Why We Organize shares powerful and moving stories of people fighting for justice in their communities. Hear why artists, survivors, activists and educators are organizing to drive the change they want to see.
#10. La lucha por el mar. Desinformación Climática con Fabricio Di Giacomo
"Yo nací y el mar ya estaba ahí". Artista, bailarín y productor, Fabricio Di Giacomo y su comunidad han emprendido una lucha colectiva para proteger el golfo San Matías, en el norte de la Patagonia Argentina, de un oleoducto y de la consiguiente campaña de desinformación dirigida por políticxs y empresas petroleras para justificar la producción y contaminación . En este episodio, Fabricio explora su conexión con la naturaleza, el océano y sus ecosistemas. Habla de la importancia de organizarse, de la campaña para defender el Mar Argentino y de cómo la información puede utilizarse como arma para cambiar narrativas e historias.
“I was born and the sea was already there”. Artist, dancer, and producer Fabricio Di Giacomo and his community have been in a collective fight to protect the San Matías Gulf in Northern Argentinian Patagonia from oil pipeline, and an ensuing disinformation drive led by politicians and companies to justify producing and polluting. In this episode, which is in Spanish, Fabricio explores his connection to nature, the ocean, and its ecosystems. He talks about the importance of organizing, the campaign to defend the Argentine Sea, and how information can be weaponized to shift narratives and stories.
Social media of the multisectorial community/Redes sociales de la multisectorial
Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/defendamosnuestrogolfo/)
4 Aug 2023
#9 Organizing in a crisis. Animal Rights with Seb Alex
Why and how do we organize in times of crisis? Seb Alex is an animal rights advocate from Lebanon. He shares the powerful story of how he helped organize a food relief program in the immediate aftermath of the explosion in Beirut on August 4, 2020, and the intersecting communities that were touched. Seb explores wider philosophical questions on the topic of faith and religion when it comes to veganism, providing an insightful window into organizing in space that we might not usually associate with human rights.
About Seb:
Seb Alex is the founder of the Middle East Vegan Society, and author of the free Ebook When Animal Rights & Logic Meet (https://www.sebalex.org/ebook). He’s also a content creator and podcaster, and gives lectures on Animal ethics in universities and schools around the world.
21 Jul 2023
#8 Speak poetry to power. Art and community with Ayisha Siddiqa
What does it mean to be able to slow down, observe, listen, and reflect? Climate activist, Human rights and land defender, Ayisha Siddiqa, shares the story of herself and her community in Northern Pakistan. It’s a story full of pride, but also of grief and loss. It’s one of migration, of land and of nature; and how poetry and the pen are powerful tools to process and protest. This story highlights how important those precious moments are where we can stop and breathe in the beauty; deeply human moments of longing and belonging.
About Ayisha:
Ayisha Siddiqa is an environmentalist, a poet, a human rights defender, a storyteller, a climate advisor to the UN secretary general, co-founder of Polluters Out and Fossil Free University, research scholar at the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice at New York University, and a 2023 Time Magazine Women of the Year.
Follow Ayisha:
Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/ayisha_sid/?hl=en)
Twitter (https://twitter.com/Ayishas12)
More about Polluters Out:
Website (https://pollutersout.org/)
5 Jun 2023
#7- Who I am. Anonymous Testimony from a Queer climate justice activist
How do you organize when mere existence can be resistance? This is the powerful anonymous testimony of a climate justice activist from Kenya on what it’s like to campaign publicly for climate justice while having to keep her queer identity private for her own safety and security. This is a story about what it means to organize in contested spaces, and it’s one that mirrors the experiences of many other LGBQTI+ activists and marginalized communities around the world. It’s a reminder of why, every single day, we must collectively organize to fight systems of oppression wherever we find them, and in whatever form.
31 Mar 2023
#6 - Welcome home. Care in community with Philsan Osman
Practicing care to build community is as old as organizing itself, yet it is often seen as nothing short of radical. Writer, activist, and community builder Philsan Osman talks about how practices of care, ritual, joy and pleasure can be experienced in the vulnerable spaces of our homes as deeply human forms of resistance, and how they’re led by women, gender minorities, people of color, and other marginalized communities.
About Philsan:
Philsan Osman (she/her) co-authored 'Dare To Care: Ecofeminism as a source of inspiration' (EPO 2021). She studies African Languages and Cultures at the University of Gent, and volunteers for Black History Month Belgium, online feminist magazine Spijker Magazine, and Burgerplicht in Gent. Philsan is from Somalia, and is a writer, activist, and community builder.
Follow Philsan:
Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/o_philsan/)
(https://www.instagram.com/o_philsan/.)
13 Aug 2022
#5 - Comedy for Climate. Humor with Nanticha Ocharoenchai
"Laugh and the world laughs with you, weep and you weep alone". Youth activist and filmmaker Nanticha (Lynn) Ocharoenchai makes the case for using humor to communicate effectively and to build resilience in community organizing.
About Lynn:
Nanticha (Lynn) Ocharoenchai is an environmental storyteller and climate activist from Thailand. From wildlife conservation and sustainable solutions to indigenous rights and youth movements, Nanticha uses writing and film to inspire and enable individuals, businesses and governments to help create a better shared planet and home. Her work has been featured in publications such as Mongabay and Bangkok Post, as well as NGOs like WWF and Greenpeace.
