Race Matters

Repping the Black Caucus and some of the staunch advocates he organises alongside, Wiradjuri organiser and creative Ethan Lyons joins us as guest host. Stories that ode his matrilineal teachers, movements across black resistance, solidarities across borders and how young people can find their space in liberatory movements. Plus, a track list of queer, Black and First Nations excellence selected by Ethan. Continue to follow, learn, get organised and show material solidarity In conversation: Uncle Robbie Thorpe, Kieran Stewart-Asherton and Uncle Coco on 3CR Radical Radio Follow Ethan's work Aunty Lizzie Jarret Justice for David Dungay Junior Campaign @blakcaucus @firstnationsresponse @sydtentembassy @paulsilva69  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Objects tell their stories if you let them. Bringing together inane objects, tapestries, Musiviri paintings and self portraits; Nusra Latif Qureushi work recognises the cracks within imperial institutions and reveals a complex beauty. Sehej Kaur and Toobs bring us an in depth interview with the Pakistani visual artist, who has spent many years reclaiming the Musiviri art form, alchemising it into a political statement and tool for autonomy. Birds in Far Pavilions is on at the Art Gallery of NSW until 15 June 2025.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fourteen years too long, permanent visas and protection now. Content note: this episode traces the cruelty of state violence and asylum seeking experiences, with mention of suicide. There is no graphic detail, however we ask that you take care when listening in. Joannie Lee and Sara El Youghan take us to the Refugee Encampment in Punchbowl, at the 24-hour Protest. Passing its 111th day, many have been waiting outside Minister Tony Burke's office seeking stability and an end to the temporary visa system that leaves them in precarious, unjust work and life conditions. Solidarity to all those fighting the violence of borders, and those who had the courage to share their stories with us. Listen in, take action through Tamil Refguee Council / @trcaustralia This episode was produced by Joannie Lee and co-hosted by Sara El Youghan. Special thanks to Janey Li and and Samantha Haran who joined the encampment and assisted in recording. Shareeka Helaluddin was the supervising producer.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What does accessibility to sexual liberation really mean? Content warning: this interview contains mention of sexual violence. Alicia Zhao shares an intimate dialogue with friend, artist and advocate Dakota Quin. Facing the question of the body no longer being a productive vessel for capitalism, Dakota’s artistic and activist work seeks to find the pleasure and possibilities of embodied liberation. We learn about their story and how it culminated in the upcoming film, Unspeakable, a body of work in collaboration with Esther Bridget Joy. Read more about and support the Unspeakable documentary: Rediscovering Sexual Liberation After Sexual Violence, and follow their instagram for updates. Produced and hosted by Alicia ZhaoPodcast and CRN edit by Mateo BaskaranSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A tale of two Dilwale's: Mateo and Bipasha move through the phenomena of Bollywood cinema and its grasp on broader subcontinental culture. Specifically, a classic Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995) and it's less-regarded not-so-classic Dilwale (2015), both starring the inimitable SRK and Kajol. They trace their relationships with growing up with Bollywood cinema, recount watching these films five hours back to back; and reflect on the depths and contradictions of these cultural outputs. Produced by Shareeka HelaluddinHosted by Bipasha Roy and Mateo BaskaranPodcast and CRN edit by Mateo BaskaranSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Race Matters as found family, as a liberation practice, as a space to play. Settle into a grounded and cosy episode hearing the newest voices on air and behind the scenes: Yvonne, Hong, Aysenur Kara, Janey Li guided in conversation by Alicia ZhaoProduced by Shareeka HelaluddinPodcast and CRN edit by Mateo BaskaranSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"The people’s blood won’t stain our hands" - the words decried from a recent direct action in Athens where the port workers took industrial