All Blog Posts (214)

A few weeks ago in mid-January the United States celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. We celebrated the birth of a man who embodied the idea of nonviolent resistance, the idea of working toward achieving equality, freedom, and civil rights for all African Americans through peaceful means and moral steadfastness. He lead thousands of African Americans both physically, mentally, and emotionally through one of those most hostile and dangerous times for…

Iranian singer-songwriter Arya Aramnejad was arrested in his home on November 8, 2011. This was the second time Aramenjad was arrested and imprisoned for “seditious activities” relating to a song he composed and released in 2009. Three months after his second arrest he remains in custody.

Twenty-eight year-old Aramnejad, an outspoken…

After reading this article about an Afghan family in Canada convicted of murdering four of their relatives as a form of "honor" killings, I was compelled to learn more about it. In this particular…

Even within the predictable pattern of reforms, the Burmese government keeps us pleasantly surprised. Friday the 13th was the day of choice for the recent release of 651 political prisoners and some of the former members of Burmese Military Intelligence who were arrested along with their chief…

Mine is 34.

This is disturbing.

This is heart-breaking.

This is worrisome.

This is reality.

How many slaves work for you? It is no secret that the practice of slavery is still alive and well. 10 to 30…

While I was reading an article about the potential of intervention in Syria, I realized what an important (and controversial) issue this has become in today's world. Considering recent events in the Middle East, a lot more people are beginning to think about the consequences of international intervention.

A little bit of background:…

It was exactly a year ago at this time that I was preparing for my study abroad trip for the 2011 spring semester. For two years I had begged my protective Lebanese father to let me travel to a Middle Eastern country to study Arabic and Middle Eastern politics. Being one of the most stable and safe of the region’s…

A little over three years ago, I was an eager 18-year-old standing in line at Soldiers and Sailors Memorial, waiting to cast my vote for the next president of the United States. I had been a staunch advocate of Barack Obama from the very beginning, defying the views of my conservative,…

They Call it Myanmar: Lifting the Curtain was screened for the first time at the prestigious International Documentary Film Festivalin Amsterdam on November 19 to a packed cinema. It premiered in Vienna earlier this month, and was similarly well-received.…

On December 9th, I had the pleasure of attending the Second Annual Human Rights Day Celebration at Shadow Lounge. What a breath of fresh air from a typical "night out." It was a great way to bring human beings together to simply celebrate each other and recognize the progression/future of human…

Today we take a moment to remember the legacy of Václav Havel in the wake of his death a couple of weeks ago. Known as a "global champion of democratic virtues," in 1994…

            For several decades those interested and even those not interested in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have been debating issues of settlements, the wall, Gaza and two vs. one state solution and more. However, the discussion on Palestinian cultural preservation throughout Israeli occupation has been largely non-existent. The Great Book Robbery focuses on one of the first and most devastating events of the looting of Palestinian culture. In 1948, in a systematic and collaborative…

On Christmas Day, 2009 Liu Xiaobo–activist writer, literary critic, co-author of Charter 08, and future Nobel Laureate–was sentenced to 11 years in prison, and two years without political rights for “inciting subversion of state power.” Liu’s sentence has been the harshest yet received by a dissident writer in…

According to the press freedom organization Reporters Without Borders, the Philippines is one of the world’s most dangerous countries for the media, lead in number of killings against journalists only by Iraq.

During his election campaign, President Benigno Aquino made commitments to press freedom under his presidency and also…

Global Journalist Security is a new private security firm that provides journalists, human rights advocates, non-profit groups, private news organizations, and citizen journalists with consulting and training in security and self-defense. GJS was launched in November 2011 and founded by its Executive Director Frank Smyth, a…

On October 27, Frederica Jansz, editor of The Sunday Leader, an independent English-language newspaper in Sri Lanka, received a four-page, handwritten death threat regarding an article she published in…

Via a new citizen website, TalkBackTV MidEast, bloggers and activists in the Middle East can now openly criticize televised news. The site allows individuals to publish video commentary in…

What does free speech mean to you?

Join writers, journalists, activists and people from around the world in creating a public freedom of expression wall.

Get on the…

I have a question – do you think poverty simulations are a good thing?

Near the end of my last year in high school, a friend in our school’s Emergency club got an idea. The average person in the world lived on $2 a day, he said; we as students could take part in a simulation so that we could see how…

“Dear citizen, based on information we received you have fallen under the influence of the anti-security propaganda of media connected with foreign powers.”

“If you establish contact with media based outside the country, you will be guilty of…