,000 Palestinians have died from the violence. A further 62,000 are reported to have died from starvation, and 5,000 more for lack of medical care and drugs. The vast majority of those who have lost their lives are women and children. Despite the clamor for powerful states to intervene and stop the killing, Israel’s campaign continues unimpeded. The International Court of Justice has advised that occupation of Palestinian territory is unlawful and ordered provisional measures to avert genocide, yet governments seem paralyzed, unable to uphold international law despite their clear legal obligation to do. Can the international human rights system survive this failure?
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Best Of: 37. Uganda: Fighting to turn back a law – and anti-LGBT hatred
Strength & Solidarity Season 6 will start in November. Meanwhile we’re repeating some of our favourite shows from past seasons. This week we're revisiting episode 37, first released, November 9, 2023.
Original Episode Description from November 2023:
Uganda has become one of Africa’s frontlines in the battle for LGBT rights. In 2014 a law was passed criminalizing same-sex conduct but it was nullified by the courts on a technicality. This year that same legislation was revived, passed again in parliament and signed into law by President Museveni. The penalties it prescribes include the death penalty and the queer community is vulnerable and anxious. Uganda lawyer Nicholas Opiyo talks about a litigation effort underway to nullify the Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023 and shines a light on the role of actors behind the scenes, including US Pentecostal activists.
And in the Coda, a young Mexican disability leader finds inspiration and joy in a film about a brilliant generation of activists.
For a list of supplemental readings and additional information about this episode’s content, visit https://strengthandsolidarity.org/podcasts/
Contact us at pod@strengthandsolidarity.org
Best Of: UDHR@75: Can our human rights system ever fulfill its promise?
Strength & Solidarity Season 6 will start in November. Meanwhile we’re repeating some of our favourite shows from past seasons. This week we're revisiting episode 39, first released, December 21, 2023.
Original Episode Description from December 2023:
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) turned 75 on the 10 December 2023. Passed by the UN General Assembly in the wake of two brutal world wars, it expressed an aspiration for a new world, one in which every human being’s rights would be acknowledged and respected, and international law would regulate the actions of states and hold them accountable for violations. That vision is as powerful today as it was then and it has sometimes, and in some places, been realized. But the failures are many. Despite their pledge, governments have repeatedly abandoned principle to pursue their own interests, leaving ordinary people – sometimes an individual, sometimes millions – without protection from brutal mistreatment or immiseration and lacking any recourse. Why does the the global human rights system fail? And can it be made to work? A group of moderators from the Symposium on Strength and Solidarity for Human Rights get round a table to argue it out.
For a list of supplemental readings and additional information about this episode’s content, visit https://strengthandsolidarity.org/podcasts/
Contact us at pod@strengthandsolidarity.org
Best Of: USA: A Jewish group’s 30-year solidarity with Palestine
Strength & Solidarity Season 6 will start in November. Meanwhile we’re repeating some of our favourite shows from past seasons, starting with episode 40, first released, January 11, 2024.
Original Episode Description from January 2024:
It is now three months since the October 7 brutal attack by Hamas on targets in Israel which triggered the Israeli bombardment of Gaza in which a reported 21,000 people have so far been killed. In the US, as much as widespread condemnation was expressed after the Hamas attack, the subsequent death toll in Gaza and suffering of surviving civilians have shattered whatever remained of a consensus on Israel. Polls show rising public criticism of Israel’s actions, and of the Biden Administration for continuing to supply Israel with arms. Week after week there are protests, and present in large numbers among the diverse crowds are Jews carrying signs that say, “Not in my name.” One of several organisations mobilising those protests is Jewish Voice for Peace. JVP’s Executive Director Stefanie Fox explains how they have built their movement against the grain of mainstream US politics.
And in the Coda, a human rights lawyer talks about her artistic practice and how it connects with her work supporting communities to seek justice.
