CAS Newsletter 19-20

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CAS VISITING SCHOLARTURNS HOPE INTO ACTIONACROSS THE GLOBEIn April of 2019, visiting scholar and Ugandan human rightsattorney Nicholas Opiyo delivered a keynote address that leftStanford Global Studies students, staff, and faculty inspired.Speaking on what it means to do good work under an autocraticgovernment, Opiyo demonstrated ways to keep hope alive intimes of darkness.Raised in northern Uganda at the height of the brutal conflictbetween the government and Joseph Kony’s Lord’s ResistanceArmy (LRA), Opiyo was surrounded by senseless violence,watching the rights of his family and community membersviolated at the hands of the rebel group and the Ugandangovernment. “Living in a warzone meant that I was a witness tograve cases of human rights violations. My own siblings wereabducted and spent years in the rebel ranks,” he shared.The war introduced gruesome murder, sex trafficking, and massdisplacement across his community. “During the war, there werewhat was called ‘night commuters,’ young children who walkedmore than five miles every day to sleep in open public spaces toavoid being abducted by the LRA. For many years, I was a nightcommuter. Like all children at the time in the region, I lived tryingto avoid abduction by the rebel group while also trying to studyand compete with children in other parts of the country where itwas peaceful.”Despite his harsh environment, Opiyo found hope as he wasintroduced to a world outside of Uganda through the radio. “Myfather’s way of teaching me English was to make me listen to theBBC. When I listened to the radio, the things I heard happeningin other parts of the world were quite different from my livedexperiences. That sent me on a journey to search for what I coulddo to make my life better.” Initially wanting to be a journalist, helater found a trade that promised more than just the hope ofbeing heard: law.“I found myself gravitating toward law school,” he explained, “Ihad the resolve that I should use my law degree and my skills asa lawyer to defend the rights of vulnerable people in my country.”And over a 15-year period, Opiyo grew to be that person,becoming an attorney, and founding Chapter Four Uganda, ahuman rights organization that provides legal services for socialmedia activists, members of the LGBTQ community, andUgandans facing persecution. His tireless efforts for freedomand justice helped his organization play key roles in successfullychallenging Uganda’s notorious Anti-Homosexuality Act in 2014,and initiating laws that criminalized torture.Encouraging the use of collaborative, non-violent, and honestcivic participation, he sees hope for the future of Uganda. “In thisbroken system, there are moments of brightness…individuals inthe system that will do what is right, sometimes at a hugeexpense…they keep me going.” He explained that regardless ofthe tumultuous nature of politics in Uganda, “we still see the fourwalls of the courthouse…as a springboard of what we can do forthis country.”7At Stanford, Opiyo continues to conduct his research on theimpact of foreign funding in Uganda and the reform of criminaljustice methods by government officials against the LGBTIcommunity, letting students know that they are equally capableof creating more promising futures for others across the globe. “Iwould like to show the interconnectedness of our struggles andto inspire the community and students to use their privilegedpositions in the Silicon Valley to impact lives around the world,perhaps in much the same way that I am trying to do.”
FOR THE LOVE OF LANGUAGEEvery May CAS holds an African Languages and CulturesNight, celebrating the selection African languages taughton campus, from Amharic to Zulu. Additional languagessuch as Hausa,Tigrigna, Igbo, Zulu, Kinyarwanda, andSwahili are also offered upon request.Normally, Stanford students taking African languagecourses gather to perform in front of an audience withover 100 attendees, for our annual African Languagesand Cultures Night. This year, however, CAS celebratedvirtually, creating a e-Zine of the community’s favoritesongs, stories and works from the continent. Visit theCAS website to check out the catalogues!“Twi gave me a new family at Stanford. It alsogave me the chance to meet ProfessorNkansah who taught me a lot of Historyabout Twi. I believe Twi can help myconversations with strangers in the future,because language unites people. I intendto take many more Twi classes atStanford.”— Clinton Kwarteng8
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CAS Newsletter 19-20

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