From Breakthrough president and CEO Mallika Dutt: Jason Russell and Invisible Children know that a powerful story can change the world. But by characterizing essentially all Ugandans as either war criminals or helpless victims, the massively viral KONY 2012 manages to flatten its subject rather than deepen it. Which is to say: it fails the [...]

March 13, 2012 by Mallika Dutt | Tags: Africa, betty bigombe, homepage, Invisible Children, jason russell, Joseph Kony, kony 2012, storytelling, Uganda | Comments Off

Post written by Dana Variano, Breakthrough’s newest media team member It was the first time I had experienced the overwhelming size of the desert sky. The sunset was magnificent, and the endless stretch of cacti and desert rocks were lit up with the last pink moments of twilight. But the sunset’s beauty was overpowered by [...]

August 25, 2011 by Dana Variano | Tags: ACLU, Arizona, BAJI, Border Justice, Border Patrol, Border Policies, Border Wall, breakthrough, Coalicion de Derechos Humanos, DRUM, homepage, human rights, immigration, Mexico, Nogales, Operation Streamline, racial profiling, Sasabe, SB 1070, Secure Communities, Sheriff Joe Arpaio, U.S. Mexico Border, Vamos Unidos | 1 Comment »

Earlier this week, Nafissatou Diallo, the accuser in the Dominique Strauss-Kahn (DSK) rape case, came forward to share tell her version of what happened in May at the Sofitel Hotel in New York City in a print interview with Newsweek and also on television with ABC News. Yesterday, she gave a press conference sharing more [...]

July 29, 2011 by Eesha Pandit | Tags: Bell Bajao, breakthrough, culture shockers, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Nafissatou Diallo, Sofitel Hotel, violence against women | Comments Off

As our human rights game, America 2049′s 12 week launch period comes to a close (no fear! If you haven’t played yet, join in at any point on Facebook!), and our first group of agents graduate and complete the missions set out for them by the Council on American Heritage, we’d like to take a [...]

June 23, 2011 by Dana Variano | Tags: America 2049, breakthrough, Council on American Heritage, culture shockers, postcard, Wake Up Together America, What's Your Vision | Comments Off

When looking at the civil rights movement in the history of the U.S. we can see that we’ve made great strides.  But if the recent whirlwind election reforms sweeping through the country are an indication, we seem to be dangerously moving backwards on voter rights. Over the last eight months, around 13 states have passed [...]

June 14, 2011 by Pulkit | Tags: Advancement Project, America 2049, b-listed, Barack Obama, breakthrough, culture shockers, democrats, early voting, EDR, election day registration, human rights, republicans, Restore Fairness, state ID, voter rights, voting rights, youth, Zooglio | Comments Off

“There’s more than one way to be American,” says the character M in week 10 of Breakthrough’s human rights Facebook game, American 2049. The leader of the subversive resistance group “Divided We Fall” is referring to the importance of cultural diversity, and the fact that her America has labeled any semblance of difference illegal. M. [...]

June 6, 2011 by Dana Variano | Tags: code talkers, culture, heritage, immigrant, Immigrant Rights, immigration, Minneapolis, minnesota, native american, navajo, navajo code talkers, windtalkers | 2 Comments »

The tragic events of September 11, 2001 also proved to be an unfortunate turning point in America’s socio-cultural dynamics. For a nation that’s built upon the principles of separating church and state, America’s multi-religious identity came to the forefront as specific groups, especially Muslims or Hindus and Sikhs (who were presumed to be Muslims), became [...]

May 31, 2011 by Pulkit | Tags: 9/11, b-listed, breakthrough, Catholics, culture shockers, Facebook, Gainesville Times, ground zero, Hindus, human rights, immigration, immigration reform, Islam, Islamic Cultural Center, Islamophobia, Muslim Americans, New York City, Pigeon Forge, religious profiling, Restore Fairness, Sikhs, Southern Poverty Law Center, SPLC, The Know-Nothings | 1 Comment »

In a boost for the LGBTQ movement, a recent nationwide Gallup poll found that 53% of Americans support making gay marriage legal. This comes as a noticeable increase from last year, when 44% favored same-sex unions. The Gallup poll is one of several polls that have been conducted nationwide this year that are showing increased [...]

May 24, 2011 by Pulkit | Tags: AllOut.org, America 2049, Anthony Rapp, b-listed, breakthrough, culture shockers, Facebook, Freedom to Marry, Gallup, gay marriage, GLAAD, GLSEN, Good Day Every Day, Harold Perrineau, human rights, It Gets Better, It Gets Better project, LGBTQ, No H8 Campaign, Presbyterian Church USA, Proposition 8, same-sex union, Uganda | Comments Off

“Nothing is as sweet as self-determination.” – Zia, a character in Breakthrough‘s America 2049. This week, in Breakthrough’s Facebook game America 2049, players continue their mission in the fictional country, Independent Pueblo Nation, that has seceded from America. Players meet Zia, the Secretary of State for the Pueblo Nation, and discover the plight of the [...]

May 17, 2011 by Pulkit | Tags: America 2049, american indian, b-listed, breakthrough, Chahta tribe, Cherokee, culture shockers, Facebook, human rights, I AM THIS LAND, Native Americans, Pueblo, Racism, Restore Fairness, St. Tammany Parish, The Trail of Tears, Trail of Tears Association, Trail of Tears National Historic Trail, US Census | Comments Off

Games, it turns out, imitate life — sometimes eerily so — just as history so often threatens to repeat itself. This week, Breakthrough‘s ongoing Facebook gaming event, America 2049, tackles two major issues that become linked within the narrative of the game: interracial unions and abortion. During gameplay, players encounter the story of Bonnie, a [...]

May 10, 2011 by Pulkit | Tags: abortion, America 2049, b-listed, breakthrough, Center for Reproductive Rights, culture shockers, education, Facebook, H.R.3, human rights, interracial marriage, interracial union, Loving Day, Ms. Magazine, Nancy Keenan, Nancy Northup, NARAL Pro-Choice America, Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health, PRCH, Public Policy Polling, Racism, Restore Fairness, The Loving Story, violence against women, Women, women's rights | Comments Off