Ep 53: No One Is Coming to Save You, with Nalishebo Sinyama

What makes someone walk to the utility company with a placard instead of posting complaints online? Nalishebo Sinyama has been answering that since 2019, when a load shedding protest in her Lusaka suburb turned her into an organizer overnight. She sits with Given Kapolyo to trace her path from a grassroots ward organizer to national work, and now to feminist organizing in Somaliland. With Zambia's general election a week away, her message to young people is blunt: no one is coming to save you.

What you'll hear

The 2019 load shedding protest that started it all, and getting arrested before she even knew what organizing was

Finding Youth for Parliament as a safe space to be radical as a young woman

Feminism as a hard conversation, and the question from a young girl she still cannot answer

Being sexualized during the Patriotic Front adoption process, and naming it for what it is

In her words"The principle of organising does not change. What changes is the context.""Activism is a way of life. It is not a hobby. It is not a job.""Gender does not define how radical or how powerful someone should be.""No one is coming to help you. You have to stand up and speak out for yourself."

About the guestNalishebo Sinyama is a grassroots organizer from Zambia, now based in Somaliland, working to put young people and young women at the front line of change.

CreditsHosted by Given Kapolyo. A Troublemakers production, made at MS TCDC in partnership with Beautiful Trouble and MOVE.