How do we challenge the deeply entrenched systems of oppression while reimagining a future built on justice, wisdom, and reciprocity? 

What does it take to move beyond resistance and into the creation of something truly new? 

In this episode of Beloved Futures, host Aubrey Morgan Yee sits down with Pooven Moodley, an international human rights and environmental lawyer and social justice activist who has spent his life on the frontlines of the struggle for freedom, equity, and environmental justice. 

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Pooven’s journey began as a young activist in the anti-apartheid movement before pursuing a legal career, starting at the Legal Resources Centre, where he engaged in landmark human rights litigation. He has since held leadership roles in Natural Justice (Executive Director), ActionAid (International Head of Campaigns), and Oxfam GB (Country Director, South Africa), supporting grassroots movements and challenging corporate and governmental exploitation. 

Among his notable achievements, he co-led the successful campaign to stop South Africa’s proposed nuclear deal with Russia, fought for women’s land rights in Africa, and played a key role in securing the UN’s recognition of the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, for which his coalition won the 2023 United Nations Human Rights Prize.  He is a Council Member of the ICCA Consortium, Chair of the Defending the Territories of Life initiative, and serves on the boards of Awana Digital, the Institute for Natural Law, and 350.org. As a co-founder of the Earthrise Collective, he continues to integrate legal advocacy, Indigenous knowledge, and movement-building to co-create a regenerative and justice-centered future. 

In this conversation, Pooven and I trace the threads of his lifelong work in human rights and environmental justice, from his early years in activism to his leadership in global campaigns for land and Indigenous sovereignty. We explore the deep intersections of legal advocacy, activism, and ancestral wisdom, the shifting energy of our time, and the profound spiritual reckoning required to dismantle oppressive systems while co-creating a future rooted in justice, reciprocity, and liberation. 

Key Takeaways: 

🌿 The fight for justice and human rights—how Pooven’s journey from the anti-apartheid movement to global activism shaped his perspective on systemic change. 

🌿 Dismantling empire from within—why legal advocacy alone isn’t enough and how we must also reclaim ancestral wisdom and alternative ways of being. 

🌿 The Earthrise Collective and the power of gathering—how wisdom keepers, activists, and change-makers are coming together to seed a new way forward. 

🌿 Sacred activism & planetary transformation—how ancient wisdom traditions and modern resistance movements are converging in this moment of reckoning. 

🌿 The role of South Africa in the global shift—the deep spiritual and energetic significance of the land and the unfolding transformation happening there. 

Pooven is a beacon of courage, clarity, and wisdom, and this conversation is both a sobering and deeply hopeful exploration of what is possible when we commit to truth, justice, and the sacred work of repair. It is an invitation—to look deeper, to move beyond resistance into creation, and to step into our role as stewards of a just and thriving future. 

With Love and Gratitude, 

Aubre

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