TROUBLEMAKERS

E11: Fees Must Fall (Pt 1)—With David Musiri, a Ugandan political activist

We explore Uganda's generational discontent as young people challenge the ideological, political, and moral contradictions of the government. Fueled by economic struggles and social injustice at Makerere University and other higher learning institutions across Africa, students demand a freeze to tuition hikes (at the very least, in pursuit of free education ideally).
 
Read more about Fees Must Fall. Our podcast is inspired by the Beautiful Trouble toolbox!

E10: General Strike—with a Myanmar comrade on their evolving revolution

“Win or lose, mass strikes reveal the truth.” —Jeremy Brecher
 
In this episode, we dive deep into how general strikes are happening in Myanmar (also known as Burma). Our guest explains how as a collective, the citizens are conducting their strikes in demand for an end to the military coup and the release of their leaders. We consider how the people of Myanmar have been able to outlast repression and maintain momentum for more than three years since the coup was initiated.
 
Check out the General Strike Tactic and learn how you can use general strikes to effectively achieve political demands. Our podcast is inspired by the Beautiful Trouble toolbox!

E9: Take risks, but take care—with Nafula Wafula on the Kenyan uprising against the finance bill and feminizing movement culture

“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.Kenya’s uprising against the IMF and World Bank-sponsored Finance Bill recently marked 100 days since its beginning. Repression against the uprising was characterized by sexual violence. We explore machismo in movement culture and how to counter it with a culture of care while still maintaining the courage and militancy needed to defeat powerful and violent opponents.
 
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!

Episode 8: Intersectionality with Sarita Pariyar

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.You can contact Sarita via her email: saritapariyar@gmail.com.
Check out the Intersectionality theory: And learn how forms of oppression (such as racism, sexism, and homophobia) combine to deepen injustice, and how movements can work together to holistically tackle oppression. Our podcast is inspired by the Beautiful Trouble toolbox!

Episode 7: Action Logic with Dan Glass

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!
 

Episode 6: The NGOization of Resistance

Bel dan pa di zanmi (Just because someone is smiling at you doesn't mean they're your friend) — Haitian proverb
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and people powered movements, resistance, revolution, it’s all a complex relationship, fraught with many challenges as well as potential! Campaigning organizations such as ActionAid have a history of engaging with movements but are now asking how they can do this better.In this episode, we speak with Joy Mabenge and David Archer, two NGO leaders and activists at heart, about systems change.Check Out the Theory The NGOization of Resistance: when frontline organizers spend more time writing grant reports than changing the system, something is wrong. People most impacted by injustice, not those working for big non-profits, should drive the movement. Our podcast is inspired by the Beautiful Trouble toolbox!

Episode 2: Cooperation Jackson and Solidarity Economics

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.  Read more about Solidarity Economics at https://beautifultrouble.org/toolbox/tool/solidarity-economics and https://solutions.thischangeseverything.org/module/solidarity-economics. Learn more about Cooperation Jackson, economic democracy, the Jackson-Kush Plan, and more at https://cooperationjackson.org/.
 

Episode 5: Reframe the Issue

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.Read more about the principle of Reframing the Issue at https://beautifultrouble.org/toolbox/tool/reframe-the-issue/.
 
 

Episode 4: Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions

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.Read more about the tactic of divestment at https://beautifultrouble.org/toolbox/tool/divestment/.
 
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/. 
 

Episode 3: Decolonization

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/.