Dear IMC Friends,

Thank you for an incredible year of People’s Media! 

The IMC remains a living example of what people can build when they share resources, practice trust and transparency, and create space for collective imagination. Here are some reminders of all we’ve done in 2025 that we’ll build on in 2026. 

Events Led or Co-Sponsored by the IMC

January 30th, Mayoral Candidate Forum with Ruby Mendenhall's poetry to open the debate 

February 6th, Media Salon on Palestine and disability

April 26th, Voices of Freedom Speakers Showcase

July 5th, Summer of Solidarity @ IMC

October 2nd, Bread and Puppet at Lincoln Square

October 24-26th, IMC’s 25th Anniversary Celebration with intergenerational connection, panels, performances, storytelling and songs!

November 2nd, Belden Fields Memorial Celebration with presentation of new Activist Mural Portrait

Our Working Groups, self-organized volunteer-led projects that help fulfill our shared mission, had a lot of updates to share at our yearly General Membership Meeting . . . 

From Our Working Groups

• Books to Prisoners 
  • Still navigating restrictions from IDOC, which have only gotten worse. Mail scanning and digitization rules don’t apply to books right now, but the inserts we put in books may get impacted by the new rules. It’s not interrupting our operations at this time. 
  • We got back into 2 prisons that stopped accepting our orders a few years ago 
  • We had 2 excellent book sales and are hitting our stride with fundraising. 
• Makerspace
  • We have expanded our open hours to Thursdays and Saturdays, have a new repair cafe and workshops. We are part of the national repair cafe network and many people are coming to get our help in fixing things. 
  • We received donations of new printers, equipment, and we are beginning to clean and organize the space
  • A grant funded create classes - stained glass, Day of the Dead, and more
• WRFU, 104.5 FM
  • New shows = Teen Summit Radio, Radio Q’anjobal, spanish language show, and Riot Radio from NYC 
  • We now have 28 shows. Donations and underwriting are welcome! 
  • We want to promote IMC events  

• Zine Library
  • An enthusiastic new group of volunteers focused more on making - every month there will be a new zine making activity 
  • Traveling Zine making activities to raise participation. 
  • New “Zine News” publication, we are also planning to redo the organizing and shelving in the zine space 
• Public i
  • We’ve published 6 issues and had articles about the whole world - Gaza, Sudan, and more - but also with a local focus. Also focusing on immigration in CU
  • We connect with people at the farmer’s market to write about issue - all are welcome to write! 
  • 12 people on editorial collective and looking for more folks! 

You Held 113 Meetings So Far This Year!

The IMC also provides free meeting space to our members because we know there is deep wisdom and problem-solving in our community. In the first three quarters of the year we have hosted 113 community meetings with more than 1,035 people participating. Our community is self-organizing by gathering for book clubs, support groups, campaign planning for justice, and more! 

Thank you for showing up, for supporting each other, and for sustaining this community-powered institution.

Your involvement is a reminder that People’s Media is alive and evolving — because of you.

In gratitude,
Miriam Larson, Executive Director, Independent Media Center