Status: Activism - with Guled Mire

Selfie Reflective

Guled Mire is a policy advisor, and writer, speaker and community advocate ~

On the podcast, we’ve talked about topics like slacktivism from an academic perspective. We’ve discussed the Christchurch Principles and ideas like freedom of speech and democracy online.

But in this episode, we’re chatting to someone who lives and breathes activism, both in our material world and in our online spaces.

Guled Mire is a Fulbright Scholar and a Fellow at the Cornell Institute for Public Affairs. He is senior policy advisor by profession and a writer, speaker and community advocate in his spare time. Guled uses his platform and profile to facilitate courageous conversations about racism and discrimination in New Zealand and to discuss the things we need to do to build a truly inclusive, welcoming society.

Guled is a big fan of having open conversations about mental health and is a founding member of the Third Culture Minds Charitable Trust, which supports young people from refugee and migrant backgrounds to get the support they need.

In this episode, Guled gives us insight as to what it’s like to be an activist in the online space. Where does he think the online space is most powerful? Why is having access to other people and businesses meaningful - and why can it also be dangerous? How can people be effective allies to support marginalised people in the online space? What’s it like to show up as an individual and present views that challenge and outright go against the status-quo?

Trigger warning: this conversation does discuss the Christchurch mosque attacks. Guled uses an example in this episode that references the Crusaders - and for anyone who is not from New Zealand, you’ll likely be able to deduce this from the story Guled tells - but just for added context, the Crusaders were, and somewhat controversially still are, the local rugby team of Christchurch.

Shownotes:

Find and follow Guled on Instagram and Twitter. Learn more and support Third Culture Minds on their website, and follow the organisation on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.

Email any reflections on this show to [e-mail]. Share the episode on Twitter and tag @SelfieReflect, or on Instagram stories and tag @lucyohello.