We are born free! – Empowerment Radio (We!R) is a radio program produced by Refugees & Friends in Berlin.
The current program asks and answers important questions that center the struggle for refugee rights in light of the changing political and social situation in Germany.
The current situation of refugees in Germany and Europe requires new political strategies, according to the initiators of We are born free! in 2016. The wave of “welcome culture” was very important to counter growing racist hatred, which was getting stronger every day, with alternatives. At the same time, this movement was taking place at a time when the Refugee Movement was extremely weakened to barely existent. The so-called civil society has decided to act from a position of helpers instead of supporting self-organized refugee protests. This is a step backwards, according to the creators of We are born free! It puts refugee activists in a situation of help-recipients, seemingly passive objects, while a lobby of their own emerges from the helpers.
According to the producers of the program, We are born free! aims to answer the following questions: “How can we deal with these developments? How can we come out of the watching, the passive position, back into the acting, pro-active, demanding one? How to organize protest against the horrible law changes which are not (much) considered by helpers and white charity?”
We!R is also a platform for refugees and other marginalized people such as women, children, LGBTQI, black people, people of color and others. In addition, Empowerment Radio is intended to function as a network that reaches out to those who, for political, social, or economic reasons, do not have access to street protests.
The We are born free! team broadcasts every Saturday and Sunday from 3 p.m. on UKW 88.4 MHz in Berlin and 90.7 MHz in Potsdam. The program can also be streamed live here.