Saima Desai

I am grateful to @desaima.bsky.social for this thoughtful review of FOR THE LONG HAUL! "The people likely to get the most from this book are those of us who have already gone through many cycles of boom-and-bust social movement activity, and who are looking for fuel that burns longer and cleaner."

“For the Long Haul” by Chris Dixon diagnoses the roots of burnout among organizers and offers lessons from movement elders to combat it. wagingnonviolence.org/2026/10/burn...

As burnout stalks our social movements, @withmovements.bsky.social has written a much-needed new book about sticking around on the left for the long haul. For @wagingnonviolence.org, I wrote a review: wagingnonviolence.org/2026/10/burn...

A major leader of the global far-right is gearing up to visit Canada this month. For @breachmedia.ca I wrote about the call by @justiceforallcn.bsky.social and 300+ other orgs to stop him from entering the country.

After a horrendous civilian massacre in Iran, many in the diaspora have been calling for U.S. intervention and even a return to monarchy In our latest @breachmedia.ca podcast, Donya Ziaee and @smohyeddin.bsky.social break down the right-wing power play for Iran youtu.be/Fm-Uc14FZCk?...

"[P]ower of decentralized organizing." "Scotiabank's latest financial statements show the bank has sold its remaining 165,000 shares in Elbit." "[O]ne of the biggest victories in Canada for the [BDS] movement." #Canada #Gaza #Palestine #Israel #Protest #Genocide #Weapons

Got to write about the best news of the week: the largest foreign shareholder in Israel’s biggest weapons company has just dumped all its shares. It's a truly historic Canadian BDS victory. breachmedia.ca/major-bds-vi...

As the search for work gets more desperate, queer and trans workers often see the worst sides of work. But they also come with brilliant solutions. @desaima.bsky.social introduces the five stories in On the Clock, written by this year’s Ken Popert Media Fellows

Okay! @desaima.bsky.social and I (but mostly Saima) have been working on a huge project that launched today. Five Canadian early-career BIPOC journalists came together to produce this editorial package on LGBTQ2S+ people and work @xtramagazine.com. xtramagazine.com/series/on-th...

"[J]ust as right-wing governments team up to demonize trans kids, public sector unions, religious minorities, and people who use drugs, the left must come together." "Saskatchewan shows a model for how this might be done." #Saskatchewan #Ontario #Alberta #Canada #Protest #Drugs #Education #Labour

Trans rights activists have joined forces with labour unions in Saskatchewan to fight anti-trans legislation It's a model that should be employed nationwide to combat laws against vulnerable groups, writes @desaima.bsky.social in our latest for @breachmedia.ca breachmedia.ca/trans-albert...

My latest for @breachmedia.ca: When Saskatchewan's government brought in anti-trans laws, unions pushed back. Right-wing premiers are using the notwithstanding clause to attack their culture-war punching bags. Solidarity between unions and trans advocates in SK shows how to put up a fight.

Canadian artists are bracing for cuts as PM Mark Carney signals austerity ahead of Tuesday's federal budget. Arts groups warn that slashing 15% could devastate a sector still recovering from the pandemic, @tombeedham.bsky.social reports. www.thegrindmag.ca/canadian-art...

New from me in @breachmedia.ca: It's easy to see Ford's war on bike lanes as a personal vendetta and an attempt to stir up a culture war. But more than that, it's part of a bigger pattern of Ford serving corporate interests – from real estate firms to Uber.

I'm running a paid mentorship program at @xtramagazine.com! I'll be mentoring five early-career BIPOC LGBTQ2S+ journalists to publish a package of writing about work. Mentees will be paid $1,000. Apply by Oct 27 & help me spread the word! #CdnMediaJobs xtramagazine.com/inside-xtra/...

On Saturday, Sept. 20, an unusual coalition of climate, migrant, and Indigenous groups are getting together to draw a line. They're pushing back against @mark-carney.bsky.social's hard right turn against Indigenous Peoples and migrants. I spoke to organizers about what the road ahead looks like:

I want to live in a Toronto that can support a paper like The Grind. Because a city that can sustain local indie media is a city that can be shaped by local indie media. Help The Grind reach our summer fundraising goal!

Over two thirds of Canadians live in suburbs. And when the left neglects organizing in those suburbs, we give up on reversing the right-wing tide across Canada. Aniket Kali and I talked to the organizers in the GTA who are working to turn the tide:

@btlbooks.com is halfway to their goal of funding a new graphic novel on the history of anti-fascism. I don't need to tell you how important it is to bring the lessons of anti-fascist resistance into the present right now. Pitch in to help BTL publish! www.kickstarter.com/projects/139...

The Grind is doing a food issue! Pitch us stories about the GTA's best roti, the food truck turf wars, the working conditions at your favourite restaurant, etc. Pitches due April 25 – but sooner is better.

