Media Salons are a new monthly discussion space during Community Nights at the IMC. Each month, facilitators will recommend 1-3 stories to read or watch or listen to; you can do that beforehand or come and read together at the beginning of the event. This is a drop-in discussion group and is free and open to the public. The goal is to lift up media from alternative news sources that tell stories of resistance, creative response, and/or social movement history. 

We held our first Media Salon on Thursday, December 5th facilitated by Miriam Larson and Sana Saboowala. We read “For a Liberated Palestine,” by Julia Luz Betancourt fromYes Magazin (Online Nov 18th, 2024). We watched "Trying to Survive," a short film dance troupe that practices a traditional dance called dabke in the occupied West Bank.

Here are some notes from our conversation:

Some key points:

The work artists do for resistance is organized and inspiring
Art is a powerful tool to shape narratives
The media landscape is such that discernment is so important when consuming media
We need to listen to Indigenous, Black, and Brown people

Where to get information on Palestine:

American Prestige (podcast)
Antiwar.com (website)
Citations Needed (podcast)
Zeteo (website)
Taylor Lorenz (journalist)
TeenVogue (website)
The 19th News (website)
The Lavender Newsletter (subscription print newsletter)
Pick me up, I’m scared (podcast)
Al Jazeera (website)
Derecka Purnell (author)
972+ Magazine (website/newsletter)
Middle East Eye (website)
Sara Rammal on Instagram, on the ground in Lebanon (@sara_rammal_)
Nada Jamil Rayyan on Instagram, on the ground in Deir Al-Balah (@nada.jamil_)
Shatha Rayyan on Instagram, on the ground in Deir Al-Balah (@shatha_rayyan)
Amal Obeid on Instagram, on the ground in Lebanon (@amallobeid)
Hasan Al-Ostaz on Instagram, on the ground in Deir Al-Balah (@hasanmohammed434)
Nicky Phillips on Instagram, transmasc pro-Palestine graphic designer in AZ (@minicmanor)
Faith Ryan on Instagram, local organizer raising funds for people on the ground in Gaza (@fay.moo), linktr.ee/faithryann

Media Salon participants add recommended alternative
media sources to a poster.

Potential sources for future media salons:

The Public I
The Lavender Newsletter
adrienne marie brown
Rashid Khalidi’s 100 Years War
Octavia Butler
Ta-Nehesi Coates’ The Message
Ricardo Levins Morales, Art for the People
The Intercept
Crimethinc

Topics:

Climate Change
Consumerism
Housing
Prison Industrial Complex Abolition
Historic Activist Groups
Wellness/Stress

Mediums:

Podcasts
Textiles
Music
Dance
Books
Documentary

Stay tuned for our next Media Salon in February!