Episode by Erica Dennis, Yerin Hong, Lydia Rice, Matthew Sevilla, Josephine Trilling
Artwork by Chevon Booysen

Description: As the first episode of the podcast series Dulcie Lives On we looked at introductory aspects of Dulcie September such as her early adult life, her career in activism, and how her time in prison affected her. We decided to focus on sharing the journey of Dulcie’s activism and how it was shaped by her experiences in prison. This is what led to our episode’s tile being Dulcie’s Activism: A Transformation as we look at how Dulcie grew from not being incredibly interested in anti-apartheid activism to completely dedicating her life to it and having it ultimately be the reason she was murdered. In our episode we explore her early life in South Africa and how she went from educator to activist to political prisoner and how her life in the prison changed her as a political activist. We then briefly cover her move out of South Africa and the steps that began her activism career in Europe.

Dulcie Lives On! Episode 1- Dulcie's Activism: A Transformation

Episode By: Jacob Martin, John Paul Ruiz, Dylan Schroeder, Carlos Serrano, Jameson Walsh and Delaney Willet
With Special Guest Angela Chikowero
Artwork By: Chevon Booysen

Description: Our primary inspiration in creating art and delivering information to audiences was rooted in the revelation of Dulcie September, the uncovering of a powerful, influential, essential woman woven into the tapestry of global history for her praxis in anti-racist and feminist efforts. Combating such erasure called for the podcast series (Dulcie Lives On) in its entirety, in which we hope to fan the flame of Dulcie’s legacy through our episodic contribution, unveiling her connection and protests against the arms trade. Seeing as Dulcie’s time in jail was formative not only for the woman herself, but for those who followed in her activism, and her fascination and frustration with the arms trade, a much larger political issue globally, began in this period, it was impossible for us not to investigate further, feeling as though listeners may have the same vested interest. To adequately represent such a grand international scheme as it relates to our protagonist, Dulcie September, we insisted it was necessary to hear from many of our contemporaries and experts in the field, both to diversify the soundbytes of the pieces and form a well-rounded ten minutes of input, interview, and information, rather than a rambling of information from a single voice, causing listeners to lose interest. Our audience comprises college students, as a number were interviewed for the episode and this bracket is likely most familiar with and interested in the subject matter discussed. Furthermore, it is the range of contributors, or voices, to our episode which best informs the story we aim to tell about Dulcie and her connection to the Cold War Arms Trade. In an effort to modernize the issue, which has implications that remain strikingly relevant years later, it was of the utmost importance to us to give voice to our peers, the upcoming generation of leaders, as well as young experts in the case of Dulcie and apartheid, in order to reflect these issues in the present day, calling upon our own audience to speak to the injustice of the era and unearth the legacy that is Dulcie September.

Dulcie Lives On! Episode 2- Dulcie and the Cold War Arms Trade

Episode by: Daphne Policarpio, Gwenaelle Fotso, Phoebe Drummond, Anthony Alvarez
Artwork by: Chevon Booysen

Description: Each of us had a deep interest in the subject of feminism as it relates to Dulcie September and ANC activism. We wanted to talk about how women were treated within the organization and how Dulcie impacted it as a whole. Initially, we had planned to tell a seamless story of Dulcie’s life from childhood until her assassination, but we decided to focus more on the feminism aspect. It was an interesting idea to talk about a female activist currently active today who was inspired by Dulcie, but because of the time limit we instead discussed her impact on women as a whole. It is very difficult to choose one single activist who was impacted by Dulcie because those in her life were all very inspired by her. In addition to the women in ANC and Dulcie September, we also wanted to learn more about women’s experiences in general, as many of our group members are women who have worked in male-dominated spaces. We knew that we wanted to interview Angela Chikowero, our group respondent, to ask her about her experiences as a woman and how we could learn more about women in ANC such as Dulcie. 
Each of us focused on a certain aspect of the podcast narrative. Phoebe discusses Dulcie’s experience as an academic/teacher and her activism in ANC, presenting a primary source as evidence of women’s poor treatment in the organization. Gwenaelle delves further into this topic as she explains how the lack of women in positions of power created an imbalance between gender dynamics. From that, Daphne continues to examine how men are regarded in comparison to women in ANC, and how Dulcie’s leadership offered a voice for other women. Finally, Anthony discusses Dulcie’s lasting impact on the anti-apartheid movement despite her erasure and silencing, paying tribute to her contributions.

Dulcie Lives On! Episode 3 - Women Seeking Change

Episode By: Annabelle Bellamy, Fabiola Pascual, Maria Castillejo Huanosta and Ceci Saldivar 

Artwork by: Chevon Booysen

Description: Media Invisibility is the fourth episode of the podcast series Dulcie Lives On in which we discuss the role of news outlets in the ongoing erasure of ANC activist Dulcie September. Ms. September was assassinated in her French home-office on March 29th, 1988 and her murder has remained an unsolved mystery ever since. Although happening in France, our episode wanted to investigate how US-news sources were reporting on her death and the level of significance or lack thereof of Dulcie’s life and death to the American consumer. We chose to focus on two leading American news sources, the New York Times and the Washington Post and the stories they posted a day after Dulcie’s death, March 30th, 1988. Utilizing our combined disciplines of global studies, english, art history, and gender and feminist studies, we created a panel-like discussion in which we formally analyzed narrative choices, visual components, and relevant contextualization within the American reports of Dulcie’s death and comment on how these elements contribute to the invisibility of Dulcie in the media, especially ones outside of France. Media is an integral part of memorializing important figures in history and when these figures are inadequately archived, the memory of these individuals and their contributions to society often are lost to time. In our research, we had discovered that this was the case for Ms. September, as reports of her death outside of France were often lacking in content quality. Our goal is to provide a lens through our specialized disciplines as a means of probing into the issues with the lack of coverage on Dulcie’s assasination. Despite dillegency in her work as an ANC anti-apartheid activist, her legacy was erased from the public eye by international media outlets. By discussing this phenomenon through our expertise, we are able to create a picture as to why this is the case for Dulcie in hopes to finally bring her story into light, and perhaps even achieve justice for her murder and preserve her legacy as an activist. Ms. September’s invisibility is a circumstance that many activists alike experience due to a status-quo that is regulated through mainstream media. News outlets such as the New York Times and the Washington Post hold power and influence over American consumers, so oftentimes they are responsible for what narratives are advertised and what narratives become lost to time.

Dulcie Lives On! Episode 4 - Media Invisibility

Episode By: Bela Growden, Vanessa Luu, Graham New, Sydney Perry and Maya Lauren 

Artwork By: Chevon Booysen

In the final episode of Dulcie Lives On, Un-erasing Dulcie September, we discuss the concept of unerasure and how this process has unfolded for Dulcie in the digital age. You will hear an interview with Enver Samuel – the director and producer of the film Murder in Paris, a documentary exploring the life and death of Dulcie September and the commentary of our team. It was the film Murder in Paris and the digital activism of the accompanying digital campaign, #justicefordulcie, that began our journey on this collaborative project.
While this project began as a class assignment, it became personal for us as we realized the impact that we could have with some knowledge, microphones, and time. We came together as a group of five students from different majors and created something we are proud of. As a conclusion to this series, we end on the positive note of what is being done to further the reach of Dulcie’s story in support of her family and friends while justice can still be served. Furthermore, we seek to empower our listeners to not only share the story of Dulcie, but to use the resources they have available to uplift voices and stories that need to be heard. 
Thank you to everyone that made this series possible.

UCSB Black Studies

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