Alumni Highlight

Monday, October 4, 2021
Alum Trisha Mukherjee, CC '21, co-created the podcast People • Place • Power with Benjamin Swift (Colorado College). It explores big questions around activism through the eyes of activists around the world who are creating change in unprecedented and underreported ways. The podcast strives to amplify the voices of women, people of color, and activists from the Global South. 
In their first season, Trisha and Benjamin speak to a Kiowa Apache comedian who uses humor to process a history of genocide, an activist of trans experience from the Ultra-Orthodox Hasidic community, an Afghan tech entrepreneur who uses technology to enable citizens to protect each other, and more.
The latest episode is a deep dive into the struggle of Indigenous women in Manipur, India. In this north-eastern state of India, the government has implemented a martial law for over six decades that allows the army to shoot, kill, torture, or disappear anyone for mere suspicion. Indigenous women have led a resistance movement using the power of their femininity and their bodies-- in one instance, they stripped naked in front of the army's base, launching a successful movement to overturn the draconian law. 
Trisha started researching and reporting this episode when, as a student in an ISHR course, she attended a presentation by Manipuri activist Binalakshmi Nepram. Trisha is now a human rights-focused journalist based in NYC. She and Bina spoke over several months to produce this episode, and they plan to keep collaborating to build solidarity for Indigenous activists in Manipur.