For a list of supplemental readings and additional information about this episode’s content, visit: https://strengthandsolidarity.org/podcasts/
Contact us at pod@strengthandsolidarity.org
46. Kenya: The Birth and Resilience of a Social Movement
People power has been on display in Kenya as tens of thousands of citizens faced down tear gas and live bullets forcing the government to withdraw legislation that would have mandated higher taxes. Notwithstanding enthusiastic praise for leaderless movements, Gen Z and the power of digital tools, it should not be forgotten that Kenya has a deep tradition of grassroots organizing dating back to the bitter struggle against British colonial rule. It has regularly re-emerged in subsequent decades to challenge authoritarian rule, election theft and corruption. One emergent grouping currently organizing countrywide is the Social Justice Centres movement and its coordinating body, the Social Justice Centres Working Group. National Convenor Happy Olal talks about how the movement took root in the capital Nairobi a decade ago, and has kept on growing.
And in the Coda, how an invitation to tell personal histories revealed Burmese women’s powerful activism.
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46. [Excerpt] The Coda: How storytelling rewrote resistance in Burma
Although women were, and still are, deeply involved in Burma’s fight against military rule, their contributions were often invisible.. Activist and advocate Debbie Stothard recalls that when she started paying attention, she discovered that “the auntie making our tea in the kitchen was a former resistance fighter.” She began getting women to write down their stories, with remarkable results.
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45. South-East Asia: When does a hashtag become a movement?
Back in 2020, a hashtag - #MilkTeaAlliance – began appearing across the Internet. Netizens in Hong Kong and Taiwan, Thailand, Japan and the Philippines seemed to be building a cross-regional solidarity movement to support pro-democracy activists, like the young people defying the generals who launched Myanmar’s coup in 2021. Even though the hashtag was so visible online, it was hard to see an actual movement in the real world. Did it really exist? How did it come about and who did it represent? And with the apparent waning of the hashtag’s use, is it about to disappear? We talk to Marc Batac, co-founder and facilitator of the Milk Tea Alliance (Friends of Myanmar).
And in the coda… Why does a Malaysian human rights leader moonlight as a TV script writer?
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45.[Excerpt] The Coda: The human rights leader who writes TV scripts
Sevan Doraisamy started writing film scripts when he was still a student and despite a shift into social justice activism and – eventually – leadership, he has never stopped. He explains why it’s important to him and how it helps him to avoid burning out.
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44. Colombia: The strategy that decriminalized abortion
In 2022 the United States’ Supreme Court ruled that there is no constitutional right to an abortion, triggering a flood of measures in multiple states to restrict reproductive rights. But further south, that same year, Colombia’s Constitutional Court ruled in the opposite direction. Colombian feminists had mounted a massive campaign and legal strategy to get abortion removed from the penal code and although they didn’t fully achieve that goal, abortion was decriminalized up to 24 weeks - a huge victory for the reproductive rights movement. Catalina Martínez Coral, Vice-president in Latin America for the Center for Reproductive Rights recalls the strategy behind the campaign.
And in the coda… a library becomes an inspiration and a home for Germany’s black and diaspora community.
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44. [Excerpt] The Coda: The library that became a home for black Berlin
Racial justice activist Daniel Gyamerah celebrates the foresight of an Afro-German woman who over the course of her lifetime collected hundreds of books by black authors and bequeathed them to Berlin’s black and diaspora community to create the library that became EOTO – Each One Teach One.
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43. South Africa: Organizing – a superpower for the landless
The shack dwellers of South African cities have been abandoned by their government, left to try and make homes on land they don’t own, without sanitation or electricity, and vulnerable to adverse weather or corrupt and violent law enforcement. But being poor and marginalized doesn’t mean you are powerless. The social movement Abahlali baseMjondolo which organizes in the informal settlements has a membership of 120,000 and rising, and a remarkable record of defending its communities against eviction, despite a series of assassinations and deaths at the hands of the police during evictions that have taken 25 of its grassroots leaders. Abahlali’s General Secretary, Thapelo Mohapi, explains the movement’s organizing approach, strategies, and it's formal structures, and how it is responding to violent attacks and marginalization by the ruling ANC.
And in the coda… Audre Lorde shows a Sierra Leonean activist how her fear might be a guide to her purpose.
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43. [Excerpt] The Coda: "What I regretted most were my silences"
Eleanor Thompson, a Sierra Leonean human rights lawyer and social justice activist in Freetown has been reading an essay by Audre Lorde, written during a period of heightened awareness of her mortality. Lorde reflects on the ways we avoid speaking our truth in case we provoke anger or rejection and comes to see that our fear may in fact be a guide to our purpose, a powerful insight for Eleanor.
