Monday, July 21 @ 8PM ET
TOPIC: Propaganda and Media Literacy
with special guests: Layan Fuleihan and Rania Khalek
Session Description:
Disinformation and propaganda are central tools of fascist movements. This session arms participants with critical media literacy skills to recognize and counter right-wing narratives, while reclaiming storytelling as a form of resistance.
We will be joined by Palestinian organizer and popular educator Layan Fuleihan (Education Director, The People’s Forum) to break down media complicity, teaching us to identify manipulative narratives that justify war and oppression. Then, Rania Khalek, Lebanese American journalist and media critic (Breakthrough News), will expose how corporate media distorts crises from Palestine to global class struggle.
Using examples from Vietnam, Iraq, China, and Palestine, we’ll examine how media frames who deserves peace, who deserves violence, and who must be controlled. We’ll unpack cultural imperialism through Hollywood, “copaganda,” and antiwar suppression; financial narratives that obscure exploitation; and military messaging that portrays other nations as ungovernable. We’ll also explore how propaganda affects us, including those on the left, and develop tools to think more critically and independently.