Strength & Solidarity

The levels of stress and – at worst – burn-out in the human rights field are, anecdotally at least, at remarkably high levels.   That may not be surprising in an era of rising authoritarianism, shrinking funds and expanding abuse of rights.  But is the impact on those who organize and work in human rights sufficiently understood and recognized? If the rights movements and organizations are to meet this moment, is there a need for a new strategy?   Host Akwe Amosu seeks the view of Trine Christensen, coach and formerly the secretary general of Amnesty Denmark, until she herself burned out.

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These are stressful times for human rights activists where every day, a new development may cause despondency or rage. Feminist activist and campaigner Francoise Girard explains why you really need some seventeenth century music in your life.

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We are now publishing our newsletter on Substack, if youwould like to subscribe: ⁠https://substack.com/@strengthsolidarity⁠

Contactus at [email protected]

We are now publishing our newsletter on Substack, if youwould like to subscribe: ⁠https://substack.com/@strengthsolidarity⁠

The United States has gone, in less than six months, from being seen by many as a defender of democracy and human rights, to being the latest – and most powerful - administration to embrace authoritarianism.  Amid a head-spinning flood of presidential orders and harsh policies - towards women, immigrants, the poor, the disabled and the sick, it’s hard to know where to focus. In this episode, veteran Turkish journalist and human rights activist Murat Celikkan tells host Akwe Amosu what he has been paying attention to, and reflects on how Turkey’s human rights  movement has been trying to strengthen its own work.

And in the Coda, why a dose of Baroque music might ease your mind.

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Quick Links

Interview

• Bio: Murat Celikkan: https://hakikatadalethafiza.org/en/team

• LitHub: Murat Celikkan: Another Turkish Journalist in Prison for ‘Unspecified Reasons’ https://lithub.com/murat-celikkan-another-turkish-journalist-in-prison-for-unspecified-reasons/

• StrengthandSolidarity.org: Murat Celikkan reads Ariel Dorfman: https://strengthandsolidarity.org/podcast/rebuilding-a-movements-culture-after-crisis/

• Hafiza Merkezi: https://hakikatadalethafiza.org/en/en/why-hafiza-merkezi

• Chatham House: The future of the Trukish opposition after Imamoglu’s arrest https://www.chathamhouse.org/2025/05/future-turkish-opposition-after-imamoglus-arrest

• HRW: Turkey Events of o2024 https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2025/country-chapters/turkiye

• Wikipedia: Gezi Park protests https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gezi_Park_protests

• Wikipedia: Saturday mothers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturday_Mothers

Coda

• Francoise Girard: https://www.fmus.org/about

• Feminism Makes Us Smarter (FMUS):

• https://www.fmus.org/

• Wikipedia: Baroque Music https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baroque_music

• FMUS podcast: https://www.fmus.org/fmus-podcast

Music credits:

• Juditha triumphans, RV 644: Air "Veni, veni me sequere fida" by Antonio Vivaldi, performed by Lea Desandre, Jupiter Ensemble, Thomas Dunford

• Juditha triumphans, RV 644: “Air Armatae face et anguibus” by Antonio Vivaldi, performed by Jupiter Ensemble

• Ariodante, HWV 33, Act 2: Aria. "Se l'inganno sortisce felice" (Polinesso) by George Frideric Handel, performed by·Marie-Nicole Lemieux, Alan Curtis, Il Complesso Barocco

• “Forêts paisibles” from Les Indes Galantes by Jean-Philippe Rameau, performed by Les Arts Florissants

Strength&Solidarity podcast:

• Episodes 1-50 shows and transcripts:

Episodes 51 onwards, shows and transcripts

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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We are now publishing our newsletter on Substack, if you would like to subscribe:⁠https://substack.com/@strengthsolidarity⁠

Quick Links

• Click here to read the Episode 54 Transcript.

• The Symposium website and bios

• About Symposium Moderators:

  • Chris Stone, Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford

  • Samson Itodo, YIAGA Africa

  • Alberto Vasquez, Mad Thinking

  • Emilie Palamy Pradichit, Manushya

  • Nani Jansen Reventlow: Systemic Justice

• Strength&Solidarity podcast:

  • Episodes 1-50 shows and transcripts

  • Episodes 51 onwards, shows and transcripts

  • The Symposium Reader: The Symposium on Strength and Solidarity for Human Rights: A Reader

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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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"

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.

https://strengthandsolidarity.org/podcasts/
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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. 

https://strengthandsolidarity.org/podcasts/

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Music credits:

• Fairuz - Wahdon, 1979

• Fairuz - Le Beirut, 1989

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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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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