Diaspora Blues

Kicking us off this week is Reem Yehdego, a community organiser and educator. Reem is one of the founders of ‘Kids from the Block’ - an organisation nurturing the minds of young people from Melbourne’s high-rise flats. Kids from the Block started as a response to the hard lockdown of 9 public housing towers. Writer Bior Kuir looks at the complexities of the refugee experience in his debut collection ‘Journal of a Refugee’ and if you missed our March interview with physiotherapist Aula Idris, don't worry, we'll be replaying some of our favourite parts from that conversation!​​​​​And later in the show, we'll hear Pookie's latest track, 'Tuesday'. The song features our very own Baasto.Produced by Ayan Shirwa

The Vietnamese Bilingual Program at Footscray Primary School has been around since the early 2000’s.The Vietnamese Bilingual Program makes sense.According to the 2016 census, outside of English, Vietnamese is the most common spoken language (at home) in Footscray.But the program was recently axed and replaced with Italian instead.So, why did Footscray Primary School end a program that’s both relevant and vital to the community?On this week's show we speak to community organiser Lana Nguyen, and father of two Tony Bui, about this important program, and what can be done to reverse the decision.We also revisit our interview with Ruth Nyaruot Ruach, a South-Sudanese multidisciplinary artist. Ruth is one of the architects behind Next in Colour - a creative initiative providing opportunities for artists from the African diaspora. She was also our very first guest on Diaspora Blues!To sign the petition click here.Follow the campaign on Facebook.Music: Purple PlanetProduced by Ayan Shirwa

On this week's show, Adut Wol unpacks the lessons behind 2020 Vision and shares her tentative visions for 2021.And as usual Baasto spins some of her favourite tunes right now.

On this week's show, film director/writer/activist Fatima Mawas sits down with Bigoa Chuol to discuss the Kafala System - an exploitative system that’s harming domestic workers across the Middle East. And later in the program Baasto plays some of her favourite tunes right now.Flights for domestic workers fleeing Lebanon campaign.Learn more about the Kafala system here and here.Produced by Ayan ShirwaMusic by Purple Planet

On this episode, Gerii Pleitez, the founder of the publishing house Kara Sevda Press, chats to us about decolonising literature, and discusses the inspiration behind her novel 'On The Sunday, She Created God'. And later in the program, creative director Nayndng Mayen opens up about her practice and shares what she's working on during the quarantine. Produced by Ayan Shirwa

This week we’re joined by Dr Zuleyka Zevallos, an applied sociologist, and the founder of the blog, The Other Sociologist. Dr Zuleyka chats to us about Moral panic - a concept that might be new to many of our listeners, and on today’s show, she discusses how this phenomenon is playing in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.We’ll also hear a tune by Sampa the Great, and discuss the new visuals for Time’s Up, as well as share updates about her campaign to support African youth receive culturally appropriate mental health support.This episode was inspired by  Dr Zuleyka Zevallos's article Pandemic, race and moral panic.Further Reading and more 7am podcastCompliance fines under the microscope