The questions of equality, decolonization, and anti-imperialism have rarely been so acutely felt as they are today, in a period of rising global fascism, repression, and radical social movements. Looking back to the 1950’s and 1960’s, we see another such turning point in world history. Analyzing the historical documents from global revolutionary movements, Marxist-Leninist and Maoist theory, and locally-situated knowledge, this project examines how a future that had diverged in the 1950’s towards a communist world could have manifested for the both the international community and the Pacific northwest through the medium of a fictional newspaper published in Seattle. Ultimately, this project hopes to examine and critique our current moment of potential change, show the interpretive and political power of creative fiction, and stir interest in historical materialist analyses of similar moments of world history.

Immigration issues have gained great visibility in our media landscape, yet there are prominent gaps in the types of information that are being disseminated. Why is it so difficult to find reliable information on immigration detention and deportation? Why does the federal government refuse to comply with requests for information? This project chronicles the struggles for information in video format to explore the implications of how contemporary immigration enforcement restricts, skews, and misrepresents information regarding immigration. Through the employment of interviews alongside secondary research, we provide an intertextual analysis of the various mechanisms through which information flow is obstructed through individual actions and the administrative processes of the federal government. Furthermore, through the use of personal testimonies, we gain a more detailed perspective of the implications of obstructed information flows on the lives of real individuals, families, and communities. The personal narratives that we intend to illustrate humanize an important issue and aid marginalized communities in reclaiming their agency. We document our findings to inspire greater compassion for the lived experiences of affected individuals and call for greater transparency in the implementation of immigration policies.