🎧 RDI Podcast Launch: Frontlines of Freedom ft. Evan Mawarire

We’re excited to launch Frontlines of Freedom, RDI’s newest podcast, hosted by Pastor Evan Mawarire, our Director of Education.

Pastor Evan Mawarire is a Zimbabwean democracy activist who led the This Flag protest movement, mobilizing millions and ultimately contributing to the fall of Robert Mugabe’s regime. Mawarire survived imprisonment and torture at the hands of the dictatorship, and was forced to flee Zimbabwe. Now located in the US, Mawarire will bring on a new guest each week to talk about their experiences leading a struggle for freedom against an autocratic government. 

Through guests’ real-life encounters, the conversations accentuate themes of hope, courage, resilience, strength, and the resolve of everyday people who believe that they have the power to overcome oppression. It is a first-of-its-kind show hosted by a political dissident and welcoming on other political dissidents as guests.

For this first episode, Mawarire speaks with Nigerian musician and activist Catherine Udeh, also known as DJ Switch. DJ Switch was involved in the End SARS protest movement, a campaign to have the Nigerian government dissolve the Special Anti-Robbery Squad which is notorious for its brutality and disregard for the law. During a protest in October of 2020, Nigerian soldiers opened fire on protesters by the Lekki toll gate in Lagos, killing more than a dozen people. Rather than flee, DJ Switch live streamed the aftermath of the shooting, providing critical evidence of the government’s involvement as it denied culpability. Afterward, she was targeted by the government and threatened for whistleblowing.

In their conversation, Mawarire and DJ Switch discuss the value of building and living in a free society and the responsibility we each have to protect it.