aequa Radio | Sarj, Napuli Paul Langa & Vivianne Achieng

With Sarj

aequa is a community for social equity. It is an intersectional network of people brought together by a shared vision of a world in which everyone can thrive, regardless of the contexts or identities we are born into. They believe another world is possible, and are working to make it so. Through daily practices of solidarity and mutual support, aequa explore both our individual potential and our collective power.

Abolish Residenzpflicht! Abolish ‚Lagers‘! Stop Deportations! Right to Work and Study! These are the demands of the movement of so-called refugees which took root at Berlin's Oranienplatz, or O-Platz, in October 2012, building on a wider movement across Germany and Europe. Here today on the show we are honored to have two members of the movement who are going to tell us a bit about its history and share reflections about the recent action week, "O-Platz Lebt," which took place in Oranienplatz around World Refugee Day in June of this year.

Napuli Paul Langa (she/her) is an activist and organiser from Sudan who has been a key figure in the O-Platz movement since 2012 when she arrived in Germany and experienced the violence, racism, and inequity of the Lager system here and decided to organise against it. In Sudan, she had worked as a human rights activist in the Sudanese Organisation for Nonviolence and Development (SONAD), before escaping government persecution in Sudan.

Vivianne Achieng (she/her) is an activist and organiser who has been involved in the O-Platz movement since she came to Germany in 2013. Born in Kenya, Vivianne came to Germany in Feb 2013 after fleeing deportation from Switzerland. She landed on the streets of Oranienplatz and Gerhart-Hauptmann school, where she got to know other refugees, then afterward went to Eisenhüttenstadt. Since 2013, she has been separated from her daughter who is still held in custody in Switzerland, and is currently fundraising to be reunited with her.

Links to learn more and support: https://oplatz.net/ https://www.betterplace.me/gerechtigkeit-fuer-vivianne-und-ihre-tochter#

Links to the music for today's show: https://buymusic.club/user/sarj_from_aequa