Episode 166: Indigenous Stories as Monuments and Narrative Activism with Samba Yonga

Greetings Glocal Citizens!
This week’s herstory comes to us from southern Africa. We’re exploring Zambia in a big way, especially the role that women have played in forward movement in the country. My guest is award-winning journalist, communications specialist and cultural curator, Samba Yonga. She is Founder and Head Communications Strategist at Ku-Atenga Media and co-founder of the Women’s History Museum of Zambia, established in 2017, with the mandate to research and restore African indigenous narratives, knowledge and 'living histories' focused on women. She has curated exhibitions and written papers focused on indigenous African knowledge systems and narratives in Zambia but also for art spaces, museums and universities such as National Musuems of World Cultures in Sweden, Yale University in USA, Windybrow Centre in South Africa and many others. In fact, she joined me in conversation just as she was headed to Shanghai University to present her works in the museum space at Museums, Decolonisation and Restitution: A Global Conversation (https://icom.museum/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Museums-decolonisation-and-restitution-Expert-Seminar-Full-Programme.pdf).
Samba has been recognized as 100 most influential Africans by Quartz, New York, and one of 40 most influential Africans. She is also a Google Podcast Creator, TEDx Lusaka speaker and a Museum Lab Fellow for 2022. It’s always a treat to connect with other podcasters and after you have a listen, be sure to head over to the museum’s Youtube channel to check out the Leading Ladies (https://www.youtube.com/@womenmuseumzambia890) animated podcast!
Where to find Samba?
www.whmzambia.org (https://www.whmzambia.org/)
On LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/sambayonga/)
On Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/sambayonga/?hl=en)
On Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/samba.yonga/)
On Twitter (https://twitter.com/Kuwaha)
On YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@sambayonga1235)
What’s Samba reading?
Of Water and the Spirit: Ritual, Magic, and Initiation in the Life of an African Shaman (https://a.co/d/iZOWLyL) by Malidoma Patrice Some (https://www.amazon.com/Malidoma-Patrice-Some/e/B000AQ4F6E/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1)
491 Days: Prisoner Number 1323/69 (https://a.co/d/bP7VCGr) by Winnie Madikizela-Mandela (https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1?ie=UTF8&field-author=Winnie+Madikizela-Mandela&text=Winnie+Madikizela-Mandela&sort=relevancerank&search-alias=books)
Wallpaper Magazine (https://www.wallpaper.com/)
Vanity Fair Magazine (https://www.vanityfair.com)
What’s Samba watching?
Luther on Netflix (https://www.netflix.com/title/70175633)
Chef’s Table on Netflix (https://www.netflix.com/title/80007945)
East Asian Dramas on Netflix (https://www.netflix.com/browse/genre/109007)
What’s Samba listening to?
Ratchet & Respectable Podcast (https://m.imdb.com/title/tt25054436/)
The Comb on BBC (https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w13xtv78)
Hidden Brain Podcast (https://hiddenbrain.org/)
The Moth Podcast (https://themoth.org/podcast)
Selam & Hello Podcast (https://www.youtube.com/@selamandhello)
Other topics of interest:
The Old Drift: A Novel (https://a.co/d/5mR5txz) by Namwali Serpell
Lusaka, Zambia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lusaka)
About Trendsetters Magazine (https://www.comminit.com/usaid/content/trendsetters)
On Settler Societies (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781119063551.ch5)
Glocally Speaking in Zambian Languages (https://translatorswithoutborders.org/language-data-for-zambia)
Mass Design Group (https://massdesigngroup.org)
Third Culture Kids (https://interactionintl.org/third-culture-kid-definition/) Special Guest: Samba Yonga.

Greetings Glocal Citizens!

This week’s herstory comes to us from southern Africa. We’re exploring Zambia in a big way, especially the role that women have played in forward movement in the country. My guest is award-winning journalist, communications specialist and cultural curator, Samba Yonga. She is Founder and Head Communications Strategist at Ku-Atenga Media and co-founder of the Women’s History Museum of Zambia, established in 2017, with the mandate to research and restore African indigenous narratives, knowledge and 'living histories' focused on women. She has curated exhibitions and written papers focused on indigenous African knowledge systems and narratives in Zambia but also for art spaces, museums and universities such as National Musuems of World Cultures in Sweden, Yale University in USA, Windybrow Centre in South Africa and many others. In fact, she joined me in conversation just as she was headed to Shanghai University to present her works in the museum space at Museums, Decolonisation and Restitution: A Global Conversation.

Samba has been recognized as 100 most influential Africans by Quartz, New York, and one of 40 most influential Africans. She is also a Google Podcast Creator, TEDx Lusaka speaker and a Museum Lab Fellow for 2022. It’s always a treat to connect with other podcasters and after you have a listen, be sure to head over to the museum’s Youtube channel to check out the Leading Ladies animated podcast!

Where to find Samba?

www.whmzambia.org

On LinkedIn

On Instagram

On Facebook

On Twitter

On YouTube

What’s Samba reading?

Of Water and the Spirit: Ritual, Magic, and Initiation in the Life of an African Shaman by Malidoma Patrice Some

491 Days: Prisoner Number 1323/69 by Winnie Madikizela-Mandela

Wallpaper Magazine

Vanity Fair Magazine

What’s Samba watching?

Luther on Netflix

Chef’s Table on Netflix

East Asian Dramas on Netflix

What’s Samba listening to?

Ratchet & Respectable Podcast

The Comb on BBC

Hidden Brain Podcast

The Moth Podcast

Selam & Hello Podcast

Other topics of interest:

The Old Drift: A Novel by Namwali Serpell

Lusaka, Zambia

About Trendsetters Magazine

On Settler Societies

Glocally Speaking in Zambian Languages

Mass Design Group

Third Culture Kids

Special Guest: Samba Yonga.