Afghans Empowered

Afghans Empowered speaks with Dr. Waheed Momand, President of the Executive Committee of the Grand National Movement of Afghanistan. GNMA is a grassroot movement that unites a number of political parties, tribal councils, socio-cultural organizations, civil societies, women's and youth organizations, national, religious and tribal leaders, scientists, cultural and other independent figures, to advocate for the voice of all Afghan people. Through this movement, these groups have drafted ...

Afghans Empowered is back with its first Q+A episode in a while! We chat with Maryam, admin of Humans of Afghanistan, who talks to us about the incredible mission of this online community space. Humans of Afghanistan was inspired by the “Humans of…” movement that seeks to highlight the stories of everyday people from different communities. Launched in 2015, Humans of Afghanistan highlights the diversity of the Afghan people by sharing the stories of their struggles and triumphs through trying...

On behalf of Afghans Empowered, we wish you all a blessed Eid! Thank you for continuing to support our podcast platform and organization, as we work to empower our communities. In this episode, we give an update on what we’re working on, and ask our followers to check out our ongoing fundraising campaign. Help us send essential aid and care packages to refugees in North Western Turkey. These refugees faced extreme hardship, neglect, and abuse at the hands of European officials and police. The...

In this special episode, Afghans Empowered sits with Natalia, cofounder of Josoor International Solidarity. Josoor is a non profit organization that currently operates in Turkey. We discuss some of the many operations the organization manages, including their advocacy initiatives to document abuses and violations of human rights. This conversation is pretty topic heavy; we talk about the systemic issues that perpetuate the conditions of migrants who are now residing in Turkey. We also discuss...

Afghans Empowered chats with Gulmakai Saleh, a children’s book author, educator, and mentor, based in the USA. Born in Kandahar, and raised in the US, Gulmakai draws from her own unique stories of upbringing as inspiration for her work as an author. In her books, she portrays stories of children that address a wide variety of themes and topics such as fairness, equality, diversity, tolerance, and respect. She takes her message further through her wide variety of educational mentorship courses...

Afghans Empowered chats with Jamil Sherzad, founder and pioneer of Afghanistan’s first parkour team. We explore the history of Jamil’s discovery for his love of parkour, and from there, discuss the visions Jamil has for the growth of the sport. As Jamil explains, his journey has met many challenges: environmental, social, and financial challenges that he views as part of the obstacles in life that parkour prepares one for. For him, parkour is not only a sport; it’s an art, and a mirror of rea...

Afghans Empowered chats with Meena Nezami, president and founder of the Girl Up Afghanistan chapter. After her experiences with Girl Up India, Meena set out to appeal to the international Girl Up Campaign to support the opening of a chapter in Afghanistan. From there, she embarked on a mission to promoting the ideals and visions of Girl Up. This organization provides young women and girls with life-long skills in organizing, fundraising, campaigning, advocacy, education, and more. Thoug...

According to various outlets and election officials, Joe Biden will be the next President of the United States. Afghans Empowered reflects upon this news and shares what we believe will be some of the most important political, economic, and social developments in the next administration. We talk about the country’s pandemic response, immigration reform, civil rights, and healthcare. The conversation itself is definitely incomplete. There’s so much going on in the US that we could be speaking ...

Afghans Empowered sits down with local licensed therapist, Sara Stanizai, owner and practitioner of Prospect Therapy. We take a tour through her many services, and her specialization in therapy for queer, transgender, and first-generation clients. We talk about the intersectionality between gender, sexuality, and ethnicity, and the need to acknowledge cultural differences in order to be sensitive to the individual experience of self-identity, and mental health issues. Sara shares with o...

Afghans Empowered sits down with team members from the award-winning organization, Skateistan. This organization seeks to empower children in underprivileged communities through the power of skateboarding and education. Since its inception, Skateistan has impacted thousands of children in Afghanistan, South Africa, and Cambodia. We journey through the discussion of operations in Afghanistan, with a focus on the programs that help students accelerate their academic skills with the help of Skat...