Follow Lynn:
Instagram (http://instagram.com/daily_adrenalynn/)
YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzgoiAg0LUb48-NaCwS2iEA)
Website (https://lynnanticha.contently.com/)
15 Jul 2022
#4 - Let's move. Leadership with Noelene Nabulivou
Our so-called leaders are failing us, particularly vulnerable communities and minority groups most affected by the climate crisis. Pacific feminist activist and community organiser Noelene Nabulivou talks about how we move forward and lead in ecocidal times.
Noelene's recommendation for listeners:
Check out The Campaign of Campaigns (https://www.campaignofcampaigns.com)
About Noelene:
Noelene is a feminist community organiser, analyst, educator and activist working for socio-economic, ecological and climate justice and universal human rights in urban informal settlements, rural and maritime Fiji, the Pacific and globally for over 35 years. Guided by autonomous feminist movements, Noelene works with communities, governments, development sector and the UN to advance heterodox strategies on urgent, complex questions of human rights and development justice. She is the executive director of Diverse Voices and Action (DIVA) for Equality and holds many social movement roles. In 2020 Noelene was the recipient of the International Women’s Health Coalition's Joan B. Dunlop award for advocacy. She lives in Nadi, Fiji.
1 Jul 2022
#3 - Unlikely Alliances. Relationship building with Mike Jackson & Dave Lewis.
There is more that unites us than divides us, yet we still often struggle in silos. How do we unite for justice?
LGBTQIA+ activists Mike Jackson and Dave Lewis from the Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM) (http://lgsm.org/) movement share their inspiring story - popularised through the award-winning movie PRIDE (https://m.imdb.com/title/tt3169706/awards/?ref_=tt_awd) (2014) - about two very different communities bridging the divide and joining forces for justice.
About Mike & Dave:
Mike grew up in Lancashire in the late 1950’s-60’s amidst cotton weaving sheds, coal mines, iron foundries and an almost perpetually grey sky! He left home at 16 determined to follow a career in horticulture and at 19 became a diploma student at Kew Gardens in London. The same year he ‘came-out’ and became an LGBT+ activist. He has been a socialist since his teenage years and supporting the miners’ strike in 1984 came naturally. He was the main consultant to UK Pathé in the development of the movie PRIDE which was released in 2014.
Dave grew up in South London in the 1960's. He worked in the National Rail network for 35 years and is now retired. He came out to his parents and family aged 20 in 1979. Today, he still lives in South London, in blissful retirement.
18 Jun 2022
#2 - It's about power. Storytelling with Tsering Lama
Behind every story lies power. Stories shape our selves, beliefs, biases and behavior. Writer and activist Tsering Lama shares her community's story of exile, their struggle to be heard, and how new stories can serve our collective liberation.
About Tsering:
Tsering Yangzom Lama is a Tibetan writer. She was born and raised in Nepal, and has since lived in Canada and the United States. Tsering’s debut novel is WE MEASURE THE EARTH WITH OUR BODIES, (https://tseringlama.com/writing/) published by Bloomsbury USA and McClelland & Stewart in Canada.
Tsering earned her MFA in writing from Columbia University and a BA in Creative Writing and International Relations from the University of British Columbia.
Her writing has appeared in The Globe and Mail, The Malahat Review, Grain, Kenyon Review, Vela, LaLit, and Himal SouthAsian, as well as the anthologies Old Demons New Deities: 21 Short Stories from Tibet; House of Snow: An Anthology of the Greatest Writing About Nepal; and Brave New Play Rites. She is also a co-founder of LhakarDiaries (http://www.lhakardiaries.com/), a leading English-language blog among Tibetan youth in exile.
17 Jun 2022
#1 - Organizing to survive. The power of community with Joanna Sustento
On November 8, 2013, Joanna's life changed forever. Super Typhoon Haiyan devastated her community in Tacloban, the Philippines. As a survivor-turned-climate-activist, Joanna's story of loss, resilience and hope puts a human face to the climate crisis.
Tune in as Joanna shares why she has turned to organizing within her community and around the world to create change and hold those responsible to account.
About Joanna:
Joanna is a survivor turned climate activist. after surviving Super Typhoon Haiyan in 2013. She has served as a voice for the people of Leyte and other climate-impacted communities by humanizing the climate crisis through the power of storytelling. She has spoken in international climate meetings organized by the United Nations, Greenpeace, and other international organizations.
Her activism brought her to Norway's Arctic sea in 2017, where she confronted oil drilling, and spoke to the youth and Norwegian Parliament; to a peaceful protest in Poland against coal, and The Climate Pilgrimage- 1,500 kilometer walk from Rome to Poland across 6 countries over 65 days in 2018; to a lone and silent protest in front of a major global fossil fuel company in 2019.
While still active in promoting the rights of climate-impacted communities, she joined Greenpeace Philippines as a Public Engagement Campaigner where she finds working with the different sectors of the community- especially the Filipino youth most fulfilling.
15 Jun 2022
Why We Organize trailer
On Friday 17 June, tune into Why We Organize - a new podcast sharing powerful and moving stories of people fighting for justice in their communities. Hear why writers and survivors, labor unionists and indigenous elders are organizing to drive the change they want to see.
Hosted by Matteo De Vos
Powered by Roots (https://www.poweredbyroots.org/)
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