Strength & Solidarity Strength & Solidarity

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.

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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/

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.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/

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

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

https://strengthandsolidarity.org/podcasts/

Contact us at pod@strengthandsolidarity.org

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/

Contact us at pod@strengthandsolidarity.org

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

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