Early listeners of Afrika Connexions will remember the music of The African Dawn. A beautiful mix of politics, poetry and traditional instruments, African Dawn represented a growing Pan African movement, which had established itself in London rallying alongside the liberation struggles around the world.

In 1986, Kenyan actress and poet Wanjiku Wa Kiarie performed her play Black Woman at the South Pacific Festival held in Bondi, Sydney. A member of The African Dawn, Black Woman saw Wanjiku fuse together monologues from a series of works that detailed the struggles faced by Black women across the globe.

Indigenous Women

When Neville spoke with Wanjiku he had the cultural intelligence to ask her if the play ‘was relevant to Indigenous women in Australia.’ This question was repeated in nearly every interview done in the history of the program. Wanjiku explains that although she had only been in Australia for a short time, she could feel that Indigenous women, and Aboriginal people as a whole, had been through the same struggles.

Despite the unflourished answer, it is the ability to make the links across oceans that makes Afrika Connexions such an important program.

Listen to full interview with Wanjiku Wa Kiari