In this episode of Speaking Through My World, Rosie Motene turns the spotlight on Sudan, a country whose ongoing war and humanitarian crisis remain underreported and overshadowed. While the world rightly raises its voice against the genocide in Palestine, it is equally urgent to keep Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo in our global conversations on war, displacement, and justice. Rosie is joined by filmmaker Zahra Hayder, director of the powerful documentary Sitahen, produced by...

In this episode of Speaking Through My World, titled “Conversations on the Spirituality of the Land, Women, and Reclaiming What Is Ours,” we journey deep into the soil, into our roots, and into the enduring wisdom the land holds for us as African people. My guest is the remarkable Michelle Festus, a powerful voice in the land justice movement. Michelle has worked extensively on land rights, policy, and advocacy, ensuring that the historical dispossession of African people, particularly wome...

In this episode, I sit down with Frankie Murrey, the heart and programme coordinator behind the Open Book Festival, a space that, since 2011, has created room for brave, bold, and necessary conversations through literature. We explore the festival’s beginnings, its evolution, and the critical funding crisis it now faces. Frankie speaks with passion and clarity about what’s at stake, not just for Open Book, but for the future of South African literary culture as a whole. This conversatio...

Speaking Through Trouble — Series Introduction Speaking Through My World has joined forces with the powerful TROUBLEMAKERS podcast, a global space that celebrates creative resistance, radical imagination, and unapologetic truth-telling. Together, we’re diving deep into the tools, tactics, and principles of nonviolent activism. From poetic protest to strategic disruption, TROUBLEMAKERS dares to explore what it means to rebel in a world where power is held by too few. Birthed by the brilliant ...

Amplifying Activist Voices Through Writing with Amber French In this episode, we are joined by Amber French, Senior Editorial Advisor at the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict (ICNC), Managing Editor of the Minds of the Movement blog, and Co-Lead of REACT (Research-in-Action)—a groundbreaking project in partnership with ActionAid Denmark that supports activist-led writing and research on civil resistance. Currently based in Paris, Amber has played a pivotal role in shaping platforms ...

I am in conversation with Zoey Black, a queer renaissance and culture documentarian based in Cape Town, South Africa. Her work is focused on telling authentic and engaging queer stories through film and photography. Zoey is the founder & director of Gamut 1 Gamut 1 is a trans, queer, black, indigenous, women-led organisation, which produces original, high-quality, queer-focussed, rights-based media that aims to develop inclusive social values and empathy in local and g...

Marylize is a Kenyan intersectional feminist and activist, whose focus is on gender inequality, while their feminism is intersectional and directed towards human rights. They are black and a non-binary lesbian and use they/them pronouns. The Queer Republic is a border less nation of queers and allies that advance the rights and lives of the LGBTQ x in Africa and across the globe. They are rebuilding the African queer legacy and reuniting queers across Africa and the globe. The team is made u...

Beautiful Trouble- A book, strategy card deck, online toolbox, and creative campaign incubator. An international network of artist-activist-trainers helping grassroots movements become more creative and effective. I am in conversation with the impact amplifier, Ashley Waudo. Ashley is a community organizer and project manager based in Nairobi. She is deeply committed to changing people's lives through service to others. She is passionate about movement building and nonviolent conflict res...

I am in conversation with MONICAH KAMANDAU- The Social Movements Learning Specialist with the MOVE team at MS TCDC MS TCDC is a renowned Pan-African training centre situated in Arusha, Tanzania. It is unique in its dedication to high-quality capacity development for social transformation. For more than 50 years, they have delivered high-quality capacity development in areas such as democratic governance, human rights, transformational leadership, gender equality, youth participation, and cli...

I am in conversation with Dr Menzi Mkhize. Dr. AM Mkhize is a medical doctor who qualified at the University of KwaZuluNatal. He has both critical care and rural medicine experience but decided to pour his passion into public health. Dr Mkhize has a passion for serving and advocating for the marginalized. He is an LGBTQIA+ affirming provider. He is currently stationed at the Bertha Gxowa care centre, where he provides clinical forensics and medical services in the form of mostly post-gender...

