Radical Citizen Media is an independent media outlet that visually documents the peace movement, activist community, and contemporary issues from a progressive perspective in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The site operates with the philosophy that the best way to report on an event or issue is to present it as it happens, so that viewers can draw meanings for themselves.

Originally known as RaiseMyVoice.com, the site got started in 2005. Paula E. Kirman is the main photographer/videographer behind Radical Citizen Media. She is an Edmonton-based freelance writer, editor, photographer, filmmaker, and musician who is involved with community media as the editor of Boyle McCauley News. Paula was formerly with Our Voice Street Magazine, where she wrote the Active Observer social justice column, and is now manages the website of Alberta Street News. One of her goals is to empower people to tell their own stories through writing and photography, engaging them in citizen journalism.

As a community organizer, Paula has been involved with such initiatives as the Edmonton Committee Against War and Racism, Project Ploughshares Edmonton, the Edmonton Social Planning Council, the Edmonton Interfaith Centre for Education and Action, and the March On Edmonton Collective – the organizers of the huge women’s marches that took place in Edmonton in 2017, 2018, and 2019.

In 2012, Paula received the Salvos Prelorentzos Peace Award. The Salvos Prelorentzos Peace Awards is an annual event organized by Project Ploughshares to honour someone in Edmonton who has contributed to the cause of peace but who has not been formally recognized for their work. She was chosen for the award for her work documenting the local activist community, and getting the community online with social media, blogs, and websites. As well, she was noted for her role as a musician at many events. Salvos Prelorentzos was a veteran of WWII who returned from battle a committed pacifist.

In 2014, Paula was named a Daughter of the Year at the annual Daughters Day celebration. Daughters Day is an event to celebrate the lives and achievements of women, while acknowledging the need to work towards an equitable society. In December of 2016 she received the Human Rights Champion award from the John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights, for being a pioneering media artist and community organizer. In May of 2018 she received the Edmonton Social Planning Council’s Award of Merit for Social Advocacy. In September of 2018 she was voted Best Activist by readers of the late, lamented VUE Weekly. In November of 2022 she received the Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee Medal for her work giving voice to people in the McCauley and Boyle Street neighbourhoods through her media work, as well as her documenting of local social movements.

Paula produced a program for Shaw TV called From the Ground Up which highlighted the local activist scene from 2013-2017. Her song “Summer,” about an unhoused woman, was a finalist in the 2017 International Songwriting Competition. “Long Way Around,” on a similar topic, was a semi-finalist in the 2022 UK Songwriting Contest. She has released two full-length albums of original songs, and received an Edmonton Arts Council grant in the winter of 2023 to support the writing of songs for a third album. You can listen to all of Paula’s music at her Bandcamp site.

Most of the photos are hosted at Paula’s Flickr. Videos for most of these events can also be found at Paula’s YouTube site.

Contact Paula at wearywordsmith@gmail.com.