We’re at an inflection point in American history, with uprisings against racist police violence and the COVID-19 pandemic both laying bare longstanding injustices and inviting us to radically reimagine what society can look like. Now more than ever, there’s a need for news media that accurately reports the lived experiences and leadership of the people most impacted by the pressing issues of these times, and does so without resorting to faux-objective both sides-ism or amplifying policy solutions rooted in white supremacy.
That’s where we come in. Prism is a nonprofit news outlet that centers the people, places, and issues currently underreported by our national media. Led by an editorial team who are all women of color, we produce original reporting, analysis, and commentary that challenges the dominant, toxic narratives perpetuated by the mainstream press around issues of criminal justice, workers’ rights, racial justice, gender justice, electoral justice, and more.
Click here for sharable social media graphics.
Our staff reporters’ stories are rigorous, fact-based, and start from the ground up by leading with the perspectives of the people at the center of the issues we cover. Since the Black Lives Matter uprisings began, we’ve reported on the organizing work and policy demands of protesters, and challenged the outdated idea that our role as journalists is to respect and collaborate with powerful institutions rather than holding them accountable. Earlier this spring, as the COVID-19 pandemic ravaged prisons and jails, Tamar Sarai Davis turned to incarcerated people and their families to shine a light on the realities of being inside and how those both behind bars and outside them are partnering to fight for justice. Covering electoral justice, Anoa Changa has brought the work of organizers to the foreground, especially those in the South and the Midwest who are confronting voter suppression schemes head-on and working toward safe, accessible voting options. When Tina Vasquez uncovered the ways North Carolina poultry processing plants have been endangering workers amid widespread COVID-19 outbreaks, she did so by lifting up the stories of the Latino immigrant women who were brave enough to risk their livelihoods by coming forward. And as other news outlets and commentators fawned over the pandemic leadership of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Carolyn Copeland disrupted the white savior narrative to highlight mayors of color who were balancing the fight against both the pandemic and their own state’s right-wing governments at the same time.
Meanwhile, Prism’s senior fellows are movement leaders who offer invaluable perspectives from the front lines of social change, with former South Dakota State Sen. and co-founder of Advance Native Political Leadership Kevin Killer highlighting the power of Native American voters, Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors walking in the Civil Rights Movement tradition to bring jail reform to Los Angeles, and Justice for Migrant Women co-founder Monica Ramirez demanding justice and protection for farmworkers. We also work with many talented freelance contributors whose work uncovers more of the stories that need to be told.
