menu Menu

Many Standing Rocks: Three Years and Still Fighting

An interview with Sicangu Lakota Spiritual Activist and Water Protector Cheryl Angel

The third anniversary of the Water Protectors movement at Standing Rock passed by quietly earlier this month. With the pipeline construction industry booming across the U.S. and Canada, Donald Trump seeking to bulldoze the cancelled Keystone XL Pipeline through more than 800 miles of unceded Lakota treaty territory, and at least nine state governments working […]

Continue reading


Writing for our childrens' future

We're helping our heroes find their voices.

Call it democratization of the media, call it citizen journalism, or simply call it frontline storytelling – The Esperanza Project is empowering the voices of people on the flashpoints of movements for social and environmental justice from Argentina to Ecuador, Panama to Mexico, and of course back at our home base in the U.S. of […]

Continue reading


She Started a Movement that Speaks for the Forests

An interview with Joan Maloof, founder of the Old-Growth Forest Network

It’s not every day that one bumps into a visionary – but it seems to be happening more often these days. On the “dance floor” of a very special beach party, on the wild Pacific Coast of Oaxaca, we found ourselves face to face with the founder of a movement to protect those rare and […]

Continue reading


The Circus of Life  

Seaside performance awakens connection with nature

Review by Ana Ruiz Photos by Tracy L. Barnett ZIPOLITE, OAXACA – Nine actors emerge as bats, bees, butterflies and wild felines, pollinating and controlling crop pests as they weave a fabulous dance into the web of life. Monsanto suddenly steps onto the stage, depicted as a fat man with a briefcase and a sprayer, […]

Continue reading


Amazonian Artivistas 

Ecuadorian muralists use art to generate excitement about the astounding biodiversity of the Pastaza region 

PUYO, ECUADOR — A handful of urban artivistas in this small Amazonian city in Ecuador started out 2019 by bringing the walls of the public works offices a new type of mural that Puyo has never seen before. Local artists Estiven Mera “Steep”, Pedro Tapuy “Pedrote”, Israel Vinces “Irki”, Jordy Yucailla “Jah”, and Miguel Tapuy […]

Continue reading


Esperanza Project celebrates 10 years of hope

Inspiration thrives in times of darkness: That's what a decade of coverage of social movements in the Americas reveals.

At the dawn of 2019, thousands of Latin American asylum seekers huddle in tent cities along our southern borders, having risked their lives for the hope of a better future for their families. Thousands of children languish in concentration camps and detention centers scattered around the country, their parents unable to claim them. Americans wonder […]

Continue reading


From Ferguson to the Frontera

Elizabeth Vega: “Music and art should be the heartbeat of every movement.”

Elizabeth Vega has been incorporating art into her own work – as a journalist, a poet, a hospice and social worker and an activist – for decades. But it wasn’t until the shooting death of Mike Brown at the hands of St. Louis police officers that she began to truly understand the power of art […]

Continue reading


The Godmother of Craftivism

Betsy Greer on the hidden power of craft, empowerment as activism and craftivism through the ages

Betsy Greer is one of the most unassuming people you’ll ever meet. She’s much more interested in promoting other peoples’ work than her own. Still, her impact, as the one who first popularized the concept of craftivism, has crossed continents and changed lives. As a sociologist, her approach has been one of intellectual curiosity combined […]

Continue reading


A Kinder, More Beautiful Activism

Sarah Corbett demonstrates the quiet power of craftivism

Gentle is not the same as weak. If you don’t believe it, just askSarah Corbett. I first encountered Sarah in my research for a story on activism for introverts. Her now famous Ted Talk inspired me to seek her out, and luckilyfor me, she responded, leading to several stories – one for RiceBusiness Wisdom and […]

Continue reading


Eagle and condor meet in visionary gathering of souls

CHALMITA, Mexico State, Mexico – Long before the sun appears over the towering white cliffs all around us, this temporary village comes to life. The guardians of the ceremonial fire are stoking the flames for the temazcal; the kitchen crew is chopping and peeling and stirring; smoke is rising from the women’s tipi. Suddenly the […]

Continue reading



Previous page Next page

keyboard_arrow_up