83: The Hazara and the US Afghanistan Withdrawal

On May 8th, 85 people were killed in a bomb attack near a school in Kabul. Many of those killed were young women. The bomb was detonated in a part of Kabul that is home to the Hazara, an Afghan minority group that has been a frequent target of attacks, including a massacre in a maternity war last year that killed 24 people. The Hazara are a predominantly Shia-Muslim ethnic minority in Afghanistan, and a community that has suffered a long history of brutal persecution and oppression. 

Previous guest, and nonviolence activist, Basir Bita joins us again from Kabul, Afghanistan, but this time we’ll be talking about his community, the Hazara, and about the personal impact that the May 8th attack had on him and on his family. Be sure to check out our previous interview with Basir in Episode 39.

For additional reading about the history and contemporary issues facing the Hazara community, be sure to check out this article from MinorityRights.org.

Additional Resources Recommended by our Guest:

73: Africa, Race, and Racism in the Aid Community (2 of 2)

This episode is the second of a two-part conversation with Tity Agbahey. Tity is an attorney and a staffer at Amnesty International. Based in Senegal, her current work focuses on central Africa, though her previous work has focused elsewhere on the continent, and her life and travels have taken her to points beyond.

This pair of episodes should appeal to two types of listeners, those who know what it feels like to be the only one who looks like you in your university class, in your staff meetings, or on a discussion panel at a conference, and those who don’t but who want to understand.

This is also a conversation about colonialism, paternalism, and racism in one of the last places you should expect to find it, in the international aid and development sector. It’s also a conversation about the world’s general ambivalence towards African suffering, the benefits and limitations of African to African-American solidarity, privilege within an African cultural context, racism in France, internalized colonialism, an African perspective on racism in the US,  and everything else we could think to get off of our chests during a very open conversation.

72: Africa, Race, and Racism in the Aid Community (1 of 2)

This episode is the first of a two-part conversation with Tity Agbahey. Tity is an attorney and a staffer at Amnesty International. Based in Senegal, her current work focuses on central Africa, though her previous work has focused elsewhere on the continent, and her life and travels have taken her to points beyond.

This pair of episodes should appeal to two types of listeners, those who know what it feels like to be the only one who looks like you in your university class, in your staff meetings, or on a discussion panel at a conference, and those who don’t but who want to understand.

This is also a conversation about colonialism, paternalism, and racism in one of the last places you should expect to find it, in the international aid and development sector. It’s also a conversation about the world’s general ambivalence towards African suffering, the benefits and limitations of African to African-American solidarity, privilege within an African cultural context, racism in France, internalized colonialism, an African perspective on racism in the US, and everything else we could think to get off of our chests during a very open conversation.

Also it is in no way our intention to suggest that the opinions and points put forth in this episode represent the full depth and breadth of views held by 1.3 billion Africans. This is not the first, and it will certainly not be the last conversation about Africa and its 54 nations on this show, and we sincerely hope that you will check out our back catalogue and listen to previous episodes on related topics, from contemporary politics and economics in Zimbabwe, social entrepreneurship in the DRC, the Fulani people, and the role of women in Sudan’s ongoing revolution, to name just a few.

Take action for justice in Central Africa now…

Recommended reading from our guest…

Episode 62: Police Brutality & Voices from Minneapolis

On May 25th George Floyd was detained and murdered by police in Minneapolis, Minnesota, making him only the most recent high profile case of an unarmed African American dying at the hands of law enforcement in the United States. The killing was captured on camera by witnesses and massive protests erupted almost immediately, starting in Minneapolis and quickly spreading to dozens of cities across the US, in what have become the largest civil rights protests in the US since the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. For this episode we speak to two young men in Minneapolis about the protests, about their personal experiences with police, and about what needs to happen going forwards. This show is also a call to action, so be sure to check the list of organizations that you can support which have been recommended by our guests Sam Abeler and Derek “Duck” Washington. 

Sam’s Interview: 10:22

Duck’s Interview: 54:08

Hosts’s closing Remarks: 1:43:34

Sam Abeler and Derek “Duck” Washington

Sam recommends supporting the following organizations:

Black Visions Collective

Reclaim the Block

Know Your Rights Camp

Minnesota Freedom Fund

George Floyd Memorial Fund

Campaign Zero

Black Lives Matter

Communities United Against Police Brutality

I Run With Maud

NAACP Legal Defense Fund

American Civil Liberties Union

Duck Recommends supporting the following organizations:

Migizi Communications

Unicorn Riot

North Star Health Collective 

Minnesota Freedom Fund 

Blackout Improv 

We Are All Criminals

Additional media recommended by Duck:

Latitude Adjustment Podcast also recommends that you watch the following:

Episode 17: Trafficked to the US

Rosine Hounakey is from Togo but she was trafficked to the US at 13 years old and forced to work for free on both coasts of the US, and later into a coerced marriage until she was freed with her two young sons as the result of an ICE raid when she was 17 years old.

She then had to go through foster care in various American cities, waking up at 5am every day to take her kids to school before completing high school herself, after years with no formal education, having taught herself English along the way.

Rosine is currently pursuing an advanced degree, running her own hair salon, and raising her two sons in Grand Rapids, Michigan. We also discuss the entrepreneurial spirit of Togolese women, annoying stereotypes about Africa and Africans, tension and solidarity with the African American community, and moving forward after a deeply traumatic start at life in the US.

Be sure to check the links below for critical facts on Human Trafficking, as well as organizations that can provide immediate assistance.

Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women