Dear Toward Freedom Friends:

If you've visited the website recently you know that I am writing you from a federal prison camp in Danbury, Connecticut. No, I did not abscond with TF funds, or get caught trafficking drugs. I'm here, along with 31 other protesters who self reported to federal prisons across the country on April 11, for trespassing at a military base in Colombus, Georgia, where the School of Americas is located; the school that trains Latin American soldiers in counterinsurgency and state terrorism.

I knew in taking this step that I was leaving Toward Freedom in good hands. Ben Dangl has been an extraordinary editor, webmaster and writer. During my absence, he has created a website on the life and times of non-violent activist Dave Dellinger (1915-2004) a former board member of Toward Freedom. Ben has brought new writers on board for TF coverage of Sri Lanka 's ‘Ceasefire', human rights in Ethiopia, grassroots reconstruction efforts in New Orleans and more. Recently, Ben won a Project Censored Award for his coverage of U.S. Military Operations in Paraguay.

Outside of the website, Toward Freedom events have included a panel at the World Social Forum in Venezuela on the hopes and challenges of Independent Media and a "Winds of Change in the Americas" conference in Vermont on Latin American social movements and progressive governments. Other developments include a News and Analysis roundup from around the internet.

All of this has been made possible by your support. Consider making a donation as part of our current fund drive to keep this exciting operation moving forward!

My experience here confirms one thing: the importance of the independent press. Prison is an institution that bars, as much as possible, alternative ideas. Here there are 6 TVs in three rooms, all of them pre-programmed to sports, entertainment and Spanish language shows. A few of us urged that one of them might be programmed to news, history and the Discovery Channel but we were told that 'the majority of the inmates don't want that.' But how about 1/6th of them?

Danbury Camp is one of the few prisons to have an experimental e-mail program. But we have a limited address list and no access to the web. Inmates are thus not able to visit our website, despite the attractiveness of our title to prisoners!

I hope you'll respond to this letter and support us in continuing the outreach of TF. When I get out I plan to broaden our coverage of Human Rights issues to include the criminal and racist use of incarceration as a mechanism of social control.

Robin Lloyd

Toward Freedom Publisher

To make a donation to Toward Freedom, visit our donations page.

To contact Robin, send an email to