Utne Reader’s Top 50
Last week, Utne recognized “50 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World.”
I’ll start by saying how proud I am that a conference I helped found, the Allied Media Conference, was given a shout out – but I also want to appreciate how much Utne has supported independent media – not just because it’s cool recently, but they’ve been doing it forever, and steadfastly. They continue that by also recognizing Jess Hoffmann (former Clamor editor, and co-founder of the new, amazing make/shift magazine), blogger brownfemipower, the Center for Independent Media, and Free Press among many other writers and journalists.
I was also very pleased at the breadth if issues they cover here – from Edward Tick‘s work with veterans, to an issue near and dear to my heart – environmental activism (where they profile Energy Action‘s Billy Parish among others).
But I am most pleased at the number of truly radical people profiled. By radical, I mean individuals who have a truly deep critique of capitalism and other root causes of social issues, and who are truly working for social change. They’ve included for example, Adrienne Marie Brown, Rinku Sen, and Favianna Rodriguez. Also nice that they’ve recognized a lot of women.
Although I may have made a few different choices – and really, couldn’t the list be in the thousands? – this is a great resource, and I’m glad each of these individuals is receiving recognition for their work. In this challenging time, everyone needs support for their work, and this definitely helps. I hope you read the article and are inspired this work. Thanks, Utne.