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42. US: The promise – and the challenge – of a coalition for rights
Activists can boost their power and impact by combining their efforts, but persuading diverse actors to work together can be challenging. Organizations and movements working on multiple issues may disagree on policy and principle or set conditions on their collaboration so bringing them into alignment can take energy and resources that are in short supply. The Rising Majority coalition with around 70 member organisations combines black, indigenous and other groups of people of colour, as well as movements on race, climate, gender, policing, labor issues, immigration and economic and environmental justice – in short, its members’ priorities are varied. Rising Majority grew out of the Movement for Black Lives - M4BL for short - amid the realisation that even though individual groups had overarching goals in common, they weren’t taking advantage of their collective power. Rising Majority’s National Director Loan Tran, explains why that changed in 2017.
And in the coda…a UK activist discovers that if you want to keep going, you have to learn to stop.
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42. [Excerpt] The Coda: Learn to stop, if you want to keep going
Katrina French is an activist in constant motion, pursuing multiple projects in her area of expertise, racism in UK policing and the criminal justice system. But there came a moment when she realized she was close to burning out and decided to take avoiding action.
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41. UK: When the police are the harm not the cure
Many grow up being told that although there are bad guys in the world, the police are there to keep you safe. But this episode hears from someone who had to recognize that police saw her community not as deserving of protection, but as the source of problems. In communities where there is already too much traumatizing violence, a heavy-handed police response frequently increases the harm. According to the British campaigning organisation, 4Front, 193 teenagers died at the hands of London police between 2009 and 2019. 4Front’s Executive Director Temi Mwale describes her early awakening to this reality, her search for tools and strategies to respond, and activists’ efforts to hold police to account .
For a list of supplemental readings and additional information about this episode’s content, visit https://strengthandsolidarity.org/podcasts/
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41. [Excerpt] The Coda: Letting go of a cherished illusion
For decades, Latin America’s reporters have treasured a celebration of their craft by one of their most beloved writers, the late Gabriel Garcia Marquez - a great novelist but also a passionate journalist. Jonathan Bock was, until recently, one of them. He runs an organization in Colombia that defend media freedom and he is having to face up to a harsh reality.
For a list of supplemental readings and additional information about this episode’s content, visit https://strengthandsolidarity.org/podcasts/
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40. USA: A Jewish group’s 30-year solidarity with Palestine
It is now three months since the October 7 brutal attack by Hamas on targets in Israel which triggered the Israeli bombardment of Gaza in which a reported 21,000 people have so far been killed. In the US, as much as widespread condemnation was expressed after the Hamas attack, the subsequent death toll in Gaza and suffering of surviving civilians have shattered whatever remained of a consensus on Israel. Polls show rising public criticism of Israel’s actions, and of the Biden Administration for continuing to supply Israel with arms. Week after week there are protests, and present in large numbers among the diverse crowds are Jews carrying signs that say, “Not in my name.” One of several organisations mobilising those protests is Jewish Voice for Peace. JVP’s Executive Director Stefanie Fox explains how they have built their movement against the grain of mainstream US politics.
And in the Coda, a human rights lawyer talks about her artistic practice and how it connects with her work supporting communities to seek justice.
For a list of supplemental readings and additional information about this episode’s content, visit: https://strengthandsolidarity.org/podcasts/
Contact us at pod@strengthandsolidarity.org
40. [Excerpt] The Coda: Making art to mend what is broken
Human rights lawyer Carmen Cheung Ka-Man helps communities around the world secure accountability for crimes committed against them. But she is also an artist, for whom making is a metaphor – an effort to find solutions within the constraints of her craft and skills. She sees printmaking is a restorative practice, reconnecting beauty with the struggle for truth and justice.
