Sharing things

In this episode, guests Aisha Janki Akinola and Barbara Becnel talk about Black Lives Matter, speaking up, the mystery of time and more. Aisha is an architecture student and a Mastercard Foundation Scholar from a small town called Ede in Osun State, Nigeria. She is Co-Director at BlackED Movement, which was established to work with the University of Edinburgh to improve support for Black, Asian, and minority ethnic (BAME) students. BlackED was birthed in 2020 by seven Black female students following a successful petition to update the University’s anti-discrimination policy. Barbara is a social justice activist and author who was the inaugural Being Edinburgh Award runner-up. Being Edinburgh is an award that recognises Edinburgh alumni who make our University community proud. She has over 20 years of experience working for prison reform in the state of California and has writen 11 award-winning gang- and drug-prevention books. From leading an international media campaign aimed at preventing the judicial execution of reformed black gang leader Stanley Williams, to organising an ‘Occupy San Quentin’ rally attended by hundreds in front of the state prison that houses California’s death chamber, she has often shown inspiring leadership and tenacity. A graduate of the University's online MSc in Social Justice and Community Action, Barbara has returned to Edinburgh to pursue a PhD. Each episode of Sharing things is a conversation between two members of our university community. It could be a student, a member of staff or a graduate, the only thing they have in common at the beginning is Edinburgh. We start with an object. A special, treasured or significant item that we have asked each guest to bring to the conversation. What happens next is sometimes funny, sometimes moving and always unexpected. Find out more at www.ed.ac.uk/sharing-things-podcast