action to stop the shipment of Israeli arms. This is an example of a way we can boycott, divest and sanction in our everyday lives. We're joined by staunch, third-generation Palestinian organiser and advocate Rand Khatib to take us through the legacy of resistance in her blood, and the power of collective action through BDS actions that Palestinians have long-called for. Every day, there are non-violent, material ways we can commit to the end of occupation. We also also hear from those in our local community practicing BDS and what their experiences of learning this, have been.Join us: BDS actions is so-called Australia National week of BDS Action National Day of Action against Caltex November 16 Global BDS updates Hosted and produced by Toobs and Joannie Lee, with voice notes from Betty, Christie and Jess edited by Joannie LeeExecutive produced by Shareeka HelaluddinPodcast and CRN edit by Mateo BaskaranSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Your feelings are your responsibility. Content Note: this episode contains mention of explicit sexual content and swearing. A final sharing from our Migrant Sex Worker of Colour Diaries, hosted by Jasmine Raat Ki Raani. A sensual and galvanising take down of white feminism and fragility. We hear the intimate experiences of workers Natasha, Tamil King and Korie, on the pleasures and truths of navigating different spaces in the sex industry. The series artwork is by Katy Cao.  In the introduction, Jasmine is reading from Against White Feminism: Rafia Zakaria This series was made possible by the Community Broadcasting Foundation.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

COVID is not over. It is still here. This is an invitation to understand that reality, and to let it transform you. Grounded in disability justice, and brought to you by a chorus of staunch disabled voices: Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, Darcy from Sick/Sovereign, Tori Hobbs and Julia Rose Bak from The Disability Justice Network and Li from COVID Solidarity ‘syd.’ Produced by Samantha Haran, Shareeka Helaluddin & Sehej Kaur. Additional thanks to Justin Chen, Allison Chan and Juliet Fox.Podcast and CRN edit by Mateo BaskaranEpisode artwork by Li @eternallyuncomfortable Arundhati Roy on ‘The pandemic is a portal’: https://www.ft.com/content/10d8f5e8-74eb-11ea-95fe-fcd274e920ca COVID resources: Let Them Eat Plague! (Intro to COVID politics and basic COVID myth busting): https://clarion.unity-struggle-unity.org/let-them-eat-plague/  You Are Not Entitled To Our Deaths: COVID, Abled Supremacy & Interdependence (Mia Mingus) https://leavingevidence.wordpress.com/2022/01/16/you-are-not-entitled-to-our-deaths-covid-abled-supremacy-interdependence/  How to do COVID Conscious events resource (by COVID Solidarity ‘syd’): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kf1AKdE0j5k2hqIOvIjeS4tYzxgsoar6SOot6JklLE4/edit  NSW COVID safer venues database (by COVID Solidarity ‘syd’): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tAN1QE_4_b5JSzwooQSEXwlM995UusdU9w4rswRecZ0/edit?gid=1146046115#gid=1146046115  What to do if you have COVID (by The Peoples CDC - US based): https://peoplescdc.org/2023/01/10/what-to-do-if-you-have-covid/    Support the rich chorus of voices that made this episode possible: Read Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha’s latest book: https://brownstargirl.org/the-future-is-disabled/  Read the Sick/Sovereign zine: https://www.yacvic.org.au/ydas/policy-and-events/policy/covid-19/resources/first-nations-zine/  Darcy’s work with Blackfulla Alt2Su: https://instagram.com/BlackfullaAlt2Su Join the Disability Justice Network facebook group (disabled people only): https://www.facebook.com/share/g/zYoTbvvRLkQYYSJz/?mibextid=adzO7l Donate to the Disability Justice Network mutual aid fund: https://www.gofundme.com/f/disability-justice-network-mutual-aid-fund Follow COVID Solidarity ‘syd’: https://www.instagram.com/c0vidsolidaritysyd/  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Would you make a good revolutionary leader? What would you do when the playable revolution corrupts? Mateo and Sara are joined by Berlin-based revolutionary game designer and artist Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley, to question the role of video games in possibility and conversation.  