Voice of Witness

James Mackay, a documentary photographer whose work was featured in ‘Voices From Burma‘ — an event presented last year by Voice of Witness, the Magnum Foundation, the Open Society Foundations and PEN American Center at the Asia Society in New York — has released a new collection of photos chronicling formerly imprisoned monks returning to their monastery after years in prison. Click here to view this stunning collection of photographs.

Click here to learn more about Nowhere to be Home, Voice of Witness’ collection of oral histories from Burma and the diaspora.

Next month, Voice of Witness editors Ayelet Waldman, Robin Levi and Peter Orner will be speaking at upcoming events in New York and California. We hope to see you there!

In New York:

February 7th, 2012: Join Robin Levi and Ayelet Waldman for a discussion of Inside This Place, Not of It, at Columbia University. Click here for details.

February 8th, 2012: Join Robin Levi, Ayelet Waldman, and Inside This Place, Not of It narrator Francesca Salavieri for a reading and talk at NYU. Click here for details.

In California:

February 13th, 2012: Join Peter Orner (editor of Voice of Witness titles Underground America and Hope Deferred) in conversation with Peter Godwin (The Fear) for a discussion of life and struggle in Zimbabwe at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco. …

Voice of Witness is proud to announce that our new teaching resource created in collaboration with the Korematsu Institute is now available online. The resource booklet features excerpts from Patriot Acts: Narratives of Post-9/11 Injustice alongside lesson plans that focus on building awareness and empathy as well as fostering a deeper understanding of contemporary civil rights issues in the U.S. So far, this booklet has been distributed as part of a free teacher’s kit to more than 500 educators in preparation for January 30th- California’s second annual Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution.

Click here to download a copy of this resource today.

Interested in learning more about teaching with Patriot Acts or another Voice of Witness title? Just contact our …

In the last days of 2011, The Nation and The Christian Science Monitor featured articles by Patriot Acts: Narratives of Post-9/11 Injustice editor Alia Malek concerning the issue of unlawful detention on U.S. soil.

In The Nation, Alia tells the story of Shukri Abu-Baker, imprisoned in the highly secretive Communication Management Unit (CMU) in Terre Haute, Indiana, with severe limits on communication with his family.  Click here to read the full article.

In The Christian Science Monitor, Malek denounces the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which authorizes the indefinite detention of American citizens suspected of terrorism. The Act was signed into law by President Obama on New Year’s Eve. Click here to read the full article.

Also in the news, Patriot Acts narrator Talat Hamdani was featured on the New …

Join Peter Orner, editor of Voice of Witness titles Hope Deferred: Narratives of Zimbabwean Lives and Underground America: Narratives of Undocumented Lives, in conversation with Peter Godwin, author of The Fear at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco. Orner and Godwin will discuss their work, human rights in Zimbabwe, and the power of storytelling for social justice.

“Hope Deferred might be the most important publication to have come out of Zimbabwe in the past thirty years.” – Alexandra Fuller, Harper’s Magazine

“[The Fear is] a document that should be read by anyone interested in the sacrifices that people are willing to make for the sake of democracy.” – The New York Times

Event details:
Monday, February 13 at 7 pm
Jewish Community Center of San Francisco
3200 California St.
Members $17 | Public $20 | Student $10

For more …

This week, the Bay State Banner featured a moving review of our latest title, Inside This Place, Not of It: Narratives From Women’s Prisons, edited by Robin Levi and Ayelet Waldman and created in partnership with Justice Now.

The review included an interview with Robin Levi, who says, “I wanted people to see who these women are that we’re putting inside. When people see them and hear their voices, they’ll ask—are we safer because they’re inside? Are our communities safer? What are we solving  my doing this? These women deserve more from us and we deserve more as a community and as a society.”

Click here to read the full review.

This month, Nowhere to be Home editor Zoë West and special guests will host a reading in Chiang Mai, Thailand, as well as a discussion with the participants and guests from the School for Shan State Nationalities Youth (SSSNY). The event is presented by The Best Friend Library. To learn more about the event, click here.
Event details:

Sunday 8 January 2012
7 – 8:30 p.m.
Sangdee Gallery
5 Sirimankalajarn Road,
Soi 5 • Chiang Mai