Stories about Rising Voices
How Africans are bridging the language digital divide
About 20 years ago, 80 percent of the world's online content was in English. Currently W3Tech estimates that 54.9 percent of websites with known content languages use English.
Punjabi Wikipedia for 21 years: Celebrating 50,000 articles and looking ahead
The entire volunteer community came together for Mission 50,000, a call-for-action to reach 50k articles, in order to celebrate the 21st birthday of Punjabi Wikipedia.
Undertones: Indigenous Bolivian youth question media narratives on fossil fuel extraction
Coping with severe drought, Indigenous communities in the Gran Chaco want local media to also highlight how oil companies impact their communities
ÒCTele, a private TV station broadcasting in Occitan brings the language to France's public space
In southern France, a private TV initiative takes the safeguarding of the Occitan language to the next level by mainstreaming Occitan content for all age-category audiences over traditional and social media.
Digital technology: Promoting the use of Togolese national languages
In Togo, despite government intentions to promote the teaching of national languages other than French, this promotion mainly comes from private online initiatives.
Press freedom also means media in indigenous languages: The case of France's Occitan
Media production and access is essential to the revitalization of indigenous languages, as the case of Occitan, spoken less and less in southern France, demonstrates.
No one left behind: promoting the Indigenous languages of Ghana
Discover the efforts of Mohammed Kamal-Deen Fuseini, a language digital activist committed to promoting indigenous languages in Ghana. Through Wikimedia projects, he champions the visibility of the Gurene language in digital realms.
What does it take to revitalize a dying language?
Researcher and writer Uday Raj Aaley, together with resource person and the only fluent Kusunda speaker Kamala Sen Khatri, is on a mission to revive the language, once deemed moribund.
A look back at the Mayan Languages Digital Activism Summit 2023
From January 11-15, 2023, the Mayan Languages Digital Activism Summit convened digital activists and their communities to explore how the internet, digital media and technology are helping to revitalize Mayan languages in digital spaces.
Announcing the Mayan Languages Digital Activism Summit (January 11-15)
Rising Voices will host the Mayan Languages Digital Activism Summit 2023 at the Grand Museum of the Mayan World in Mérida, Mexico on January 11–15.
Indigenous and proud: A Maya-speaker’s reaction to ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’
The values that my family fostered in me encouraged me to “Remember who you are, no matter where you want to go,” and the Indigenous communities now know that we can go a long way.
Colmena: an open source media platform connecting Indigenous and rural communities
"The name 'Colmena', for me, represents a commitment to diversity."
Filming Gyani Maiya Sen who inspired efforts to revive the dying Kusunda language in Nepal
She "kept repeating that the young people were not interested in learning the language at all but she was ready to raise a generation of Kusundas speaking their mother tongue."
Water scarcity in Indigenous communities should be reported on, a young Bolivian journalist says
What does a media search for the words "incendio" and "chaqueo" reveal? Brisa Abapori considers that these words were relevant in the media only during the fires, afterwards they were neglected.
Creating new, local narratives on climate change in the Bolivian Chaco
Young Indigenous journalists propose more representative media coverage of climate change focused on their lived realities in the Gran Chaco, Bolivia that extends beyond natural disasters.
Meet Ganesh Birua, a champion who is bringing the indigenous Ho language online
Ganesh Birua is a young activist from the Indian state of Odisha. Rising Voices talked with Birua to learn about his efforts to bring his mother tongue to the internet.
Alhassan Alidu is uplifting the Moore language by bringing it online
As the executive director of the Moore Wikimedia Community, Alhassan is providing Moore with a digital platform that exists in the face of dominating Western media and languages.
Five songs to celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day
Music is a way to push back against threats to Indigenous peoples' way of life, languages, and culture due to settler colonialism and violence, climate change, economic and racial discrimination, and cultural assimilation.
Umasoye: A language activist who uses technology to make learning Ekpeye fun
Umasoye is a digital language activist from Nigeria that is using media tools to make the preservation and teaching of the Ekpeye language fun and engaging for younger generations.
Activist Emre Pshigusa talks about his work revitalizing the Circassian-Kabardian language
Through his research of the Circassian-Kabardian language at Ohio State University, Emre has been motivated to promote the language in digital spaces for its preservation.
Digitizing a language with two scripts: Satdeep Gill on growing Punjabi online
Satdeep Gill is a free knowledge enthusiast based out of Patiala, Punjab in India. Rising Voices interviewed Gill to learn about his contribution to advancing the Punjabi language online.
