The Jua Kali can speak but will the egocentric elites ever listen? We welcome you to read this special issue of the Mawazo Journal published by Makerere University’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences Makerere University (CHUSS). The topic of this issue is “The Ivory Tower Meets Jua Kali: Reflections on theorising the Profound from the Ordinary”, which was the theme of the CHUSS Annual Conference of 2020. The voices of the “Jua Kali” are highlighted in the articles. According to Vincent Ogutu, the term “Jua Kali” has , two meanings: “Jua signifies ‘the sun’ but it also means ‘to know’. Kali denotes scorching and sharpness. Jua Kali therefore has the dual meaning of scorching sun or sharp knowledge” (Kinuthia, 2023).