City Talks Amsterdam: EveryDay Empathy

How can empathy help us move beyond fear and division - not only as a personal practice, but as a collective responsibility? Poet, activist, and human rights advocate Jerry Afriyie is one of the most influential voices in the Dutch anti-racism movement. As the co-founder of Nederland Wordt Beter, he has spent the past 15 years inspiring dialogue and social change through protest and education; contributing to a more inclusive Sinterklaas celebration, a national commemoration of the Dutch history of slavery, the integration of colonial history in school curricula, and a national Day of Empathy. His work challenges inequality and exclusion, while always calling for connection - believing that empathy grows when we truly get to know one another.

Photo: © Raymond van Mil / Dag van de Empathie

How can empathy restore nuance and trust in public debate? Frida Boeke is a writer, journalist, and presenter known for her sharp yet open perspective, blending critical insight with warmth and humor. As a columnist and a regular voice on national radio and in public discourse, she reflects on culture, politics, and society - from feminism and activism to the state of journalism and the pressures of modern life. Her work frequently explores the challenges of polarisation in media, and the vital role empathy plays in encouraging constructive conversations.

Photo: © Coco Olakunle

JAE is a 22-year-old poet whose work reflects on the many layers of her identity as a young Black queer woman, and how these identities meet and shift within the world around her. Using spoken word as a form of self-therapy, she writes to make sense of both the visible and hidden scars we inherit. Through her performance, JAE seeks to create space for collective healing — offering language, rhythm, and honesty as tools to reconnect with ourselves and with one another.

Simone Roerig is a theatre educator, storyteller, anthropologist, and researcher whose PhD at VU Amsterdam focuses on children’s capacity for empathy. With more than fifteen years of experience creating theatre with young people, Simone combines scientific insight with a deep understanding of how children make sense of the world. Her interdisciplinary work maps both the gaps and overlaps between children’s cognitive empathic abilities and the ways empathy emerges in peer dynamics, school culture, and shared norms. What can the youngest generation reveal about connection, community, and the social forces that shape our capacity to care?