In this episode of #OpenGovStories, Jean-Louis Sarbib tells his colleague and mentee, Nada Zohdy, about growing up in a Jewish family in Algeria during the French occupation and war, moving to the U.S. and being part of the student anti-war protest movement in the mid 1960s, and what he considers to be one of his greatest accomplishments as a former executive at the World Bank. Nada talks about her student activism protesting the US invasion of Iraq.

Student Activism: 1960s and Today (Jean-Louis Sarbib & Nada Zohdy)

Abigail Bellows (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace) and Jessica Lowing (Open Society Foundations)talk about the nexus of passion and power in the context of community organizing and political activism against corruption. They reflect on why uniting people's voices and building institutional change are critical ingredients in overcoming corrupt systems. 

No matter where we're from or what language we speak, we want the same basic things, like food and security. By joining together, citizens can advocate for -- and help enact -- the social contract. And freely "exercise what it means to be human" with collective confidence. 

NOTE: This session was originally in May 2019, which was long before COVID-19 has disrupted and tested our world. Yet, a lot of what is said here about working together and anti-corruption certainly resonates today. 

Listen in to learn more about this and other #opengov stories on our SoundCloud.

Passion & Power | Confronting Corruption with Activism (Abigail Bellows & Jessica Lowing)

Why do you care about changing the world? Open Gov Stories is a Global Podcast Series, which goes behind the scenes to explore why social change makers really do the work they do. 

In each episode, listen to candid interviews between friends and colleagues who have devoted their lives to changing the world. Using the StoryCorps model and app, they share personal origin stories, lessons on how to open up governments, empower citizens and change the world, and their visions for the future. Listen to their stories and add your own.

This podcast is a partnership of Open Gov Hub and the Transparency and Accountability Initiative, in collaboration with StoryCorps. Interviews provided courtesy of StoryCorps, a national nonprofit whose mission is to preserve and share humanity's stories in order to build connections between people and create a more just and compassionate world. www.storycorps.org

Music from https://filmmusic.io:
"Promises to Keep" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
Licence: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Student Activism: 1960s and Today (Jean-Louis Sarbib & Nada Zohdy)

Open Gov Stories

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