An activist finds themselves in conflict with their government and they make the decision to go into exile. They are able to find somewhere to take them in. Do they sigh with relief and keep a low profile? Stay engaged in the struggle but leave the frontline work to others? Or do they double-down on publicly challenging the oppression that drove them into exile? Bahraini activist Sayed Al Wadaei was jailed for his part in Arab Spring protests, hounded after his release and went into exile in 2012. After getting asylum in the UK he began to use high-profile tactics to shame Bahrain’s rulers. In this August 2023 interview, he spoke about the choices an exiled activist faces and how he reacted when his country raised the stakes.
And in the Coda, a Venezuelan rights investigator on what poetry can do that activism can’t.
For a list of supplemental readings and additional information about this episode’s content, visit
https://strengthandsolidarity.org/podcasts/
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You can find the poetry of Oriette D'Angelo on her website: https://www.oriettedangelo.com/⁠

Thank you to Lupita Eyde-Tucker for her translation of Oriette's poem. You can find out more about her work at her website: https://notenoughpoetry.com/

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