Dear Readers,
After a successful year as editor at Toward Freedom, I have decided not to seek the renewal of my contract. A new editor will be starting next week. Information for writers wishing to pitch to the new editor can be found here.
Over the past year, the number of visitors to the website doubled as compared to the year previous. I’d like to thank all of our readers, new and old, for engaging with our stories, and for supporting independent media through donations or by sharing our work.
I also wanted thank all of the journalists, writers and photographers who have published with Toward Freedom over the past year, and share some of the stories I’m particularly happy to have worked on:
Against state capture, by Austin McCoy, an in-depth look at the political content of the uprising against anti-Black racism and police violence that spread through the US over the summer.
Black food spaces seed sovereignty by Eva Hershaw, on how Black-owned farming projects are transforming the US food landscape.
Pandemic response a partisan war on the people in Honduras, by Jared Olsen, with images by Seth Berry, that looks at how the US supported government of Honduras is politicizing its response to COVID-19.
Paraguay: Leaders in land rights struggle start another year in jail by William Costa with photos by Santi Carneri, reported from inside an Asunción prison.
Rwanda: Political opposition persists amid death, disappearance and detention by Charles Wachira, which looks at polarization and the persecution of dissidents in the African nation.
Guinean refugees in Montréal are speaking up, who is listening? by Stefan Christoff, which looks at deportations targeting the Guinean community and how folks are fighting back.
Stealth F-35s and the projection of imperial power by Israel by Lital Khaikin, on Israel’s acquisition of fifty new warplanes from the US.
Local organizing key to Kerala success in containing COVID by Prakriti Sharma, on how the panchayat system in southern India has been key to containing the spread of the virus.
“We want justice”: Chilean protesters with police-caused eye injuries organize by Sandra Cuffe, on how folks who were attacked during protests are organizing in Santiago.
In addition to these stories, our coverage & translations of the political turmoil and violence following October’s elections in Bolivia added important voices to the left media landscape. I was also honoured to have published translations of pieces by powerful activists and scholars including Gladys Tzul Tzul, Yásnaya Elena Aguilar Gil and Mandeep Dhillon.
Finally, I created a TF blog and wrote a handful of stories that I’m glad are out in the world: this investigation of the proposed peninsular train in southern Mexico; this exposé on Canada’s cannabis colonialism; interviews with Garth Mullins of Crackdown Podcast and Kwakwaka’wakw artist and writer Gord Hill; and this series on feminist movements in Latin America.
Folks interested in continuing to follow my work can find me on Twitter or Facebook, or sign up for my newsletter here.
Onwards!
Dawn Marie Paley