RISHA PATAK-HARIE from I-lead self-defense. As South Africans, we face various forms of violence. Our government has shown its position on combatting GBV, which looks progressive on paper only. As we operate in territories we are familiar with and experts at, we also need to know how to protect ourselves. I am in conversation with Risha Patak-Harie from I-lead self-defense. Following a near kidnapping on the streets of Johannesburg, founder Risha Patak-Harie created i-LEAD to help vu...

MNET has a new series called School Ties, debuting 16 May 2024 at 21:00. School Ties is a ground-breaking and harrowing four-part documentary series about the grooming and sexual abuse of learners at some of South Africa’s most prominent, prestigious boys’ schools. Produced by Idea Candy, the docuseries series uncovers the truth behind grooming and abuse in schools across the country, the aftermath, and what government, schools, and society are doing this to stop abuse in its tracks....

TRIGGER WARNING Confirmation of Sa'ar Shaked expelled from The South African Association Of Progressive Rabbis.Expelled Rabbis: Sa’ar Shaked had been charged with violating Ethics Code Section V (Sexual Boundaries). He was temporarily suspended pending an Ethics Enquiry during which time he resigned from the SAAPR. The Ethics Panel concluded its process and recommended his expulsion which was ratified by the SAAPR members in February 2024. He is no longer a member of the SAAPR. h...

Feminists in Kenya is a Black feminist movement organizing and amplifying feminist discourse and practice and building solidarity across other feminist movements. In 2018, SA feminists, activists, advocates, and the public rallied together for the first-ever Total Shutdown march. Loyiso Saliso is the initiator and strategic mobilizer for the #TheTotalShutdown Womxn's Movement. As soon as plans were in action our neighboring countries joined forces and soon it became evident that S...

Their mission is “Redefining feminism in African Womxn’s views through the Celebration of African feminists in spaces that are inclusive, inter-sectional and Afrocentric.” Kisumu Feminist Society was legally registered in 2018 by a group of young women from Kisumu who saw the need to have an intersectional and inclusive feminist movement in the region. Kisumu is the third-largest city in Kenya after the capital, Nairobi, and Mombasa. In conversation with Afrika, the coordinator. Twitter: ...

Nadine Dirks is a writer, public speaker, activist, and communications expert. Her work, interests, and expertise lie in intersectional feminism, gender, and sexuality, including sexual and reproductive health and rights. Her passions come from her lived experiences. Nadine is the author of Hot Water. The book investigates how endometriosis affects the way young women function and navigate the world, and how this becomes especially complicated for those who are underprivileged and reliant on...

Social media detox and dopamine fasting. Come with me as I share the journey of my 21-day social media detox and dopamine fast. I abstained from X, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube for 21 days. A dopamine fast is the practice of denying yourself gratification (music, sugar, sex, social media, or whatever your poisons are) for a set time, I completed 24 hours. It is based on the idea that abstaining from external stimuli will 'reset' your happiness baseline, allowin...

Dshamilja Roshani is a Berlin-born poet, writer, and performer of German-Iranian descent based in South Africa. Formally trained in Political Science and Creative Writing, their work explores themes such as queerness, identity, home, and belonging. With poetry at the core of their creative expression. Dshamilja is constantly looking for ways to expand and reinvent the scope of the art form. In this quest, they have developed diverse skill sets in many mediums, from writing to music, theatre,...

The Law vs GBV/IPV Society and communities are quick to say that victims/survivors of GBV/IPV should open cases and let the law take its course. The reality is that the course has many loopholes and challenges which can be exacerbated by those in power or who have certain privileges. In this podcast, I speak on two specific cases. * Monique Muller received a positive outcome from The Legal Practice Council. Monique made a formal complaint against Mrs E J Louis (Thomson Wilks Inc.) . ...

The One in Nine Campaign is a South African organisation motivated by feminist principles and the desire to live in a society where womxn are the agents of their own lives. It was created in 2006 to support Fezeka Kuzwayo, known as Khwezi to the media, who brought a rape charge against then vice-president Jacob Zuma. After she spoke out against her ordeal, she was execrated, shamed and victimised by a society that is used to perpetuating rape culture. This added abuse emerged from spaces that...