Contributors

Adrián Jiménez is the founding Editor-in-Chief of 12th Street, a literary journal published by the Riggio Honors Program at The New School. His novel, The Cheese Smuggler, is represented by Deborah Carter at Muse Literary Management. He has published in the Brooklyn Rail, Chelsea Now, The Villager, and Downtown Express. He lives in South Beach, Miami with his wife who is a physician.

A New Jersey native, Ahmet Sibdial Sau is an accomplished Media specialist, photographer, director of photography and photo editor. He has worked for Time Magazine, Black Book Magazine, Food Arts, New York Magazine, Food & Wine, City Magazine, Art Flash International, Essence Magazine, American Express and New York Times as well as numerous leading Non government organizations (NGO) and book publishers.

Amanda is a New York City-based researcher. Her experience includes refugee resettlement in Worcester, MA; working for Ambassadors Bill Milam and Alan Goulty at the Wilson Center in Washington, D.C.; and as a researcher on the World Policy Institute's “Dangerous Speech Along the Path to Mass Violence” project. Currently Amanda works with Fireside Research. Amanda graduated from The College of the Holy Cross with a B.A. in Studies in World Literature and from Seton Hall with an M.A.

Anam Khan is a marketing and financial research professional. She holds a B.A. in English Language and Literature and a minor in International Relations from Smith College. After graduating in 2010, she worked as a Marketing Associate and Research Analyst at Wealth-X, a financial services start up that produces qualitative and quantitative intelligence on ultra high net worth (UHNW) individuals. Anam also worked in the non-profit management consulting industry before joining Wealth-X. She gained additional experience in publishing and government relations prior to receiving her Bachelors.

After working for around eight years as a computer programmer in investment banking I returned to university to study on the New School's Graduate Program in International Affairs (GPIA). I graduated in May 2008 and am now working in the Human Development Report Office at UNDP. I participated in the China (Kunming) IFP in Summer 2007. I wrote my thesis on microcredit. Whilst on the program I helped out a little with GPIA Student Government, I was also pleased to be able to organize a series of events about the Congo.

Anthony P. (Tony) Johnson is a preacher, activist, organizer, and writer. As a minister and consultant, he works with congregations, community organizations, and multifaith alliances on issues of racial and economic justice. Based at the Community Church of New York Unitarian Universalist, he also works with congregations in Meriden, Connecticut and Englewood, New Jersey. His intellectual work is at the intersection of theology, sociology, poetry, and the street.

Arie Amaya-Akkermans is a freelance writer & occasional journalist. Story-teller about contemporary art from Lebanon, Turkey and the Arabian Gulf. Half in exile, half at home, always in transit; looking for inverted Odysseys. 

Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, Bennett is finishing his degree in International Relations at the University of St Andrews in Scotland and will enter the MSc African Studies program at Oxford University this autumn. Bennett has founded two student human rights advocacy organizations, worked in a leadership capacity on human rights campaigns in North America and Europe, and has lobbied and met with members of U.S. Congress, Scottish and British Parliaments, and European Parliament on human rights and environmental issues.

Caty Gordon received her BA from Virginia Tech in English, and will receive her MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia University in 2013. She advocates for social justice, the empowerment of women, and “sticking it to the man.”

Chris Haddix, Editor of The Mantle, studied philosophy at the New School for Social Research, where he focused on Phenomenlogy, Enlightenment eroticism, and Anarchist theory. He lives in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, and can usually be found tending his garden.

Corinne Goldenberg has a B.A. in Women and Gender Studies with a concentration in Cultural and Ethnic Studies from Smith College and a M.A. in International Affairs from the New School, where she dually concentrated in Media and Cultural Studies and International Development. She has had the privilege of living and studying in some of the best film cities in the world—Paris, Bombay, New York. She explores the ways through which political forces interact with art and culture, particularly focusing on modes of intercultural communication, for better or for worse.

Cæmeron Crain is pursuing his PhD in Philosophy at the New School for Social Research, and teaches as an adjunct lecturer in New York City. He earned his M.A. in Philosophy, as well as a B.A. in Communications, from Kent State University in Kent, Ohio.

Danny Schechter became the “News Dissector” as a newscaster on WBCN in Boston. The nickname stuck as his nom de media guerre. He’s still doing it as a blogger, author, filmmaker, and troublemaker. You can reach him at dissector(at)mediachannel.org and read more by Danny at his News Dissector blog here. His latest documentary is Plunder: The Crime of Our Time.

Professor David J. R. Frakt earned his B.A., summa cum laude, from the University of California, Irvine and his J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School. After law school, he clerked for the Honorable Monroe G. McKay, former Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. From 1995 to 2005, he served on active duty with the U.S. Air Force Judge Advocate General's Corps (JAG) before transitioning to academia and the Air Force Reserves, where he is now a Lieutenant Colonel.

