Red Emma’s

A teenage girl stares at her roof, hoping it won’t collapse over her head. A young student searches the Internet for photos of libraries around the world, hoping he’ll be able to visit them one day. Another walks around the city, taking notes of all the buildings she dreams of repairing.

These are the stories of young people from Gaza, born under Israeli occupation and blockade. They are people who have endured unspeakable struggles and losses, who keep fighting to be recognised not as numbers, but as human beings with hopes, dreams and lives worth living.

We Are Not Numbers was founded in 2014 to give voice to the youth of Gaza. In this collection, vital, urgent and full of heart, spanning over ten years to the present moment, we gain an unparalleled insight into the past, as well as the current and next generation of Palestinian leaders, artists, scientists and scholars and imagine where we might go from here.

Pam Bailey is a social-justice activist and journalist based in Washington DC. She lived and worked in the Gaza Strip following the 2008/9 Israeli assault, and co-founded We Are Not Numbers. Today, in addition to her ongoing dedication to the Palestinian cause, she dedicates herself to two nonprofits that advocate for people detained in American prisons —including one she co-founded in 2020, called More Than Our Crimes.

Zeina Azzam, a Palestinian American poet, writer, editor, and community activist, is Poet Laureate Emerita (2022-25) of the City of Alexandria, Virginia. Her full-length poetry collection, Some Things Never Leave You, was published by Tiger Bark Press in July 2023, and her chapbook, Bayna Bayna, In-Between, in 2021 by The Poetry Box. She has been nominated twice for the Pushcart Prize, and her poems appear in over fifty literary journals, webzines, edited volumes, and anthologies. Zeina’s full-length poetry collection, titled Some Things Never Leave You, was published in 2023 She has volunteered as a mentor for We Are Not Numbers since 2015.

Writers in Baltimore Schools creates a community of support for Baltimore City Public Schools (BCPS) students through in-school, after-school, and summer programs that build literacy and communication skills. Their creative writing programs work toward racial and economic equity, breaking the cycle of multi-generational low literacy by giving students a smaller, more participatory setting to immerse themselves in reading and writing.