This Women’s History Month, we honor a legacy of women and femmes who refused to let our stories be ignored or erased from history. When institutions failed to accurately record injustice in queer and trans, Black, Indigenous, and marginalized communities, women directly combatted this erasure by creating their own outlets to ensure harm, resistance, and community life were part of our historical record.
This lineage has been carried forward across movements for generations:
- When abolitionist voices were suppressed, Mary Ann Shadd Cary founded The Provincial Freeman to report on Black political thought and organizing.
- When BIPOC feminist and queer writers were excluded from publishing, Barbara Smith co-founded Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press to publicize their work.
- When disabled folks were being institutionalized and mistreated, Judy Heumann used public testimony and media coverage to expose systemic abuse and demand civil rights protections.
Across these historical moments and so many more, documenting injustice made it harder to ignore and forced institutions to respond. This Women’s History Month, we honor this lineage of truth-tellers as a living act of resistance. At a time marked by book bans, attacks on inclusive education, and coordinated antagonism against Black, queer, trans, and disabled communities, women and femmes continue to document in real time and protect the truth of peoples’ lives. In doing so, they are safeguarding democracy–ensuring communities have the information needed to act, vote, organize, and challenge decisions that affect their lives.
As journalist and civil rights leader Ida B. Wells said, “The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them.” At Borealis Philanthropy, we’re proud to resource community-rooted media shining this light—a powerful counter to mis- and disinformation and a force for accountability. Below, we’re honored to spotlight just a few of our grantee partners, and the leadership of those who are unapologetically documenting this moment, ensuring today’s struggles and victories are not distorted or forgotten in our history.
“We understand ourselves as part of a larger group of people who are leveraging tools and skills — in our case journalism, narrative, and storytelling — to try and galvanize people to build power and then drive action.” – Cierra Brown Hinton, Director of Development, Blue Engine Collaborative & Board Member, Scalawag
Blue Engine Collaborative works with mission-driven news organizations to help them grow their audiences, diversify revenue streams, and build the internal systems and skills needed to sustain their work. By strengthening how newsrooms operate and fund their work, Blue Engine helps independent media thrive and better serve their communities. A few of the ways their programs include the State Accelerator program bolstering local newsrooms, Solutions Journalism Revenue Accelerators to help ensure local newsrooms can grow and be sustainability, and Digital Product Development Journey which supports Portuguese-language news organizations in developing digital news products.
“My belief is that all of the terrible things that are being done to trans people is because people don’t believe that we are human. And an antidote to that is to put our humanity front and center … we deserve human rights equal to everyone else.” – Imara Jones, Founder, TransLash
TransLash was founded by Imara Jones to protect and uplift trans storytelling in a media climate that too often distorts and dehumanizes trans lives. Through reporting, investigations, podcasts, and short films, TransLash examines how laws, healthcare systems, schools, and media narratives impact trans and nonbinary people in everyday life. By putting trans people in charge of telling their own stories, TransLash challenges harmful narratives, counters misinformation, and celebrates the joy and beauty of trans life. Their latest publications include podcasts, articles on Black trans leaders advancing justice, and community-sourced zines
“[Our reporting] sometimes, and most of the time, influences other media coverage, which is important to us, because that’s the point. It’s not owning a story, but… just influencing changes.” – Carla Minet, Executive Director and Editor at the Centro de Periodismo Investigativo
Policies that shape people’s lives are often intentionally written in ways that are hard for people to understand and access. The Centro de Periodismo Investigativo, led by Carla Minet, exposes how government and corporate decisions impact Puerto Rico and Puerto Rican and Latinx communities in the United States. Through in-depth investigative reporting, data analysis, and public records requests, the Centro uncovers corruption, misuse of public funds, and failures in public systems like housing, health, and the environment. By publishing this reporting in Spanish and English, the Centro ensure that communities have the information they need to challenge power, defend their rights, and protect their communities. Some of their latest coverage includes stories on housing and land justice, advocacy, and trans antagonism.
“A lot of times we overcomplicate what support has to look like, and we have to insert our ideas or insert ourselves into what that support looks like. I like to keep it simple and just listen to people, ask them what they want and give it to them. You have to engage with the communities. You can’t just come in and make decisions for people.” – Ranell Shubert, Executive Director of the Disability Media Alliance
Disabled folks are often missing from news coverage, or their stories are told by people who don’t share their experiences. Disability Media Alliance (DMA), led by Ranell Shubert, builds the funding, partnerships, and publishing pathways disabled journalists and nonfiction creators need to tell their own stories. Through grants, research, field-building, and relationships with media outlets and funders, DMA helps disabled storytellers produce pieces on access, healthcare, policy, culture, and everyday life from lived experience. By investing in disabled media makers, DMA expands who holds narrative power and challenges media systems that have long sidelined disability perspectives. Some of their latest highlights includes a podcast with Ranell, conference features, and empowering disabled storytellers.
“There came a point, about halfway through my career [as an Indigenous reporter], where I almost said, ‘to hell with that outside audience’. The outside world wants you to scrape away your local ties and your local thought; you have to be part of this big picture. I contribute because I can fit into the small pie [of my community]. That small pie is the reason I am valuable.” — Angel Ellis, Director of Mvskoke Media.
National media often highlights major legal cases or high-profile events in Indigenous communities, while everyday governance and community life receives less attention. MVSKOKE Media fills that gap for the Muscogee (Creek) Nation in present-day Oklahoma by covering National Council meetings, budget allocations, health and education programs, elections, and cultural events. Led by Angel Ellis, the outlet delivers reports on legislations, public services available, and community activities. By documenting governance and community life from within the Nation, MVSKOKE Media ensures community members stay informed and history is preserved. Some of their latest coverage includes stories on criminalization, health, and culture.
Resourcing the Work That Makes History
Across movements, women journalists and media workers have carried the work of documenting harm, challenging power, and preserving community memory—often under conditions of erasure, disinformation, and political pressure. Their work makes clear that information is not neutral; it shapes what communities understand about the world, which policies advance, and whether all people can fully participate in civic life.
For funders, protecting community journalists and the histories they are documenting in real time means backing community-rooted media who center women and femme leadership as essential to challenging harmful narratives and strengthening accountability. In practice, that looks like:
- Providing unrestricted, multi-year funding so community-based outlets can sustain reporting beyond crisis cycles.
- Resourcing local and movement-rooted media, not only national platforms, because communities trust those with the same lived experiences.
- Funding investigative, cultural, and community journalism together, recognizing that narrative, organizing, and political change are deeply intertwined.
- Staying in relationship with movement media for the long haul by supporting safety, care, and capacity as part of the work.
At Borealis, we believe community-rooted journalism is part of how movements protect their history, build power, and shape what becomes possible. We invite funders to join the Borealis community to pool and move resources to the frontlines of community-centered journalism, both through and beyond our Racial Equity in Journalism Fund. To learn more about partnering with us, please connect with us at development@borealisphilanthropy.org