Strength & Solidarity

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.  https://strengthandsolidarity.org/podcasts/  Contact us at pod@strengthandsolidarity.org 

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. https://strengthandsolidarity.org/podcasts/ Contact us at pod@strengthandsolidarity.org  

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/ Contact us at pod@strengthandsolidarity.org

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/Contact us at pod@strengthandsolidarity.org

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

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

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

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/Contact us at pod@strengthandsolidarity.orgYou 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/

Bahraini activist in exile discusses the choices faced by exiled activists and his high-profile tactics to shame Bahrain's rulers. Also, a Venezuelan rights investigator on the power of poetry in highlighting struggles and suffering.

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