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 women remains at the centre of our struggles for justice. Beyond legal frameworks and activism, Michelle embodies a profound spiritual connection to the land, one that calls us to remember, reclaim, and heal.

In our conversation, Michelle shares her journey of learning to listen to the land, reclaiming ancestral rights and heritage, and nurturing connection. She reflects on the inspirations, challenges, and vulnerabilities that have shaped her path, offering listeners insight into the courage and care required to work intimately with the land.
This episode is a meditation on ancestral wisdom, reclamation, and the transformative power of the land, and an invitation to engage with the world and our heritage, with awareness, reverence, and responsibility.

Connect with Michelle Festus: https://www.instagram.com/michellefestus/

Learn more about Aba Te Farm: https://www.instagram.com/aba.te.home/

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 conversation is both a reflection on what’s been built and a call to action for what must be protected. If you believe in the power of stories, cultural spaces, and collective imaginatio, this one is for you.

This episode is proudly supported by the Open Book Festival.

To support the festival’s future, visit https://openbookfestival.co.za

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 minds at Beautiful Trouble, this transcontinental podcast brings together rebels, healers, artists, and organisers who are transforming the world through bold, intentional action.

Episode: JAIL SOLIDARITY with Céline Lebrun-Shaath

What does solidarity look like when comrades are behind bars?

In this episode, we explore jail solidarity through the eyes of Céline Lebrun-Shaath, a committed internationalist and organiser. Céline speaks on the moral and political imperative of standing with those imprisoned, not just advocating for their freedom, but carrying forward the movements they helped build.

She shares her own experience of abduction and deportation from Egypt, and the years-long campaign for the release of her husband, Ramy Shaath.

This episode also spotlights the ongoing campaign to free Alaa Abdel Fattah, a renowned Egyptian activist who remains unjustly detained. His mother has been on hunger strike for over five months.

Follow the Free Alaa campaign for updates and action steps.

Céline challenges us to see imprisonment not as an endpoint, but as a call to action. A demand to carry the torch of resistance forward.

Listen, Lead, and Follow
Troublemakers Podcast: https://linktr.ee/troublemakers.podcast
Rosie Motene: https://linktr.ee/rosiemotene

Host: Phil Wilmot
Producer: Rodgers George
Guest: Céline Lebrun-Shaath
Jingles: Mwaduga Salum & Beautiful Trouble

#SpeakingThroughMyWorld #TroublemakersPodcast #JailSolidarity #FreeRamyShaath #FreeAlaa #BeautifulTrouble #PanAfricanFeminist #CreativeResistance #StorytellingAsActivism #PodcastSeries #DecoloniseEverything #NonviolentResistance