Right now, Voice of Witness needs your help to make possible a groundbreaking new collection of oral histories from the innocent men and women who have been subject to hate crimes, discrimination, profiling and other injustices after 9/11.
Our forthcoming book documenting post-9/11 injustice seeks to tell the life stories of the innocent men and women who have been needlessly swept up in the ‘war on terror.’ Our narrators include people like the young Sikh man brutally assaulted simply for wearing a turban; the hard-working academic, subjected to suspicion and placed on FBI ‘watch lists’, and the families whose schools, mosques and community centers have been vandalized.
These are members of our community whose voices must be heard.
Voice of Witness cofounder Dave Eggers says of the project: “Though I’d been aware of it through the news and other means, I learned firsthand, while researching Zeitoun, the intense scrutiny, prejudice and misinformation that plagues Arab- and Muslim-Americans. Their stories need to be told, and Alia Malek’s Voice of Witness book will be an essential tool in the process of American self-education about the lives of the innocents swept up in the War on Terror.”
We need your help to make this book possible. Our work depends on the generous financial support of individuals, foundations and businesses. Each collection we produce costs us roughly $50,000. This involves a full year of work: in-depth research, training and sending interviewers into the field, transcription and fact checking, editing, publishing and finally, public events and outreach. This is just a snapshot of what goes into creating each book, and as a nonprofit organization, we depend on the support of people just like you.
Right now, in order to begin sending interviewers into the field we need to raise at least $7,000 from the members of our community who believe in this project and our mission.
Can you help make this important project a reality?
Your support for Voice of Witness today will empower our narrators to share their stories with generations of readers.
Thank you, from all of us at Voice of Witness. Your time, enthusiasm and generosity are truly appreciated!
To make a donation to help launch this important project, click here.
Photo courtesy of Stephanie Keith.