Find out more about Muriel Tramis Play Danielle’s work:Black Trans Archive I CAN’T FOLLOW YOU ANYMORE Hosted by Sara El Youghun and Mateo BaskaranProduced by Janey LiExecutive Produced by Shareeka Helaluddin Additional music and visuals from Danielle Braithwaite-Shirley courtesy of the artist.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What comes to mind when you hear “language under occupation”? We're joined by Lebanese-Palestinian writer, editor, arts worker and educator, Hasib Hourani to move through this question and making language a vessel for critique, resistance and play.  Liminal Festival is happening at The Wheeler Centre (Victoria) and online from August 2-4. To learn more about this ground-breaking literary festival, visit this site. Hasib will appear at the event Language Under Occupation alongside Evelyn Araluen and Mykaela Saunders.   Hosted and co-produced by Alicia Zhao & Toobs AnwarProduced by Shareeka HelaluddinPodcast and CRN Edit by Mateo BaskaranSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What is it to hold the heartbreak of facing a world of systemic injustice, and turn it into energy and meanignful action? We're joined by Inez, a radio broadcaster on 3CR's Thursday Breakfast, community organiser and mental health worker. An intimate chat on navigating hurt and anger of dealing with systemic injustice, processing the recent Indian election and its impact, and how a solidarity with Falasteen has nurtured a retuning to their Sikh faith.  In this spirit, Inez has shared some foundational texts and further reading - "these thoughts and sentiments follow a long lineage of radical Black, Indigenous, and/or Muslim female writers, organisers, and revolutionaries - long before me" Dr Ayesha Khan: Care, Relationships and Direct Action Audre Lorde: Your Silence Won't Protect You Palestinian Narrative Therapy book - "Responding to Trauma That is Not Past" written by Palestinians trauma counsellors and psychologists and ex-detainees.  Support Gaza Mutual Aid  Sudan Updates Focus Congo Dhadjowa Foundation Incarcerated Trans & Gender Diverse Community Fund (National) Produced and hosted by Shareeka HelaluddinPodcast and CRN edit by Mateo BaskaranSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are no universities left in Gaza.  Alicia Zhao & Samantha Haran take us through the university encampments in solidarity with Gaza, a soundscape of the Student Intifada. Field recordings from across so-called australia and a foundational teach in by Gumbaynggirr, Bundjalung, Dunghutti educator and poet Lizzie Jarrett.  Even in lulls and in the quiet, you can hear it. You can hear the possibility of another world brewing. In the spirit of collective action there were many people that made this piece possible. This piece was produced by Samantha Haran & Alicia Zhao; Scripting, USYD & UNSW recordings by Samantha Haran; Soundscapes by Alicia Zhao & Mateo Baskaran; Teach in by Lizzie Jarrett, co-organised and recording assisted by Rand Khatib; UQ recordings by Anna Carlson; Creative direction and final mixing and sound design by Shareeka Helaluddin; Podcast and CRN edit by Mateo BaskaranSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Full house on Race Matters today as we welcome the amazing crew from Jam for Justice - a community fundraiser happening on June 22 raising funds for PARA (Palestine Australia Relief and Action) to support Gazans on the ground, and Palestinians seeking asylum in australia. Hear from artists and organisers Wytchings (Jenny), Zeadala (Zainab), Tru (Sara), Emad (Jafar) and Wasiela (an.other collective) about this upcoming event and collective resistance and care in this moment. Hosted by Joannie Lee and Bipasha RoyProduced by Shareeka HelaluddinPodcast and CRN edit by Mateo Baskaran Other ways to show your support: DEiFY - action toolkit  - comprehensive, updated actionsGaza Mutual Aid Fund (instagram)Operation Olive Branch Palestine Action Group See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Censorship in the arts has been rampant across our galleries, theaters, airwaves and screens. As the genocide devastates across Palestine in its seventh month, we witness sites of art-making cower away from speaking out and silencing artists who do. In this tumultuous and heartbreaking climate - how do we understand the role of the artist? Hear from artists Lux Æterna, Alissar Chidiac and Nicole Barakat unpacking this, creating an intergenerational