I had the great honour (and great fun) of judging features for @canadamediaawards.bsky.social this year. Keep an eye out for nominations soon. 👀

"The device, which reads the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the air, showed CO2 levels as high as 3,500 parts per million (ppm) in his classroom." That's insane.

Crowded classrooms mean kids are breathing in viruses and pollution. Parents are trying to make the air safer, but hitting roadblocks. www.thegrindmag.ca/airborne-dan... @desaima.bsky.social @theingredientslist.bsky.social @mjnabuurs.bsky.social 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗹𝘆 𝘂𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀: CanadaHealthwatch.ca/newsletter 🍁

When kids are living with pandemics, wildfires, and pollution, filtering the air in their schools is a simple fix. So why is it such an uphill battle in Toronto? In the newest issue of @thegrindto.bsky.social I wrote about the parents fighting for clean air in Toronto classrooms:

SPECIAL ISSUE ANNOUNCEMENT Doug Ford called a snap election, so we're publishing an issue about his seven-year reign, out free in print in two weeks. We need $5,000 to make it happen. Chip in by: - E-transfer info[at]thegrindmag[dot]ca - Credit card: buy.stripe.com/6oE02D00TgZ4...

"Mainstream news [...] began to capitulate before he even took office." My brilliant @truthout.org colleagues @mayaschenwar.bsky.social, @neginowl.bsky.social, & @ziggywest.bsky.social on the urgent need for combative, principled movement media under a Trump presidency: truthout.org/articles/a-c...

The Hindutva-Conservative alliance in Canada: "you help us dictate the terms of Hindu nationalist education, and we’ll help you dictate the terms of gender and sexual identity education." @desaima.bsky.social and Aniket Kali for @thebreach.bsky.social #canpoli https://buff.ly/4hbidWq

NEW: Aniket Kali and I dig into the growing alliance between Hindu nationalists and the Conservative Party of Canada. The CPC has won over a majority of Hindu voters, with help from right-wing Hindu groups. If the CPC is elected, these groups want Hindu nationalist policy in return. #canpoli

Written by my sister @emanabdelhadi.bsky.social Has the fire ceased? Have the leaders of institutions that sanctioned our slaughter repented? Have the weapons manufacturers been seized? Have the halls of power been turned over to the masses? inthesetimes.com/article/isra...

Please, please read Shahad Ali writing from Gaza in @truthout.org today on "plans - tiny hopeful plans" she made for her life post-ceasefire. "There was a quiet understanding that this ceasefire, though temporary, had given us something priceless — a moment to reconnect with what had been lost."

All eyes on Gaza. The ceasefire agreement doesn’t begin for 72 hours and Israel is on a killing spree.

As the U.S. declares that Sudan’s RSF have committed genocide during the country’s ongoing civil war, this episode of Movement Memos unpacks what the world is missing about Sudan’s struggle. “This war is not a civil war, it’s a war of military elites against the entire civilian population.”

Despite the fact that Seattle is home to 11 billionaires and 54,200 millionaires, the city had planned to close up to 21 schools due to massive budget shortfall.

Love this argument by @freepress.bsky.social's Alex Frandsen in @truthout.org for building up local media as part of our movements' plans to confront authoritarianism – "both to protect people in the short term and to rebuild our democracy over the long haul," he writes. truthout.org/articles/wit...

A little biased, but I think the work Truthout is doing in this moment is so crucial, and we have lots planned for Trump's day one - and all of the days after that. I'm so proud of what our small and mighty independent newsroom offers each day but we definitely can't do it alone!

Some of the fundraising language we use at Truthout is easy to gloss over but it's actually pretty remarkable -- we're nonprofit, union, have no ads, no paywall and we're primarily funded by small donations. It's a hell of a business model but we need an urgent boost to take it further in 2025.

Truthout is running our most important fundraiser of the year, which will decide the scale of work we’ll be able to do in 2025. We're preparing to cover Trump's blizzard of executive orders, while defending Truthout against his coming assault on progressive media. You can be part of our work. ⤵️

The new issue of Stateville Speaks, the newspaper by & for incarcerated people in Illinois, is online! This issue focuses on IL's project of closing prisons--and building "state of the art" prisons to replace them, expanding & entrenching structural injustice. static1.squarespace.com/static/670d6...

Bluesky vs. Facebook vs. X I’ve seen some good posts recently about the engagement on Bluesky vs other platforms and wanted to add some data from Truthout’s pages to the conversation. Please take a moment to repost and help us spread the word about how truly nightmarish Facebook and X are.

Hi friends! I've joined the exodus (X-odus?) and will be here on Bluesky posting about indie media, media literacy, left-wing politics, and the like. And, of course, about our work at @truthout.org – which is growing more complex, high-stakes, and essential by the day.