For a list of supplemental readings and additional information about this episode’s content, visit: https://strengthandsolidarity.org/podcasts/
Contact us at pod@strengthandsolidarity.org
39. UDHR@75: Can our human rights system ever fulfil its promise?
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) turned 75 on the 10 December 2023. Passed by the UN General Assembly in the wake of two brutal world wars, it expressed an aspiration for a new world, one in which every human being’s rights would be acknowledged and respected, and international law would regulate the actions of states and hold them accountable for violations. That vision is as powerful today as it was then and it has sometimes, and in some places, been realized. But the failures are many. Despite their pledge, governments have repeatedly abandoned principle to pursue their own interests, leaving ordinary people – sometimes an individual, sometimes millions – without protection from brutal mistreatment or immiseration and lacking any recourse. Why does the the global human rights system fail? And can it be made to work? A group of moderators from the Symposium on Strength and Solidarity for Human Rights get round a table to argue it out.
For a list of supplemental readings and additional information about this episode’s content, visit https://strengthandsolidarity.org/podcasts/
Contact us at pod@strengthandsolidarity.org
38. [Excerpt] The Coda: When activism falls short, try a poem
Lissette Gonzalez leads the investigations and research team at PROVEA, a Venezuelan human rights organization. Well-versed in the tools of human rights activism, she knows they don’t resonate for everyone. A poem, however, channels what people are feeling and can have greater impact. She makes her case with Rodilla en Tierra, by Oriette D’Angelo.
For a list of supplemental readings and additional information about this episode’s content, visit https://strengthandsolidarity.org/podcasts/
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You can find the poetry of Oriette D'Angelo on her website: https://www.oriettedangelo.com/
Thank you to Lupita Eyde-Tucker for her translation of Oriette's poem. You can find out more about her work at her website: https://notenoughpoetry.com/
38. Bahrain: The power of direct action – and the cost
An activist finds themselves in conflict with their government and they make the decision to go into exile. They are able to find somewhere to take them in. Do they sigh with relief and keep a low profile? Stay engaged in the struggle but leave the frontline work to others? Or do they double-down on publicly challenging the oppression that drove them into exile? Bahraini activist Sayed Al Wadaei was jailed for his part in Arab Spring protests, hounded after his release and went into exile in 2012. After getting asylum in the UK he began to use high-profile tactics to shame Bahrain’s rulers. In this August 2023 interview, he spoke about the choices an exiled activist faces and how he reacted when his country raised the stakes.
And in the Coda, a Venezuelan rights investigator on what poetry can do that activism can’t.
For a list of supplemental readings and additional information about this episode’s content, visit
https://strengthandsolidarity.org/podcasts/
Contact us at pod@strengthandsolidarity.org
You can find the poetry of Oriette D'Angelo on her website: https://www.oriettedangelo.com/
Thank you to Lupita Eyde-Tucker for her translation of Oriette's poem. You can find out more about her work at her website: https://notenoughpoetry.com/
37. Uganda: Fighting to turn back a law – and anti-LGBT hatred
Uganda has become one of Africa’s frontlines in the battle for LGBT rights. In 2014 a law was passed criminalizing same-sex conduct but it was nullified by the courts on a technicality. This year that same legislation was revived, passed again in parliament and signed into law by President Museveni. The penalties it prescribes include the death penalty and the queer community is vulnerable and anxious. Uganda lawyer Nicholas Opiyo talks about a litigation effort underway to nullify the Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023 and shines a light on the role of actors behind the scenes, including US Pentecostal activists.
And in the Coda, a young Mexican disability leader finds inspiration and joy in a film about a brilliant generation of activists.
For a list of supplemental readings and additional information about this episode’s content, visit https://strengthandsolidarity.org/podcasts/
Contact us at pod@strengthandsolidarity.org
37. [Excerpt] The Coda: The film inspiring a new generation of disability activists
In the early 1970s, a group of disabled American teens found themselves at a summer camp with new freedom to think for themselves. The selfhood, courage and joy they tapped into was to power a revolution in US culture and policy towards disability. The story of those activists is told in the documentary film, Crip Camp, and Mexican disability activist Maryangel Garcia-Ramos explains how much it means to her.
For a list of supplemental readings and additional information about this episode’s content, visit
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Best of: Palestine: Refusing to be a second-class citizen
Strength & Solidarity Season 5 will start in November. Meanwhile we’re repeating some of our favourite shows, continuing with episode 27, first released, December 8, 2022.
