What can we learn from someone who brings the same heart to the fight for equality and justice as they do to the stage?

Shareefa Energy talks about burnout, the wave analogy that changed how she thinks about her role in movements, and why joy is liberation.

Shareefa Energy is a poet, writer, recording artist, activist and workshop facilitator from Highfields, Leicester. She is the author of Galaxy Walk, endorsed by the late Benjamin Zephaniah. Her work is known for its honesty, power and unwavering commitment to justice.

Her poetry has featured on BBC The One Show, Channel 4 and ITV, and she has led storytelling, creative writing and performance workshops internationally with communities across the UK and from Palestine to Sierra Leone. Her work has included schools, universities, immigration detention centres, survivors of domestic violence and those impacted by state violence.

With 16 years’ experience as a youth worker, Shareefa’s practice centres poetry as both activism and self-care. She is also the co-producer of To Kill A War Machine, the documentary film about direct action network Palestine Action.

She has performed internationally including at the Royal Albert Hall, and works with organisations varying from community to corporate. She is the recipient of the UK Entertainment Best Poet 2017 Award and the CKI Literature and Poetry 2023 Award, and has been nominated for multiple arts and culture honours.

🎵 Song choice: My Generation by Nas & Damian Marley

Find Shareefa: shareefaenergy.com | instagram.com/shareefaenergy

Sounds Like Change is a podcast about how music, sound and storytelling help us stay human, hopeful, and build the courage to shape a more just future. Hosted by Ariana Alexander-Sefre. linktr.ee/soundslikechange

About the host: Ariana Alexander-Sefre has spent over a decade working at the intersection of music and social justice. An Iranian-British social innovator, she is the founder of SPOKE, a TEDx speaker, and an SXSW Innovation Award winner.

A Drowned in Sound Network production. Edited by Tell Studio.

Welcome to Sounds Like Change, the podcast exploring how music shapes who we are, how we heal, and how we change the world.

Hosted by social change expert Ariana Alexander-Sefre, this podcast brings together artists, thinkers, and changemakers to explore the deep connection between music, our personal health, culture, and wider social change.

Each episode flows from personal stories to collective challenges to imagining better futures - always leaving you with something real to take into your own life.

We explore questions like: • How does music impact mental health and emotional well-being? • Can music, art and culture drive social justice and systems change? • What role do artists play in shaping a better future? • How can we transform pain into purpose?

Expect conversations on: music and healing, mental health, creativity, social justice, culture, identity, hope, and collective change.

Alongside each conversation, you’ll find moments to pause with sound, reflection, and creative rest woven throughout.

This is a space for people who feel deeply, think critically, and still believe a better world is possible.

If you’re interested in: music for mental health, conscious culture, social impact, creative leadership, healing through art, or purpose-driven living, you’re in the right place.

Subscribe and join us as we explore what the future could sound like.

Sounds Like Change is part of the Drowned in Sound podcast network.