Dec
30
2024
Dear Reader,
Undoubtedly you are receiving many of these emails at this time of year, and undoubtedly many of them hinge on the same point: The political landscape is horrifying, and progressive organizations need your money in order to resist—or just to survive.
I don’t believe in putting a positive spin on grim realities, and I’m not writing to encourage optimism. I am, however, writing with a simple reminder, which is that under conditions of autocracy and repression we need institutions and publications that can hold power to account. In the coming years, we can expect to see independent media face legal battles and other attacks on free speech. The would-be autocrat needs to destroy spaces of deliberation—the spaces where we negotiate our relationships to one another, the spaces where alternative narratives take shape.
This is why I’m asking you to support Jewish Currents right now—because in 2025, we are going to need this magazine. We are going to need reporting on the police targeting of student protesters. We are going to need investigations on the defunding of organizations that speak out on Gaza. We are going to need political art that can’t be seen elsewhere. All of that costs money—and because Jewish Currents relies on a wide network of supporters in order to remain independent, the magazine needs you.
If you give to Jewish Currents by the end of this year, your donation will be matched by board chairs Kathleen Peratis and Mark Egerman. If you want to ensure that journalists will be able to protect our democracy in the year to come, I can’t imagine a better way to have an impact.
I hope you’ll join me in ensuring that Jewish Currents can continue its important work in 2025.
Sincerely,
M. Gessen
