There were thousands of organizers, activists and local social justice leaders around the world who died in 2018. These people may not have made the headlines, but they did crucial work in their local communities. Making Contact brings you some of the voices and stories of this year’s Fallen Heroes.
Special thanks to Discover Nikkei.
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Dorothy Cotton, civil rights pioneer
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Aiko Herzig-Yoshinaga, researcher and Japanese internment survivor — remembered by Karen Ishizuka, chief curator at the Japanese American National Museum
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Muhiyidin Moye aka D’Baha, Black Lives Matter Charleston leader — remembered by Kim Duncan, sister of Muhiyidin Moye
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Marielle Franco, Brazilian activist and Rio de Janeiro city councilor — remembered by Allyne Andrade, Brazilian lawyer and human rights activist
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Ray Hill, LGBTQ and prison activist — remembered by Annise Parker, former mayor of Houston and President and CEO of the LGBTQ Victory Fund and Victory Institute
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Saw O Moo, Burmese environmental and human rights activist — remembered by Hsa Moo, Karen Environmental and Social Action Network media coordinator
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Kiilu Nyasha, Black Panther and host of “Freedom is a Constant Struggle” — remembered by Billy X Jennings, Black Panther archivist
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Ursula Le Guin, science fiction novelist
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We’ve borne witness to a chaotic first few months in Trump’s presidency.
Over the last months, each executive order has delivered shock and bewilderment — a core part of a strategy to make the right-wing turn feel inevitable and overwhelming. But, as organizer Sandra Avalos implored us to remember in Truthout last November, “Together, we are more powerful than Trump.”
Indeed, the Trump administration is pushing through executive orders, but — as we’ve reported at Truthout — many are in legal limbo and face court challenges from unions and civil rights groups. Efforts to quash anti-racist teaching and DEI programs are stalled by education faculty, staff, and students refusing to comply. And communities across the country are coming together to raise the alarm on ICE raids, inform neighbors of their civil rights, and protect each other in moving shows of solidarity.
It will be a long fight ahead. And as nonprofit movement media, Truthout plans to be there documenting and uplifting resistance.
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