Ep. 48 - From Awana to Uganda: Seeking Warmer Weather and a Tussle with Tyranny w/ Activist Phil Wilmot

Growing Up Christian

Our guest this week is activist, organizer, and an old friend of Sam's, Phil Wilmot! Phil grew up in Pennsylvania deep in the trenches of Christian fundamentalism, saturated in white supremacy. Yearning for something more life-giving than climbing the ranks of Awana and stagnating in his hometown Christianity, he went to study at Messiah University. Through his studies and his hatred of cold weather, he eventually found himself studying abroad in Uganda, a place he has called home for the past ten years. Since his time studying at Messiah Phil defected into a new faith, far left politics, which was the catalyst for the nonprofit he established along with a small handful of Ugandan comrades, Solidarity Uganda - an organization that exists to organize and mobilize against a oppression by the state and foreign companies. Since leaving Solidarity Uganda in am official capacity in 2019, Phil continues to write and educate on how everyday people can steal power away from fascists.

Phil is doing some great work in the world so if you want to follow what he is up to you can check out his blog at philwilmot.wordpress.com and find him on Twitter and Instagram @impishphil. And if you are interested in learning more about Solidarity Uganda, their work, and their mission you can check them out at https://solidarityuganda.org/.

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