Everything Is Political: Céline Semaan is Reclaiming Media From Empire

Everything Is Political was born out of a refusal to be tokenised or silenced by the very systems designed to exclude. “I was done begging to be included in any institution,” says Céline Semaan, the Lebanese-Canadian designer, writer, and artist behind the independent media platform. “I couldn’t pretend I could fit into a system of oppression and erasure.”

In a media landscape increasingly defined by censorship, propaganda, and corporate control, Everything Is Political stands as a necessary counterforce, adamant to tell stories freely, truthfully, and without any compromise whatsoever. Rooted in decolonial thought and collective liberation, it transforms storytelling into political action, framing journalism as a space of world building rather than spectacle.

“What inspires me are the possibilities we haven’t yet created—the worlds we can build together if we dare to shift power to favour all,” Semaan tells Dazed MENA. Her words cut to the core of what makes Everything Is Political vital today, at a time when the genocidal violence of our exclusionary, neoliberal, imperialist world is ravaging communities across the planet. It is a call to resist the institutional powers that be, a belief that truth itself has to be rebuilt from the ground up by those historically denied the means to define it.

Everything Is Political confronts the narratives that dominate global media and flatten, distort, or erase the experiences of those living under the shadow of empire. The publication’s journalists report from Lebanon, Gaza, Sudan, and beyond, challenging the western gaze that continues to shape how the Global South is perceived and understood. “We represent the Global Majority,” Semaan explains. “Our journalists come from the region, many displaced or living in diaspora. Shifting the lens to centre our people has empowered so many to feel seen.”

Naturally, the platform’s ethos is shaped by the thinkers and revolutionaries who came before: Edward Said, Aimé Césaire, Paulo Freire, Octavia Butler, Assata Shakur, and Nawal El Saadawi. Their influence echoes through its uncompromising voice, rooted in compassion, theory, and a love for our planet. In fact, Semaan’s work as a writer and cultural critic has long positioned her at the intersection of politics and art. Her “Understanding Sustainability Means Talking About Colonialism” essay, published in The Cut, catalysed a new wave of fashion activism, exposing how even ‘sustainability’ had been co-opted by colonial logic.

It is no surprise, then, that in the midst of an era marked by opportunistic disinformation, Everything Is Political feels both urgent and inevitable. Where governments suppress free press, where social media algorithms silence dissent, and where truth is fractured across digital borders, Semaan’s project operates as an insurgent media space that insists on empathy. “I feel everything to the deepest level,” she says. “The way I’ve emerged from that painful compassion is what fuels my creativity. It comes from loving deeply and feeling the world generously.”

This generosity fuels a vision for what media can become: not an instrument of control, but a living archive of human connection. While the platform continues to grow, its core mission remains simple. “I want to create a counter movement strong enough to make a wave of change, inspiring others to join the dance for liberation,” Semaan explains. At a time when journalism buckles under propaganda and spectacle, Everything Is Political stands as a reminder of the need to truly democratise media spaces. Or, as Semaan asserts, “Building new systems is possible.”