Linking Writers and Editors

Project Word serves as an editor-at-large to link appropriate publications with relevant writers, mostly writers of color, working in specific areas. We focus on a dynamic interrelation of several broad issues—racial and economic justice, human rights, community health, environmental justice, indigenous sovereignty, and biocultural preservation—through three loosely organized programs. Writers can apply to any program by filling out the general application found in writers' qualifications.

The Free Speech Program

Identifies and introduces diverse viewpoints by writers of color in the form of personal essays, interviews, poetry, editorials, and literature in translation.

The Native Voices Program

Identifies, develops, and introduces pieces related to indigenous communities, including articles by native writers and indigenous leaders. Our current focus is the impact of climate change in indigenous communities.

The Journalism Program

Identifies, develops, and introduces proposals and articles by journalists of color. Our latest article, commissioned by The Nation Institute, appears in the June 15, 2009, edition of The Nation magazine and covers Afro-indigenous communities in Colombia. A sister operation is the George Washington Williams Fellowship for minority journalists.