Dorjee is a Shanghai-based reporter who works for a Western media organization; many of the stories he has worked on have enjoyed great popularity both in the West and in China. Prior to moving to Shanghai, Dorjee worked for a major Chinese Internet company, where he covered business and economic news. While he received education in the United States, Dorjee spends most of his time in China. Dorjeecairang is a Chinese-Tibetan.

Born in Senegal, El Hadji came to United States in 1996 with a degree in civil engineering. After a twelve year career in the construction industry as an estimator, El Hadji started a social business focused on African development. He speaks English, French, Wolof (Senegal), and Bambara (Mali), and enjoys playing basketball, good food, and his family.  

Emmanuel Iduma was born in Akure, Nigeria. He obtained a degree in Law from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. His interests range widely, including web technology, digital art, visual art, and creative writing. Emmanuel works mainly as a writer of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, and has won awards and received recognition in each genre.

Eric Anthamatten is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the New School for Social Research in New York City. His work focuses on philosophy, education, and social justice, more specifically on issues surrounding education in marginal, non-traditional, and non-academic settings: the prison, adult education, the homeless. Eric received an M.A. in Philosophy from Texas A&M University as well as a Bachelor of Science in Political Science and a minor in electronic music.

Erika Klein is an author and freelance writer who spent many years serving the community through volunteer work, board of directorships and performing media work and public education. Self-taught and a survivor of Canada's child welfare system, she spends most of her time championing and furthering the human rights for those who are vulnerable and at risk. She's also the proud mother of a lovely daughter.

Evan Lewis is currently the Research Associate at WorldPublicOpinion.org, where he participates in the creation and analysis of international polls on issues, such as Human Rights, democracy, Climate Change, international institutions, diplomacy, and terrorism.  At the same time Evan has worked with the Program on International Policy Attitudes, which studies American attitudes on domestic and international issues, such as US involvement in Iraq, Trade, Non-proliferation, America’s role in the world, and Healthcare Policy.

I am a Ugandan. Born in Uganda. Grew up in Uganda. Studied in Uganda. An African. I also happen to be gay, and that small fact has come to change my life, and rule my destiny. From the time that I found that I was different, to the time I embraced and then wore with pride my difference. I started to write of my life to vent, something that I could not do in my country. But now, I write to celebrate the life that I have been able to live, as a Ugandan who is gay in Uganda. Read my blog here - http://gayuganda.blogspot.com/.

Grace Kim immigrated to South Africa with her family at the age of two, and is currently studying at Universiteit Stellenbosch for her MA in English with a focus on marginalized South African narratives. She loves bubbles, likes strawberries, dislikes cigarette smoke, and hates the feeling of nausea. When she’s not going through existential crises about her writing, her drug of choice is poetry and has had some of her work published by local journals and publications. Writing reviews is a new adventure for her. 

Jake Perry is a media-everyman with experience in evaluating, directing, and assessing multiple media campaigns across varied mediums. Also a seasoned researcher and writer specializing in digital media, Jake graduated from The New School University with an MA in International Affairs in January 2010. Currently, Jake spends his time watching social media's steady march while writing and working from his home in upstate New York.

See his other blogs here and here.

Jika González is a freelance journalist, photographer and multimedia producer from Mexico City. She is currently pursuing her master's degree at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York City. Jika has gained experience at Magnum Photos, BizBash Media, Conde Nast Traveler, and CNN's Mexico City bureau. For more information please visit www.jikagonzalez.com.

John Schellhase is a returned Peace Corps volunteer who served in the Philippines. During his twenty-seven month assignment, John taught English and education courses at the University of Antique, led HIV/AIDS prevention seminars, and conducted professional development trainings for Filipino teachers. He received a B.A. with a double-major in English and Classical Studies from the University of Arkansas in 2006. In the fall of 2011, he will begin an M.S. in Global Affairs at New York University.

Jonathan David Amid was born in Israel and moved to South Africa at the age of four. He is currently pursuing a Masters in English Literature at Stellenbosch University.

Karl Fotovat studies and teaches philosophy and psychoanalysis in New York. He represses literary aspirations, runs a nonprofit prevarication organization for the wealthy, helps young ladies cross the street, and wavers between sardonicism and misanthropy.

Kavitha Rajagopalan is a writer and policy analyst. As a senior fellow at the World Policy Institute, she has written and lectured widely on global migration, and taught courses at NYU's Center for Global Affairs. She has worked as a consultant for financial services and social justice organizations, and as a journalist in the U.S., Germany and India.

Larisa Bomlitz holds an M.P.H. and an M.A. in International Affairs and currently lives and works in New York city, NY.