The Department of Story Telling
An invitation to join our coalition as a story teller, and mobilize volunteers to act on their passion.
The election told me, whatever I was doing before, it was not enough. My focus was misdirected. In response, I dedicated my mornings to work, and they became my time to do what I needed to do.
I made matching contributions to an anti-fascist art campaign. I obtained a rally permit, helped organize an event to stand with the Electoral College on December 19, and connected with other organizers in Washington. I created the beginnings of a website to serve as a gathering place for fellow volunteers.
I started a weekly fundraising campaign, named it the Friday Fund, and used it to support warming shelters for those without homes, shelters for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, and a free press. I took out advertisements to encourage others to do the same, and inspired people to contribute to causes important to them.
I used the time for myself, and on many days I used the quiet hours as my break from the world. I did nothing. I wrote about my experience, like what I’ve learned about my motivation over the past decade; sometimes I shared the work, many times I did not.
I watched the actions of Congress, followed my senators and representatives, researched the Congressional Record, and became overwhelmed with the work to be done.
Now, I am using my time to organize. I started a new business in the state of Washington. I formed a board of directors. We held our second meeting over the weekend, and together we are building a new foundation.
Today, we are creating our first agency of the Morning Shift Coalition, the Department of Story Telling. We are recruiting story tellers to frame what our volunteers are doing, to share how we’re participating in the Friday Fund, and communicate to a wider audience how we all can be a part of the story.
On this first day of our first agency, we invite you to become a story teller for the causes and actions that are important to you. We encourage you to write, or speak, or draw, or build, or do whatever you need to do to get your story out there.
We will be setting aside a modest budget to promote your stories, and share them with as many people as we can.
To further support your story telling efforts, and to speak of what’s next, our second and third agencies are on their way: The Department of Research will seek out important organizations, such as the ACLU, and distill their missions into acts our volunteers can take on.
The Department of Technology will create a marketplace of solutions. That is, they will increase the number and effectiveness of the interactions we have with each other. Our volunteers will exchange ideas, see what other people are working on, find support, and find work.
Together, these three agencies will work to address the urgent challenges of our political climate, and focus our efforts in confronting the long-term issues that led us to this moment in the first place. With passion overflowing into the streets, our mission is to succeed at what comes next, and bridge the gap between our need for change and the direct actions that will make it happen.
We are looking for 10 people to join us as part-time volunteers and story tellers. We invite you to join us on the Morning Shift.
