Dear TF readers and supporters –
In the aftermath of World War II, anti-colonial movements spread throughout the world giving rise to the non-aligned movement. At the end of 1952 Bill Lloyd started a newsletter to inform readers in the US about independence movements in Africa and the non-aligned movement in general.
Called Toward Freedom, Lloyd’s newsletter would evolve over the next 70 years into a print magazine and then a website with the mission to publish international reporting from a grassroots perspective and incisive analysis that exposed government and corporate abuses of power, while supporting movements for universal peace, justice, freedom, the environment, and human rights.
Over the years, hundreds of thousands of readers have subscribed to the magazine and visited the website to read about issues rarely – or poorly – covered by the US mainstream media. Provocative and at times controversial, Toward Freedom has consistently published a wide diversity of voices from the frontlines of liberation struggles around the world.
None of this would have been possible without the dedication of the Lloyd family and other committed financial supporters, as well as the editors, photographers and writers across the globe who brought thousands of stories to life.
Today Toward Freedom’s Board of Directors announces our decision to wrap up operations of the publication. The media environment has been completely transformed since the days of sending out paper newsletters through the US Postal Service, and access to information is, quite frankly, overwhelming! We are gratified to witness the resurgence of Pan Africanism and new expressions of anti-colonialism and the non-aligned movement, and we applaud the multitude of independent and grassroots media outlets sharing news of liberation struggles on the ground.
We will be organizing a celebration of Toward Freedom’s history and accomplishments to take place in Burlington, VT later this year and will post the announcement in our newsletter and on the website.
Passing on the baton of critical, independent journalism, we look forward to the next generation of freedom fighters’ and independent media makers’ contributions to the creation of a new and just world for all.
A luta continua!