In this episode, join us as we highlight what Afghans Empowered has been up to recently. This episode is to help you stay up to date with all our Q+A’s, and to once again thank all the fantastic guests who’ve come onto our podcast to discuss their projects and organizations. We’ve learned so much from our experiences so far, and can’t wait to continue expanding our community outreach to connect ourselves with our Afghan communities worldwide. Stay tuned for regular updates as we begin prepari...

In this episode, we get the chance to chat with the talented Ariana Abawe, or better known as Ariana the Journalist. As a British-Afghan journalist from the UK, Ariana’s work explores the Afghan identity from both the diaspora and in the motherland. She has an extensive journalist portfolio: publishing, collaborating, and co-creating projects that showcase a wide variety of mediums in journalism. Her latest project, the center topic of focus for this conversation, is the release of the first ...

In this episode, Afghans Empowered sits down with local freelance artist, Deeva Momand, who’s better known as @TheAfghanDiva. This local artist from Southern California captures the attention of a niche audience with her subjects and themes, and for all the right reasons! Her artwork incorporates pop culture, with Afghan culture. Many of her subjects from her digital media collection showcase Afghan femininity and masculinity. Join us as we sit down and talk about her artwork, her inspiration...

In this episode, we sit down with a very special guest who has been wanting to join our podcast for quite some time. We take the conversation through a journey of analyzing how Covid-19 has impacted our access to quality education. As students of various academic levels, we all can agree that those Zoom meetings we are expected to sit through, are just not ideal. The topic of the discussion is simple, but there are so many implications behind remote education. Socio economic status, and socia...

Generational trauma has become an increasing topic of study as researchers correlate the symptoms of trauma to biology. Early research supports the theory that generational trauma is genetically passed down from parents to children, and so forth. In this episode, we explore the history of trauma in our family, through their journeys as refugees from Afghanistan. Each step in their journey has complied levels of high stress and trauma that has shaped their physiology, and we believe this has i...

The current Covid-19 pandemic continues to disrupt the lives and health of people around the globe. In the US, cases have increased and a second wave has hit its most populous cities. Research about the impacts of the pandemic in the US have provided evidence that marginalized communities and minorities are disproportionately affected by the pandemic. In this episode, we discuss the research findings from various sources that indicate Black, Hispanic/Latinx, Indigenous, and other minorities a...

How does the term “idealistic” undermine our way of thinking, if its viewed in a negative framework? In this episode, the term idealist is analyzed in relation to the ways in which current events through powerful movements have presented our frame of ideas for a future of equality for all. To many who try to uphold archaic paradigms and narratives about society, we can seem like absurd dreamers, radicals, and anarchists, for our ways of thinking. Yet our frame of mind is the foundation ...

Re-introduction to the introduction. A long overdue conversation between two sisters/founders that we're happy to finally share. We take some time to briefly share the background to our upbringing and our worldview; and everything in between the years of our self discovery of a unique identity. Being Afghan-American means quite a bit, and frankly we can't do enough justice to explaining this identity in simply one conversation. But as we grow this organization, we will grow with it too and re...

Recent atrocities faced by Afghan migrants at the hands of foreign governments have sparked a wave of outrage within Afghan communities, worldwide. Protests have been carried out around the world, all with the clear messages and imagery for the central themes of the movement, #stopkillingAfghans, and #IAmBurning. In this episode, activists and protest organizers Stephanie Hargett and Sara Anas take a moment to sit down with me to promote the upcoming protest event, scheduled to be held ...

Afghans Empowered sits down with The Hiatus Foundation, a non profit organization from the UK that is dedicated to supporting young athletes in Kabul and Bamiyan, to discuss the emergence of action-sports teams in Afghanistan. We talk about how these teams maintain a safe, outdoor space: one that is not only free from the violence and dangers of ongoing conflict, but also free from the scrutiny of the community dwellers who disapprove of these athletes' talents and passions. What do action sp...