The Big Bang of Collective Action: Documenting Pluralism
This is part of “The Big Bang of Collective Action”, a nonlinear list essay by me, Jason Wyman, Impact Producer for The Alliance for Media Arts and Culture. It captures in its simple complexity the breadth of The Alliance’s Youth Media Collective Action Initiative.
Each “bullet” in the list contains both a visual code and a story. Some stories are metaphor. Some are poetry. Others are summaries. And even one is a worksheet. It is my humble attempt to synthesize the collective and manifest its wisdom in the form that works best for that collective wisdom.
“The Big Bang of Collective Action” is meant to be read in whatever manner moves you. At the end of this post is a visual table of contents. Click whichever CODE catches your eye or makes you want to click.
And please know, “ The Big Bang of Collective Action” is also a tool. It is meant to be used. So please interact with it by clicking links, leaving a comment, sharing it with a friend, sketching an idea, recording a video response, and/ or writing your own post.
This is a worksheet. When reading this the first time, please highlight the word that most closely resembles your worldview whenever an “a / b” appears. When you have finished highlighting your choices, reread this post using only the highlighted words. To learn how to highlight words in Medium, click here.
There is a need for documentation that lays bare the relationships, dynamics, and ideas of a moment in / epoch of time as a means to define (and redefine) collective action. This essay is one such document, and so too is the Youth Media Reporter Special Issue of which it is a part. It marks this moment / epoch, allowing it to be pointed to when asked, “What actions have you (collectively) taken?”
Contained within this documentation are the people / histories / practices / affiliations / ideas of both the individual and collective. It transforms a single moment / epoch into a portal honoring plurality. It becomes a way of bearing witness to multiple realities / truths using numerous frames / devices that reveal infinite desires / futures.
This documentation, too, does not concern itself with convention (tyhe supposed-tos and shoulds), and yet convention (form and structure) is how it communicates. The dynamism between the unconventional and the conventional facilitates an ease to production that both honors the complexity of each contributor and allows a reader / a public to discover themselves within the evolving conversation / dynamics / actions. This is the definition of plurality: it moves toward a future in which more forms of communication / expression / being are honored and celebrated as whole / complete / sacred.
