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Anyone who reads rabble knows Krystalline Kraus.  The intrepid reporter, has been with rabble longer than any of us.  Recruited by our founding publisher, Judy Rebick, as rabble’s first intern, back in 2001, Krystalline has remained committed to reporting on the stories most acutely ignored or misrepresented in mainstream media.  Krystalline writes from the streets of Toronto.  For the past few years, with her blog “Activist Communique”, Krystalline has been at the forefront of coverage from the G20 to Occupy to Idle No More.  You can read Krystalline’s work here.  

Krystalline works as a freelancer at rabble, with her blog and feature pieces, and has volunteered countless hours to independent media and social justice advocacy.  Now she needs our help. Her voice has been missing on the site for most of the past two months, as she recovers from spinal surgery.

As Judy Rebick explains:  “I’ve worked with Krystalline Kraus from the first time she was referred to me as a potential intern for rabble by a prof at Ryerson school of social work. She has overcome incredible obstacles in her life to become one of the best reporters rabble has ever had. She personifies the activist writer. No doubt you have relied on her reporting to get the ground up view of numerous protests and activist events. Now she needs us to get her back on her feet and into action. Please take a moment and contribute to this fund…”

If you read her work, and appreciate her activism, please chip in to make this crowd-funded appeal go over the top. Let’s help Krystalline get better.  You can read the appeal letter from GoFundMe below, and chip in here.

 

Krystalline’s GoFundMe message:

“Hey everyone,

This is a message from David, Makwa Oday (Bear Heart, as seen in the photo) and Krystalline Kraus.
Krystal has been rabble’s intrepid reporter since the site’s launch in 2001 and enjoys being intrepid on a daily basis. She also enjoys her work as a journalist with her feature stories, plus her Activist Communiques.

A passionate activist in Toronto since 1994, we’ve all been through a lot together – from the Days of Action against Mike Harris in the mid 1996s to the FTAA demonstrations in Quebec City in 2001 to the anti-war movement right through to the G20 demonstrations in Toronto in 2010 and the current Idle No More movement.

This reporter needs no red cape since she thinks she can fly, all this thanks to the friendships she has been able to establish over all the years and hard work.

Krystal and rabble.ca helped you navigate through the G8-G20 protests in Toronto where her Activist Communique provided important and practical background information and up to the minute reporting through the internet site and Twitter. She also provided follow through reports post G-20, helping activists and allies navigate through the political and police information about the arrestees. No one was forgotten.

Her passion has never stopped, and this is especially true of her coverage of Environmental Justice and Indigenous Rights (which to Krystal are one in the same) and her work has been showcased through other mediums such as Alternet, Zmag, Intercontinental Cry, The Drum and First Perspetives.

Perhaps you have even seen another side to Krystal as her support for the Idle No More Movement extends beyond the written words and you have seen her passionately drumming and singing important First Nations spirituals. Being able to sing and drum at these events (she won’t call them protests) has been an amazing part of her life and she enjoys instilling confidence in newer drummers.

It is times like this that people can completely forget that Krystal has to do all this great work with a serious disability with affects her mobility and causes a myriad of other complications.

Due to an accident in late November 2005 until November 2013, Krystal has had to endure 4 major spinal surgeries to keep her walking and improve the quality of her life – that’s one major operation every two years.

This most recent spinal surgery – where they cleaned out an infection in her spine and removed most of the metal that was holding her spine up – took her by surprise, especially the intensity of the surgery itself and how much she has had to struggle in her recovery. This is why you have not seen her out and about, she simply can’t.

Why Krystal is still able to walk – for now slowly and with the use of two canes – she is unable to work at rabble.ca at this time. Nor can she be out and about as usual.

It’s not just the physical walking, but the twice daily community nurse appointments, the doctor and surgeon’s appointments all the way up at the Trillium Health Centre and the effects of the medications she is currently on. Just recently, she suffered a setback and had to be placed under for a quick operation at Toronto Western at the height of the ice storm.

[Krystal would like it written down that she is forever grateful to whomever donate the blood she needed for her operation. While she can’t know the names of the individuals in question that helped keep her alive, she says thank you.]

This is why David, Makwa Oday (seen in picture) and Krystal are taking this time to ask for your help to give Krystal a good solid foundation to heal and get back to journalism and drumming and singing.

Any amount given would be greatly appreciated. It truly is the little things that add up, like having to buy bandages upon bandages, having to pay for cab rides for transportation since her spine cannot handle bumpy TTC rides and days spent heaving to doctor’s appointments and then resting from the stress.

Lucky for her, she starts home care based physiotherapy in January. She is interested in alternative modalities of care for spinal injuries.

Most importantly, Krystal says:
“I am seeking help because I want to get back to the community that I love. Any donation would be used to play for practical assistance to assist and quicken my healing.

There isn’t really must to say. I miss being part of my community. I miss the round dances and the sunrise ceremonies.

I miss being to attend demonstrations and being able to faithfully report back to my rabble.ca community.

Most importantly, I miss all the wonderful people I have met since I started as an activist in 1994 and started writing for rabble.ca in 2001 and want to rejoin the community as soon as I can get well.
So I’m asking you to help me.

Any donation will be valued and cherished and put to immediate use. (If you’re donating to help assist me in trying a new treatment like massage therapy, if you know the name of a practitioner, please include that name).

It all really boils down to that I miss you all and want to return to the community I love and the job I love reporting as soon as possible.

Thanks for helping me out.
Sincerely,
Krystalline Kraus”

Support Krystalline on the GoFundMe site, here.

 

kim

Kim Elliott

Publisher Kim spent her first 16 years on a working family farm in Quebec. Her first memories of rabble rousing are of strike lines, promptly followed by Litton’s closure of the small town...