Sylvana Simons
Sylvana Simons started her national career in the spotlights at music station TMF, where from '95-'99 she put the genre of soul music on the map in her program “Sylvana's Soul” in the Netherlands, caused a furore as 'The Dutch Queen of R'n'B and interviewed world stars like Will Smith, LL Cool J, Mariah Carey, Brandy, Janet Jackson and Beyoncé. In 1999 Simons made the switch to SBS to make high-profile programs such as 'De Bus' and 'Sexquiz on the Beach'. In 2000 Sylvana left for RTL where she successfully scored prime-time with programs such as the talk shows 'RTL Live' and 'Met Man & Macht' and shows such as 'De TV Makelaar' and 'Dancing With The Stars'.
'Radical' simply means 'grasping things at the root'.
Angela Davis
Since then, Sylvana has also been a much sought-after chairman, moderator, columnist and opinion maker. She is renowned for her perfect command of the English language and as a result has many international assignments to her name.
One of these is the annual hosting of the English-language, international event 'TedXAmsterdam-Women', where she was also allowed to speak and surprised the audience with a very personal story; The Truth In The Mirror. Out of view of the viewer, and based on this talk, Sylvana has focused in recent years on developing a coaching methodology with which she helps others, especially women, to rediscover the strength within themselves.
In December 2016, she and others founded the political party Article 1, now known as BIJ1.
For the Amsterdam BIJ1 metropolitan department, she is committed to the two pillars of the party with 1 seat in the city council: Radical Equality and Economic Justice. The first article of our Constitution is still the starting point. Human rights come first. According to Simons, diversity,inclusion and representation are the tools with which every society and organization can achieve the ultimate goal: to create a safe environment that works for everyone on the basis of Respect, Solidarity and Cooperation.
BIJ1 wants to tackle structural inequality, which is the reason for the gap between rich and poor and for the gap in education. BIJ1 also wants to look for solutions to climate injustice. The consumption mentality of the West affects people in other parts of the world because it leads to climate change. It is precisely the people in Africa who suffer the most as a result of our consumption. And that in turn is a source for migration.
Sylvana Simons: letter from the future (2021)
BBC about racist climate and riots in the Netherlands (2021)
Sky News on Political Correctness (2019)
BBC about Islamophobia (2017)
Euronews on Dutch people and racism (2017)