Radical Rudeness
Stella Nyanzi, an academic, activist and poet, interacts with supporters inside court on February 20, 2020 in Kampala, Uganda. Luke Dray/Getty Images hide caption
Stella Nyanzi, an academic, activist and poet, interacts with supporters inside court on February 20, 2020 in Kampala, Uganda.
Luke Dray/Getty ImagesThis episode includes vulgar and explicit language that is sexual in nature.
In Uganda, NPR correspondent Eyder Peralta introduces us to Stella Nyanzi, a feminist activist, poet and academic. Fed up with what she calls government enabled endemic corruption and conventional approaches to expressing dissent, she discovers the way to get attention and build an audience around her fight against dirty politics is to get dirty herself.
She lobs personal attacks at the president, Yoweri Museveni, with elaborate curses, mockingly erotic poetry on Facebook, public nakedness, and other displays of "radical rudeness" in an effort to get under his skin.
Surprisingly, in the conservative, largely Christian nation of Uganda, this approach has gained supporters. Stella has received international recognition. But standing up to a strongman comes at a high cost to her and her family. Can Stella—and those she loves—accept the price? How low do you have to go to change things at the top?
Additional Context:
- "Queering Queer Africa," a critical essay by Stella Nyanzi, published in the 2014 anthology, "Reclaiming Afrikan: Queer Perspectives on Sexual and Gender Identities," argues for a broader scope through which to understand queer Africa.
- "No Roses From My Mouth" is a collection of poems that Stella published while serving an 18-month sentence for cyber harassment of Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni.
- Professor Carol Summers coined the term "radical rudeness" in her 2006 essay, "Radical Rudeness: Ugandan Social Critiques in the 1940s."
- Follow Stella's journey through prison and protest on social media with hashtags: #StellaNyanzi, #45PoemsForFreedom, #PairOfButtocks, #RadicalRudeness, #FromPrison2Parliament.
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