Voice of Witness is a 501(c)(3) registered non-profit book series that empowers those most closely affected by contemporary social injustice. Using oral history as a foundation, the series depicts human rights crises around the world through the stories of the men and women who experience them.
Our mission is to:
- Empower those most closely affected by contemporary human rights injustices
- Engender greater awareness, discussion and action in response to these injustices
- Provide our readers—from high school students to educators, policy makers and advocates—with compelling, reality-based human rights documentation that can be used for teaching, training and advocacy.
Voice of Witness books provide a reality-based understanding of ongoing injustices in the United States and around the world. They have been taught in colleges and schools throughout the world, and have been adopted as key resources by national advocacy groups and their member affiliates, including the ENOUGH project, STAND and the Save Darfur Coalition.
PRAISE FOR VOICE OF WITNESS
“These books are amazing…beautifully produced, with incredible editing and literary sensibility. Voice of Witness has done a better job than I’ve seen anybody do with having people tell their stories in a way that really engages you.” Rachel Maddow, MSNBC, Air America
“The series does not so much weave a tapestry from different experiences as braid a rope, a lifeline by which we might haul ourselves into a less ignorant, more actively compassionate future. In them, the specific illuminates the general, destroying preconceptions, stereotypes, and cop-out responses along the way.”
Richard Vernon, Sojourners Magazine
“In a time when history is told in cheap television re-enactments, if at all, and personal tragedy is gobbled up in rapidly digestible magazine photos and reality shows, this project goes against the grain.”
Guardian UK
So far, Voice of Witness has produced four books—Surviving Justice: America’s Wrongfully Convicted and Exonerated, Voices from the Storm: The People of New Orleans on Hurricane Katrina and Its Aftermath, and Underground America: Narratives of Undocumented Lives. The fourth book in the series, Out of Exile: The Abducted and Displaced People of Sudan was released this winter.
Every month we send out a newsletter to keep readers informed of current projects, upcoming events, special offers and ways to get involved. If you would like to receive this newsletter, click here.
As a non-profit, we rely on your support to continue our mission of giving voice to those most affected by human rights injustices. Current and forthcoming projects include books on Burma, Congo, Zimbabwe and women in prison. If you would like to help us, please visit our DONATE and VOLUNTEER links on this site.
We are grateful to have many incredible foundations and organizations supporting our work. Click here to learn more about Voice of Witness’ Donors and Partners.
VOICE OF WITNESS BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Dave Eggers
Author, Publisher
Lola Vollen
Institute for International Studies, University of California, Berkeley
Visiting Scholar
Life After Exoneration Program
Executive Director
Jill Stauffer
Asst. Professor of Philosophy
John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY
VOICE OF WITNESS BOARD OF ADVISORS
Roger Cohn
Former Editor-in-Chief
Mother Jones
Mark Danner
Author, Professor
UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism
Harry Kreisler
Executive Director
Institute of International Studies
UC Berkeley
Martha Minow
Dean
Harvard Law School
Samantha Power
Professor
Kennedy School of Government
Harvard University
John Prendergast
Co-chair
The ENOUGH Project
Orville Schell
Professor & Dean
UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism
William T. Vollmann
Author
FOUNDING ADVISOR
Studs Terkel (Deceased)
Author, Oral Historian
VOICE OF WITNESS STAFF
Mimi Lok
Executive Director
Chris Ying
Managing Editor
Juliana Sloane
Development & Communications Associate
Cliff Mayotte
Education Program Director
Voice of Witness is funded in part by the California Arts Council, a state agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. Click here to learn more about Voice of Witness’ Donors and Partners.
