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Under the Influence
These past six months have been the most challenging of my life. The next six will be even harder. But that's not about to stop me. And, I'm all in.
An all or nothing proposal: Everyone "knows" the U.S. government has some corrupt people, ethically-challenged business policies and more than a handful of shameful laws on the books. Allegedly.
Most people I know (aged 25-50), unless caught in the net of their latest scam, generally try to stay a safe distance away from the system. It shouldn't matter whether or not big groups of demonstrators attend regular city council or county commissioner meetings: We expect our elected officials to do the best they can for the good of the people all of the time.
Sensitive but Unclassified
In November, I took a quick glance at a few local government docs. I had some questions about the Oakland County criminal justice system. In December, I read more docs. And, that led to more questions.
I started to connect the dots (names of officials, agencies, etc.) that kept popping up in different contracts, newsletters, proposals, budgets, etc. By January, whatever faith I had that our elected officials were doing their best to serve the people was shattered.
The cold, hard truth: It sure seemed like everyday I was reading a new chapter from the playbook, "How to Screw Over the Federal Government and Alienate Your Constituents." There were many dark days and sleepless nights. All I could do was curse myself for getting stuck in this web of power, corruption and lies. Friends, family members and even my colleagues at the newspaper I was working at wanted me to get back in my lane, to stay the course.
I tried but there was no way to reverse the images that had just been branded to my brain. I had to do something fast because very real people are suffering. Too much money's been taken.
I struggled mightily with all of it, including the how to deliver this information to the public -- who, I believe, needs to know now.
And then, in the darkest hour during those dismal January days, I found a path to take. Really, this is the only way to do this. And, amazingly, some of my lifelong career-based dreams would be realized, too.
Finally, there was hope.
No-Model Movement
Please help me show the world that We the People still have plenty of American spirit left. That the American dream can become a reality overnight because one truly great democracy still exists -- the Internet. A place where crowd-funding pioneers like you demonstrate what true leadership is about everyday.
The people power: With your help, the Emergency Statement web site will be live as soon as possible. At the heart of the Emergency Statement mission is our people-powered investigation, a custom designed database and network that'll serve as the War Room for our nonpartisan question-and-answer based information-sharing revolution. Emergency Statement is also the name of the multi-media documentary project that will be produced at the end of this year's experimental publishing project.
Sharing the experience: One reason Emergency Statement exists is because most people aren't interested in attending boring county commissioner meetings or reading through dense budget reports that are often times hundreds of pages long. And, fact is, today there's just not many watchdogs barking when something is foul. Particularly in Michigan.
A Crazy Social Art & Discovery Project, a companion to Emergency Statement, is a Tumblr page designed to inspire, inform, entertain and engage people by showcasing different social-political events through a creative lens. Photos from a rally, a sketch of an iconic political figure, mock propaganda ads, satirical video clips, inspirational quote reenactments, a Spotify playlist. The hope is there will be one or two art shows this year that feature original works from the Emergency Statement community.
Emergency Statement: No risk, no reward.
Risks and challenges
High risk? You bet-cha.
Can I deal? Yes I can.
This is a
once in a lifetime career adventure
designed by me for me.
Anything can happen
during these next six months. And when it
does
I'm gonna risk sharing that with you, too
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