Episode 19: I’ll Leave it to The Words of the World
The world has voices which we all need to hear. I'm not talking about the oppressive voices. I'm talking about the powerful ones . . .the voices of beauty, courage, strength, weakness, mourning and resistance. The voices of the oppressed.
In this last episode of 2023, join Andrea has she shares four poems from four different countries presently in conflict. Hear from the powerful prose spoken from exiles in Ukraine, survivors from Sudan, refugees from the Congo and the perspective of children in Palestine. There is so much more to a country than their suffering - and while we honour their tears, their wounds and regard all their cries as sacred, we also want to remember their stories, lived experiences and convictions to make us a better people - a better world.
In the words of Sudanese writer Jamal Mahjoub "Those who can remember are dangerous, for they might recall that there is an alternative to this madness. I have no choice but to speak out, all I have is my life."
Episode Sources
A Sudanese Poet K. Eltinaé: Freedom
A Congolese-born Poet Sarah Lubala: 6 Errant Thoughts on Being a Refugee (from her collection of poems ‘A History of Disappearance’)
Interview with Sarah Lubala: Africa in Dialogue
Ukrainian Poet Iya Kiva: War Plants Paper Flowers
Interview with Iya Kiva: The Dreaming Machine
Palestinian Poet Hanan Mikha’il Ashrawi: From the Diary of an Almost-Four-Year-Old
Brief History of Ashrawi’s Life and Career