Höre Strength & Solidarity

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   Contact us at pod@strengthandsolidarity.org [pod@strengthandsolidarity.org]   We are now publishing our newsletter on Substack, if you would like to subscribe: ⁠https://substack.com/@strengthsolidarity⁠ [https://substack.com/@strengthsolidarity]

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. Contact us at pod@strengthandsolidarity.org [pod@strengthandsolidarity.org]   We are now publishing our newsletter on Substack, if youwould like to subscribe: https://substack.com/@strengthsolidarity⁠https://substack.com/@strengthsolidarity⁠ [https://substack.com/@strengthsolidarity] 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/ [https://strengthandsolidarity.org/podcasts/] Contact us at pod@strengthandsolidarity.org [pod@strengthandsolidarity.org] We are now publishing our newsletter on Substack, if you would like to subscribe: https://strengthandsolidarity.substack.com/ [https://strengthandsolidarity.substack.com/]

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/ [https://strengthandsolidarity.org/podcasts/] Contact us at pod@strengthandsolidarity.org [pod@strengthandsolidarity.org] We are now publishing our newsletter on Substack, if you would like to subscribe: ⁠https://strengthandsolidarity.substack.com/⁠ [https://strengthandsolidarity.substack.com/] 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 https://strengthandsolidarity.org/podcasts/ [https://strengthandsolidarity.org/podcasts/] Contact us at pod@strengthandsolidarity.org [pod@strengthandsolidarity.org]