VANESSA CHISAKULA

ZAMBIA, 26

Project: Ati Bwanji?
Pronouns: She/Her

Vanessa “Van-Van” Chisakula is a multi-award winning, unapologetic page and spoken word artist, and a women’s rights champion who uses poetry as an activism tool. Through her organization, Word Smash Poetry Movement, her newest project, “Ati Bwanji?” (a colloquialism for “How Far?”), seeks to hold the government of Zambia accountable on the election promises to bridge inequality gaps and put youth at the center stage of development. 

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What social and cultural factors contributing to injustice and inequality does “Ati Bwanji” seek to address? 

Levels of gender inequality are among the highest in the world, combining with economic inequality to create a suffocating web of exclusion. There is unfair application of the law, corruption is rampant and so are monopolies. The gap between the poor and the rich is widening, and the current government is capitalist; they have given tax exemptions to multinational companies while they raise prices of fuel, which has pushed inflation higher. The project has also seen the deliberate exclusion of youths from leadership positions as seen by the presidential appointments of old people even for ministry of youth positions.

“We deliberately capture diversity of thought and help team leaders to understand intersectionality at all levels. This strengthens our engagement in our causes as no one is left behind.”

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