Lena Anyuolo on community libraries and grassroots organising, queering the internet

In this episode, podcast guest Lena Anyuolo speaks to our hosts Kerubo and Youlendree about political organising in Kenya, leftist community library Ukombozi Library and how the future of the internet looks very, very queer. Plus, we end with some poetry from Lena’s poetry chapbook Rage and Bloom (available to purchase).

The work of Ukombozi Library as a hub of feminist, leftist and Pan-African literature is deeply woven into grassroots organizing - including setting up study groups and cells for radical consciousness-raising in places “where people live hand to mouth,” says Lena.

They explain further:

To actually ask someone to sit down and read, let’s say, Angela Davis, is just so tough. Even when you have the time to go through all that, to interpret - some of that work can be difficult. Our aspect of decolonizing is to understand that context and when we go out to the community it’s not a didactic exchange.

Lena’s work cuts across art, activism, literature and on-the-ground mobilising. Their experiences are vital in crafting online worlds that are safer for artists, activists and queer people. Reflecting on their time dreaming at Decolonizing the Internet: East Africa, Lena says:

I would like to see a lot more queer content (online), queer beyond personal expression – queerness as political expression, queerness that subverts any oppression.