Palestinian activist Issa Amro grew up studious and apolitical – until his university was permanently shuttered in 2003 by the Israeli military in response to the second intifada. The campaign he and others launched to get it reopened was successful but as the full reality of the Israeli Occupation struck home, he decided to commit to non-violent activism and has been organizing in his community ever since. Almost two decades on, a senior UN official has called 2022 the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank since 2005. In this episode, Amro explains how he and others have, over the past two decades, built a resilient movement, focused especially on young people, to resist the violent seizure of Palestinian property by illegal settlers and harassment by Israeli security forces.
And in the Coda, a Colombian human rights worker tells us how dancing Salsa lifts her spirits.
For a list of supplemental readings and additional information about this episode’s content, visit https://strengthandsolidarity.org/podcasts/
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Best of: When does the language of rights have power?
Strength & Solidarity is taking a break until Season Five starts in October 2023. Meanwhile we’re repeating some of our favourite shows, continuing with episode 8, first released, March 30, 2021.
For people who have made defending rights their life’s work, the language of rights comes as second nature. But what about those facing repression, exclusion or loss of their land and livelihood – how do they describe what is happening to them? When politicians instrumentalize human rights language to justify their interests, does the idea of rights become fatally degraded? In this episode we dig into where the language of human rights shows up, and who can legitimately use it. We speak with Thailand-based human rights lawyer Emilie Palamy Pradichit, founder of the Manushya foundation, on her work with indeigenous communties fighting for rights to their land and what that has taught her about the language of human rights. And in our Coda, Bangladeshi human rights defender Adilur Rahman Khan celebrates his country’s national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam.
In this episode:
- Why it matters who is doing the talking about rights
- The Coda: A lifelong Bangladeshi activist celebrates his national poet.
For a list of supplemental readings and additional information about this episode’s content, please visit www.strengthandsolidarity.org/podcast
Send us your ideas and your feedback at pod@strengthandsolidarity.org
Best of: Has the Human Rights framework outlived its purpose?
Strength & Solidarity is taking a break until Season Five starts in October 2023. Meanwhile we’re repeating some of our favourite shows, continuing with episode 3, first released, January 5, 2021.
South African human rights lawyer Kayum Ahmed’s entire career has been spent defending and extending the rights of excluded and oppressed people, at home and abroad. But this former CEO of the South African Human Rights Commission harbors considerable doubt about whether the human rights framework rooted in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights can meet the demands of radical black and brown activists.
In this episode:
- Host Akwe Amosu and her colleague Chris Stone talk about why police reform in Nigeria –and elsewhere –is so hard to achieve
- Interview with human rights lawyer Kayum Ahmed about radical activist critiques of the human rights framework
- The Coda: A song that commemorates the day that US civil rights activists met an African anti-colonial fighter in 1963
For a list of supplemental readings and additional information about this episode’s content, please visit www.strengthandsolidarity.org/podcast
Send us your ideas and your feedback at pod@strengthandsolidarity.org
Best of: Mexico: In search of trust – beyond privilege and exclusion
Strength & Solidarity is taking a break until Season Five starts in October 2023. Meanwhile we’re repeating some of our favourite shows, continuing with episode 10, first released, June 17, 2021.
This episode of the podcast steps onto tricky terrain with a conversation about identity, power and privilege. Mexican human rights lawyer Alejandra Ancheita tells host Akwe Amosu about building relationships of mutual respect with her clients - indigenous communities fighting against corporate encroachment on their land and livelihoods. And in the Coda, how the courage of Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero - assassinated in 1980 for standing up to a violent, repressive regime – confirmed US lawyer Jim Goldston’s commitment to a career in rights.
In this episode:
- In Mexico – a lawyer navigating power and identity with her indigenous clients
- And in our Coda – the struggle for justice in El Salvador sets a young man’s course in life
For a list of supplemental readings and additional information about this episode’s content, please visit www.strengthandsolidarity.org/podcast
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Best of: Nigeria: Driving police reform through mass protest
Strength & Solidarity is taking a break until Season Five starts in October 2023. Meanwhile we’re repeating some of our favourite shows, continuing with episode 9, first released, June 3, 2021.
