Weekly Update: A Deep Dive into Coffee, Redefining the Future for Generation Z, and Urgent Actions for Education
Refreshed and Recharged: A Personal Recap of Last Week in Nairobi and a Look Ahead at Current and Upcoming Happenings
Dear Friends and Supporters,
I’m now back and feeling well-rested from last week spent in Nairobi. Once again, you can read reflections from my trip, discovering the heart of coffee farming and examining the lasting impacts of Empire here and here. If you like what you read, please consider forwarding it to others you think might also enjoy it.
Thank you for your feedback!
I have been reading all of the feedback that’s been posted in response to my previous posts.
On the subject of coffee, I was inundated with outreach from several farmers showcasing their incredible coffee across Kenya. As a reader commented on my article:
Kenyan coffee is known for its consistently rich flavor along with a deep, wine-like acidity and a pleasant aroma. Kenyan coffee beans have a distinctly bright taste with complex tones of fruit and berry.
It is important to note that, Kenyan coffees have a huge range of flavors and nuances depending on the region, varietal, and processing methods used. Being a huge country with a wide variety of coffee-growing regions, cultures, and customs, the origin has a lot to offer to those who want to dive into separate regions.
The best Kenyan coffees can have a full spectrum of flavors for those with a well-developed palate.
At high elevations on the plateaus of Kenya, some of the world’s finest premium gourmet coffees are cultivated. With a full body, pleasant acidity, rich flavor, and fragrant aroma infused with floral tones, Kenya coffee is known as the “Connoisseurs Cup.
I could not agree more! Another reader said: “I’ve been thinking a lot about Coffee and Coffee Shops in their role to build capacity on the continent.” Hopefully, a huge opportunity to create jobs and investments.
Staying with the subject of coffee, if you want a fun podcast to listen to during your daily chores check out this great episode of Empire. It follows the journey of coffee from its origins in Ethiopia, to Yemeni farmers using it in rituals for its “nimbleness of the mind”, to how it was then popularized by the Ottomans, before being exported to the first coffee house in the UK in 1649. The Dutch then took it to Java where it continued to spread throughout the world.
Celebrating the start of black history month, earlier this week I published a list of 5 books and podcasts that enhance my understanding. Thank you to those who read and for this one suggestion posted by a reader who recommended listening to Thenmozhi Soundararajan's "The Trauma of Caste: A Dalit Feminist Meditation on Survivorship, Healing, and Abolition." Check it out.
Finally, for those who appreciated my post on the legacy of the Empire in Kenya and want to learn more, I was pointed in the direction of “Histories of the Hanged: The Dirty War in Kenya and the End of Empire”, by David Anderson.
Recapping the Recent Week and Previewing Upcoming Events: A Look at What's Happening Now and Next
Unleashing Gen Z - Time to change the narrative
Do you believe the future holds nothing for you?
If you answered yes, then you share this in common with nearly 50% of Generation Z who feel disillusioned. Too many young people feel a lack of power. Yet, it is also Gen Z that is the key to changing the world.
In this seminar, we will break down not only the reasons for this disillusionment, but also how it is reinforced by narratives we consume. We will share new research insights on the emancipative values shifts that are taking place below the surface, with Gen Z as frontrunners. To accelerate positive change we need to urgently amplify a new narrative that engages young peoples’ hearts and minds. And, ironically, we need to learn important lessons from how the fossil fuel industry has been able to shape narratives in the past. Together, we can do so much better!
Join me, on February 8 at 2pm CET, in conversation with Martijn Lampert, Co-Founder and Research Director at Glocalities, for the latest insights on Generation Z based on 8 years of Glocalities’ international trend surveys and on Global Citizen setting the example in activating and engaging change-makers from all around the world.
Register here.
Education Cannot Wait office teach in
On Wednesday, January 25, the team at Global Citizen were pleased to welcome Yasmine Sherif, Executive Director of Education Cannot Wait, and Helen Grant, MP for Maidstone and The Weald & the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy on Girls’ Education, for a panel discussion on girl’s education in emergencies, moderated by our very own Nikola Ivezaj.
While I was sad to miss the discussion, I heard it was a very lively and enriching conversation about the importance of leaders speaking out much more about the need to invest in education, and viewing education as a lifelong reward that offers value to girls, women, and their families and communities. This month, ECW will be hosting their High Level Financing Conference in Geneva, where they hope to bring in $1.5bn in money pledged for ECW’s 2023-2026 funding cycle. I myself will be there, and look forward to some meaningful commitments!
Aussies in the Office: Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd at GCHQ
We were proud to welcome fellow Aussie and former Prime Minister of Australia Kevin Rudd to the GC offices on Tuesday for a good chat on Australia’s role in addressing climate change, and international development more broadly, as well as what Kevin's new role will bring in DC as he prepares to take up the mantle of Australian Ambassador to the US.
How Your Actions Are Helping Venezuelan Kids in Colombia Get Back to School
Rihanna knows that Education Cannot Wait for Children in crisis, and that’s why the superstar joined other artists, and millions of Global Citizens to help deliver education to children in emergencies. For more than a decade, Global Citizens have taken 1.9 million actions to help provide education around the world to children in crisis. And to help tell that story Global Citizen traveled to Colombia in 2022 to meet Venezuelan refugee Camila and school principal Solangellie, who, thanks to the incredible work of Global Citizen partners Education Cannot Wait, Save the Children, and the Global Partnership for Education, are today helping children accomplish their dreams through learning.
Check out the full story here, watch the video here, and take action with Global Citizen here.
Twitter Space Conversations: What Governments Must Do to Broaden Civic Space
Our monthly civic space series continues in 2023! In what is already becoming a staple of our activism which is being well-received by our audience, last week we held our first conversation of the new year, centered on those basic things we need to make sure we are all aware of and push governments to commit to in order to keep civic space healthy in our societies: access to information; prior and informed consent; and accountability mechanisms, while we also devoted a special segment to how Artificial Intelligence is being misused to curtail civic rights. Together with our friends from CIVICUS, ALLIED (the Alliance of Land, Indigenous and Environmental Defenders), and ECNL (European Center for Not-For-Profit Law), as well as academics, we discussed these topics and made concrete calls to action, amplifying also the findings shared with our audiences in our two thematic explainers devoted to these issues (see here and here). If you haven't already, you can listen to the full conversation here, which already has over 7,500 views! Let’s all get informed and take action!
Global Citizen is Hiring - Come Work With Global Citizen!
Are you or someone you know passionate about our mission, and want to join what will most certainly be another impactful year of action? If so, come work with Global Citizen! We’re hiring for Senior Director of Global Philanthropy, and for a UK Advocacy/Campaigns Consultant.
If either of these sound up your street, please throw your name in the hat! Or if you know someone who might be a good fit, do share across your networks.
My Weekend Reading List
Authentic Brands Group Partners With Global Citizen on Charitable Initiative
The disaster in Jenin was sadly predictable. Where do we go from here?
Sunak refuses to even utter the word crisis. But how else to describe his first 100 days?
Inside the Romantic and Unexpected ‘Last of Us’ Love Story Between Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett
Beyoncé’s Dubai performance isn’t just an affront to LGBTQ+ fans, but workers’ rights in the UAE
Finally, as always, if you’re enjoying the weekly newsletter format, and want even more, you can subscribe to my Substack here where I publish reviews, lists and articles on a regular basis. This week, I published a piece on Honoring Black History Month: A Collection of 5 Essential Reads & Podcasts To Get Started - give it a read, and do subscribe if you’re keen for more like this!
All best,
Mick