TROUBLEMAKERS

“Martyrdom is a fascist tendency.” —Gopal Dayanenni

A lot is happening under the rug in Kenya. In this episode, we speak with Nafula Wafula, a Kenyan protester, organizer, feminist, and Pan-African.

Check out the Principle: Take risks but take care and read more about how to set your priorities right within your revolutionary organizing. Our podcast is inspired by the Beautiful Trouble toolbox!

We speak with Sarita Pariyar, a writer, social justice activist, and the founding convener of the International Darnal Award for Social Justice. She is the principal investigator of Just Futures Initiative (https://www.justfuturespahal.org/). 

Sarita speaks of her activism in Nepal, learning and struggling with fellow  Dalit women. From Black Lives Matter to Dalit struggles to academia, Sarita helps us explore how our identities and the systems that form us affect our attitudes, ideas, and dispositions in social change work. 

We take a look at the intersecting dynamics of caste, social class, race, gender, and sexuality in this episode, and ask what it all means.

Actions speak louder than words.

— Ruckus Society motto

Have you ever been confused by a protest, or have you asked why activists are even angry to begin with? Perhaps the protesters’ message wasn’t clear. This confusion points to a lack of something we call “Action Logic.” With solid Action Logic, an action can speak for itself.

In this episode, we speak with activist and author Dan Glass, about what queer liberation struggle can teach us about Action Logic.

One note of correction to our conversation: the grieving / ashes actions Dan shares were done in many places, but the most renowned was at the White House in Washington DC.

Check out the Action Logic theory and learn how you can design actions that easily articulate your cause. Our podcast is inspired by the Beautiful Trouble toolbox!

We speak with Sacajawea Hall, activist and co-founder of Cooperation Jackson — an emerging vehicle for sustainable community development, economic democracy, and community ownership — on solidarity economics, a tradition of radical economic organizing that strives to replace dependance on exploitative and oppressive economic relations through ‘solidarity chains’ linking community-based alternatives.  

Reframing is a process of replacing an old story with a new one by widening the frame, narrowing the frame, or shifting the frame to another scene entirely. The powers-that-be usually go to great lengths to frame their agenda in a way that is favorable for their interests. Just think of how we’ve heard these words used: tax relief. Like a camera’s viewfinder, the frame of a narrative focuses the public on specific information that reflects the interests of the framers. So how do you reframe an issue? Our guest Mumbi Ruth shares how Kenyan organizers are reframing issues with nationwide reverberations.

We speak to Mahmoud Nawajaa, General Coordinator for the Palestinian-led global movement Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) National Committee. Inspired by the movement against Apartheid in South Africa, the U.S. Civil Rights Movement and more, we look at how decentralized tactics such as boycott and divestment — as used in the Palestinian struggle on a global scale — can be used to isolate a target, in this case, the Israeli apartheid regime.

We also talked briefly about consumer boycotts (including their limitations). Read more about this tactic at https://beautifultrouble.org/toolbox/tool/consumer-boycott/.

Mahmoud also shared about the Dump Veolia Campaign. Learn more about its monumental achievements at https://beautifultrouble.org/toolbox/tool/dump-veolia-campaign. 

Learn more about the BDS Campaign and how to get involved at https://bdsmovement.net/. 

If Frantz Fanon woke up today he’d be like, “You guys are still talking about decolonization, I thought we addressed that in the 60’s. What the f*** happened?” We speak to Alieu Bah and Sungu Oyoo on decolonization, a set of ideas, lived experiences, and political programs that challenge imperialism through forms of bottom-up disobedience to historical and ongoing colonization.

Read more about decolonization at https://beautifultrouble.org/toolbox/tool/decolonization.

Sungu also wrote and edited several pieces for the Beautiful Trouble toolbox. One most related to this conversation pertains to New Pan-Afrikanism, which can be found at https://beautifultrouble.org/toolbox/tool/new-pan-afrikanism. 

Information on Mwamko can be found at https://mwamko.org/. 

Amidst growing radicalization of public debate around refugees and migrants in Poland, a conscious restaurant serves dishes from regions of active conflict around the world for Warsaw locals. With Jarmila Rybicka, co-founder of Conflict Kitchen, we talk food and solidarity. We learn how preparing and sharing a delicious dish can offer many points of entry for public engagement and cultural exchange.

Read more about a Pittsburgh version of Conflict Kitchen at https://beautifultrouble.org/toolbox/tool/conflict-kitchen. 

Follow Kuchnia Konfliktu on https://www.instagram.com/kuchniakonfliktu or https://www.facebook.com/kuchniakonfliktu/. 

Learn more about the transcontinental partners behind this podcast!