In this first episode of Season two, host Akwe Amosu looks back to late 2020 and Nigeria’s massive #EndSARS protests against police brutality and impunity and asks youth organizer Samson Itodo to assess their impact. What is the role of leadership and organizing in a spontaneous upswell of citizen rage and who has to deliver it? And in the Coda, veteran human rights defender Suliman Baldo recalls the way poetry powered the revolution in his country, Sudan.
In this episode:
● Converting protest into respect for right in Nigeria
● The Coda: How poetry fuelled Sudan’s revolution
For a list of supplemental readings and additional information about this episode’s content, please visit www.strengthandsolidarity.org/podcast
Send us your ideas and your feedback at pod@strengthandsolidarity.org
Best of: Argentina: A stunning victory for woman
Strength & Solidarity is taking a break until Season Five starts in October 2023. Meanwhile we’re repeating some of our favourite shows, starting with episode 6, first released, March 10, 2021.
In 2005, a small group of women began a campaign to make abortion legal in Argentina. While rich women might be able to find safe means to terminate their pregnancies, the poor were forced to seek backstreet abortions at grave risk of imprisonment, injury and death. As much as those building the movement believed in their cause, even they were stunned, a mere 13 years later, to see a million people in the streets of Buenos Aires supporting their demands. At the end of 2020, a vote in Senate brought final victory. In this episode, one of the organisers at the heart of the campaign shares the strategies that won the day. And, in this episode’s Coda, the Brazilian samba that seemed to be a lovers’ tiff but was a veiled attack on military rule.
In this episode:
- Feminist Victoria Tesoriero breaks down the brilliant, dogged campaign to legalise abortion in Argentina
- The Coda: How a 1970 samba promised Brazilians a better future beyond dictatorship
For a list of supplemental readings and additional information about this episode’s content, please visit www.strengthandsolidarity.org/podcast
Send us your ideas and your feedback at pod@strengthandsolidarity.org
36. Zimbabwe: You can’t keep a good movement down
How does an organization weather hostile times? When a state repeatedly unleashes violence on whole communities, when activists get brutalized and locked up, is it inevitable that an organization aiming to defend rights and justice must weaken and lose power? If not, how does it find the resilience to survive the pressure and keep working towards its goals? Zimbabwe has been independent and free of racial tyranny for over forty years yet there has rarely been a time when rights and justice were not under attack by government and security forces. In this episode we ask Dzikamai Bere, National Director of ZimRights - the Zimbabwe Human Rights Association - how they have survived three decades of repression with a quarter of a million active members across the country.
And in the Coda, US racial justice leader Vince Warren talks about the central role of music in his life and shares his “pandemic project” – an EP of songs he’s recently released.
For a list of supplemental readings and additional information about this episode’s content, visit https://strengthandsolidarity.org/podcasts/
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36. [Excerpt] The Coda: ‘Filled with music, filled with justice’
Vince Warren is a renowned human rights lawyer and leader in racial justice who leads the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York. Like so many others, he found himself locked down during the pandemic. Disruptive and destabilizing though that period was, Vince was grateful to be able to take refuge in his lifelong passion for music. A drummer and performer over many years, he took the chance to write some new songs and has recently released them on an EP. He reflected on the connections between his human rights and musical identities.
And in the Coda, US racial justice leader Vince Warren talks about the central role of music in his life and shares his “pandemic project” – an EP of songs he’s recently released.
For a list of supplemental readings and additional information about this episode’s content, visit https://strengthandsolidarity.org/podcasts/
Contact us at pod@strengthandsolidarity.org
35. Disability Rights: Activism as a vital ingredient for victories
The death in March 2023 of US disability rights activist Judy Heumann provoked grief but also joyful celebration of a leader whose strategic instincts and sheer grit helped secure victories that improved peoples’ lives. Heumann never lost her faith in activism - building power at street level. She led persons with disabilities and their allies in blocking traffic, occupying buildings and often literally putting their bodies on the line for the cause. Three disability rights advocates – Catalina Devandas, Alberto Vasquez and Peter Torres Fremlin reflect on that history and ask whether activism is still a central tool for their community. They discuss factors like inclusion and identity as sources of both strength and division, and the pros and cons of integrating disability rights work in the wider human rights movement.
