Good News Friday
There are so many great organizations doing awesome things, but with tragic news everywhere I’m prone to forget the triumphs. In case you’re the same way, here’s some good news for your Friday: 1. Exonerated Man Launches His Music Career You just might love the sound of this bluesy survivor of wrongful conviction. Bill Dillon … Continue reading
Review: CNN Freedom Project
CNN has launched a 2011 news campaign called the CNN Freedom Project. According the project’s website, CNN hopes the project will “join the fight to end modern-day slavery and shine a spotlight on the horrors of modern-day slavery, amplify the voices of the victims, highlight success stories and help unravel the complicated tangle of criminal … Continue reading
Wikileaks Prompts New School of the Americas Debate
A student from the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC, formerly SOA) moves to secure a target during a joint field training exercise. Photo courtesy U.S. Navy — A few years ago I wrote and produced an audio piece on the School of the Americas, a rather controversial military training camp located at Ft. … Continue reading
Craigslist, The Post, and Freedom
You’ve probably heard that recently, after many long ordeals and forceful requests by various state attorneys general, Craigslist finally shut down its adult services ads. Many people wrongly believe that the pressure against Craigslist was related only to prostitution, and thus are angered by the presumed attempt to censor an act that some activists think … Continue reading
Media in Exile
Newspaper mural on Berlin Wall – by Pashan T.P. Mishra, author of the Handbook for Journalists in Exile, recently came out with a guide to help refugees start their own media in their host countries. It is a guide for true journalists. People who fled home to find freedom of speech, among other things, have … Continue reading
Documenting Slave-Made Chocolate
It is frustrating to write about the cocoa industry and the slave trade. Besides the fact that it seems impossible to end the crime (people sure do love their Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups!), there is very little documentation to back up an abolitionist’s claims. I wish, and sometimes don’t wish, that there were more pictures … Continue reading
Consumerism and the Marginalized
Yesterday a fellow blogger made it to WordPress’ “Freshly Pressed” page with a post on Fairtrade and how it does very little good for the world except alleviate guilt. I first want to offer some publicity to the piece because it is a thought-provoking write-up about a controversial topic that we’ve recently discussed on this … Continue reading
The Marginalized Families of Abu Salim Prison
Abu Salim Protest in DuPont Circle – Washington, DC 6/26/10 1996. A mother and her young daughter walk under a tough Libyan sun to the gate of Abu Salim Prison. They have come to see her son, the girl’s older brother, who was imprisoned a year earlier for speaking out against the regime of Muammar … Continue reading
Koman Coulibaly and the Marginalized
Today the U.S. Men’s National Team takes on Algeria in their final group round match of the World Cup. In case you’ve been unconscious for the last week and missed it, last week’s game between the United States and Slovenia ended in both glory and controversy. The U.S. recovered from a 2-0 deficit to tie … Continue reading