chat on the need for artists to be vigilant witnesses and creative resistors. They’re part of an exhibition at The Cross Art Projects, Potts Point Forms of Censorship - gathering artists across forms and identity to query the culture of self-censorship on now, and has been extended until until June 15th 2024. Other works referenced  This bridge called my back - Writings by radical women of colour Mondoweiss - From the River to the Sea, history, meaing and power artists for Palestine 2023 - instagram campaign calling galleries into account, publishing responses (or lack of) from artistic boards Hosted and produced by Shareeka HelaluddinPodcast and CRN edit by Mateo BaskaranSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Content note: this episode contains mention of family violence, incarceration, houselessness, and visceral descriptions of some memories. It's not described in detail but please go gently if these will affect you.  Samantha Haran and Bipasha Roy chat to Gomeroi writer, curator and scholar Dr Amy Thunig. A rich chat on memoir as a politcal act amid erasure, dismantling white supremacy in academia, finding wisdom by attuning to ancestral practices.  Catch Amy at the Sydney Writers Festival from May 20 spanning their curatorial and literary output across a few events, for more details head to the Sydney Writers Festival website.  This piece was co-produced and hosted by Samantha Haran and Bipasha Roy, with audio editing, supervising producer Shareeka Helaluddin.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A spirit of protest and deep sensitivity echoes in this episode with two staunch First Nations activists and artists Jazz Money & Thea Anamara Perkins. Honored to have FBi broadcaster, writer and curator Levent Can Kaya take over Race Matters with an incisive and luminous chat. Hear Lev, Thea and Jazz on personal archives and joyous collective imagination as antidotes to colonial violence; and the politics of art-making as institutions try to stifle our resistance.  Image: from Atherreyurre, by Thea Anamara Perkins This episode was produced by Levent Can Kaya, with final audio editing, supervising producer Shareeka Helaluddin. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Alicia Zhao and Joannie Lee are joined by artist, Dharma practitioner and co-founder of the Inner Fields collective - Elaine Su-Hui. Together they share a reflective chat on their relationships with Buddhism, what it is to come to a politicised reclamation of spirituality, decolonise Western appropriations of faith, and turn towards a practice that doesn't bypass injustice - but faces it with courage and loving action.   This episode was co-produced and co-hosted by Alicia Zhao and Joannie Lee. Audio editing by Alicia Zhao, with supervising producing and final mixing by Shareeka Helaluddin. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week the Race Matters team settle in to have a deep chat about love. What is the role of love when we are witnessing the horrors, violence and apathy of the genocide of Palestinian people and the rise of facism? Join Alicia Zhao, Toobs Anwar and Samantha Haran unpack the politics of love and what it means to practice radical and political love in our everyday life. Featuring excerpts from Saul Williams & James Baldwin.  This episode was co-produced and co-hosted by Alicia Zhao, Samantha Haran and Toobs Anwar. Audio editing and supervising producer was Shareeka Helaluddin. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

how can we gather in non-hierarchical ways, form solidarities, resist shallow representation and form cultures of genuine reciprocity? ⁠ Upending the colonial building of artshouse during Dalit History Month, ಒಡಲಾಳ Odalala (‘from the depths of one’s being’) brings together local and international artists to examine histories of caste, migration, gender and sexuality through contemporary expression. Envisioned by Dalit curator-artist Vishal Kumaraswamy morphing conventional expectations through an anti-caste politics of curation. Hear Vishal in dialogue with artists Elyas Alavi & Jagath Dheerasekara making these ideas come to life.  This episode was produced by Shareeka Helaluddin, and came together through the dedicated collaborative efforts of Vishal Kumaraswamy, Louana Sainsbury, Varsha Ramesh & Nithya Nagarajan. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.