For a list of supplemental readings and additional information about this episode’s content, visit https://strengthandsolidarity.org/podcasts/
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34. Hungary: Learning useful lessons from your enemies
The election in 2010, of Hungary’s Prime Minister Victor Orban and his Fidesz party triggered a lurch to the right and authoritarian rule. It brought legal restriction, bureaucratic harassment and public vilification to the country’s civil society and human rights community. Official hostility made it difficult for NGOs to survive and made individual rights workers’ lives hell. The most marginalized and vulnerable groups – migrants, queer community members, Roma and others – have come under particularly sustained attack. It would not have been surprising if the net outcome of such targeting were a weakened human rights movement and a profound loss of confidence. And yet, says Stefánia Kapronczay, co-director of the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, the outcome has been very different.
And in the Coda, a poem by beloved Iranian poet Simin Behbahani and the story of her meeting with a young Tehran activist.
For a list of supplemental readings and additional information about this episode’s content, visit https://strengthandsolidarity.org/podcasts/
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34 [Excerpt] The Coda: ‘Stop burning this country to the ground’
In recent months, a sustained uprising in Iran led by women, has inspired admiration and across the world. It is by no means the first time in over 40 years of fundamentalist Islamic rule – there have been repeated waves of courageous protest since 1979. The poem in this episode’s Coda is by beloved Iranian poet Simin Behbahani, and was written during a moment of rebellion in 2009 when citizens came out to reject election results they believed had been rigged. Human rights activists Farnoosh Hashemian reflects on what the poem – and its author – mean to her.
For a list of supplemental readings and additional information about this episode’s content, visit https://strengthandsolidarity.org/podcasts/
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33. Strategy: The pain of charting a new course– and the gain
Some people love change but, in most cases, the words, “we need to revise our strategy,” do not elicit cheers from a team. Whether it’s the upheaval and uncertainty, or the prospect of long, often fractious meetings to choose between alternative paths, most of us would like to get on with the job and stop tinkering. This episode is about a UK organization, Freedom From Torture, that faced up to the truth about their waning impact and made a major pivot, from their long-standing model to one in which they had little experience. Chief executive, Sonya Sceats, reflects on some tough debates and decisions and tells us how it all worked out.
And in the Coda: Dilrabo Samadova reminds us that human rights were being advocated in Persian poems more than a thousand years ago, and delights in the way poetry shows up everywhere in the life of her country, Tajikistan.
For a list of supplemental readings and additional information about this episode’s content, visit https://strengthandsolidarity.org/podcasts/
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33.[Excerpt] The Coda: ‘When we go to the Defense Ministry, we start with poetry’
Human rights advocate Dilrabo Samadova marvels at the way poetry get into absolutely every aspect of life in her country, Tajikistan, and notes that solidarity, justice, and equality feature in Persian verse as far back as the sixth and seventh centuries, proving these are not “western values.”
For a list of supplemental readings and additional information about this episode’s content, visit https://strengthandsolidarity.org/podcasts/
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32. South Africa: The challenge of offering solidarity without strings
Standing in solidarity with those whose rights are being abused sounds like an easy choice. But when you get up close, it can look more complicated. What seems an obvious strategy to those in the frontline bearing the brunt of abusive treatment, might look aggressive and risky to someone in a support organization. So who gets to decide? Should it be up to each organization to decide how to support those who need their help? Or should those at the sharp end be able to set the strategy and expect others to follow? Two allies in South Africa’s human rights movement - S’bu Zikode, President of shack-dwellers movement Abahlali baseMjondolo, and Nomzamo Zondo, Executive Director of the Socio-Economic Rights Institute – sit down with host Akwe Amosu to explain how they work, and who gets the last word when they disagree.
And in the Coda, exiled human rights lawyer Tutu Alicante expresses his excitement about the young musicians of his country Equatorial Guinea, who are using their art to fight dictatorship and corruption.
For a list of supplemental readings and additional information about this episode’s content, visit https://strengthandsolidarity.org/podcasts/
Contact us at pod@strengthandsolidarity.org