JUDE WANGA
I'm a writer, editor and human rights campaigner based in London. I write about politics, culture and football, with a particular focus on power, identity, and the stories we're told (and tell ourselves) about race, gender, and belonging. I'm an editor-at-large at New Socialist.
My work has appeared in various publications including the London Review of Books (LRB) blog, where I've written essays such as Grief, Interrupted and Football Violence.
In 2020, I contributed the Islington chapter — "The View from Archway" — to Open House London's book The Alternative Guide to the London Boroughs (edited by Owen Hatherley), a collection of commissioned writers mapping London borough by borough through personal and social history. I also contributed the Hope Powell chapter — "Hope Powell: the accidental trailblazer" — to A New Formation: How Black Footballers Shaped the Modern Game (edited by Calum Jacobs).
Alongside my writing, I've long worked in human rights advocacy, particularly around violence against women in the Democratic Republic of Congo. My BBC Three documentary, The Most Dangerous Place in the World to Be a Woman, followed my return to Congo and focused on rape as a weapon of war and the wider oppression faced by women. I'm also an ambassador for Women for Women International UK.
My public speaking and campaigning work has included addressing the APPG on the Great Lakes Region at the House of Commons (2010), speaking in Parliament on the use of rape as a weapon of war, and appearing as a panel speaker for Amnesty International (2011). I was the keynote speaker at Frankfurt International School's graduation in 2011, and a headline speaker for Women for Women International's Join Me at the Bridge campaign the same year.
I've also spoken at WOMAD Festival (2010), Greenbelt Festival (including my 2016 talk Black British), and for V-Day / One Billion Rising (2013). I've contributed to Women for Women International's She Inspires Me Festival in both 2018 and 2020, and was an organiser at the BLM UK Festival in 2024.
Alongside my creative and campaigning work, I also work as an interpreter and translator within immigration law. I'm fluent in five languages, including French and Lingala.
Away from work, I have a long-standing interest in film and television, music, and literature. I'm a pianist, guitarist, and singer, and perform regularly with my local choir.
