Bosla Arts Recommends: How to Stand up to a Dictator

As part of a new series by Bosla Arts, each month we will be recommending a book, film, exhibition, or anything else we love by art-activists around the world.

This month, we have chosen, How to Stand up to a Dictator, by Nobel Peace Prize winner, journalist, writer, and activist, Maria Ressa.

The book documents the Filipino writer’s life; moving to the USA at a young age before returning to the Philippines after college where she became a journalist, finally starting her own news organisation, Rappler. Most of all, the book is a warning to us all on the fragility of democracy which “dies by a thousand cuts.” An early advocate of the power of Facebook, the book outlines Ressa’s horror as she witnesses disinformation override truth on the social media platform with mammoth consequences to herself, her country, and the entire world.

We love this book for so many reasons, most of all for Ressa’s unwavering sense of justice and freedom of speech which she never let’s go of, even in the face of spending the rest of her life behind bars.

The book is a stark reminder of the fragility of our freedom, the threat of social media, but also the power of truth - no matter the cost.

If you are interested in reading the book you can find it for sale here.