FAP: the Free Association Press

FAP

the Free Association Press

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Founding Story

The Ides of March enticed my being. I hopped on the first bus down to El Paso, TX with my bag loaded for a long journey and just a sleeping bag to call home. As I describe in posts to my website, I was out to protect others with nothing but integrity as my body armor.

As I detail on my blog repeatedly, I wasn’t expecting to find the courage in myself to do much more than “slow travel” the country, photograph the sights, and attempt to raise something for migrant refugees.

At first, that meant helping organizations such as Reporters without Borders, Journalists for Human Rights, Amnesty International, and most importantly, at the time, Texas RioGrande Legal Aide.

As I traversed the desert of Texas and New Mexico, and entered Arizona, I wasn’t expecting to find any opportunities to have a direct positive impact.

Maybe it was luck. Maybe it was the universe. Maybe it was karma. Maybe it God. Maybe it was the fact that I had wanted to do more and searched for ways that I could have a greater impact.

Somewhere near Phoenix, AZ, I had stopped into a library to do some writing, journaling, and reading. With a stack of Arizona Republic newspapers before me, I tracked down the news about the border and the reporters watching it develop with their keen eyes. One thing jumped out of the paper at me and helped guide me, like the full moon on a cloudy night.

Yuma nonprofits were given a day’s notice that Border Patrol was planning to release migrant families into the desert community to free up detention space. They weren’t going to be prepared or guided in any way, and weren’t being assisted through the legal hoops of citizenship and asylum.

I had to act. In the forefront of my mind I knew that they needed people to greet them with open arms as a friend and an ally. This couldn’t be more true, because I saw the hateful rhetoric, the violence, and the causes that were pushing, who I knew to be mostly women and children in my heart, to a strange country where they had little prospects and family. A hostile country, it would seem; I wasn’t having it.

In some way, I wanted to show solidarity, and a respect for the lives they live as people, as humans. It was to my eyes and heart a humanitarian crisis. I hoped that with enough support from similar stories and a few of my own, here and there on the internet, that we could change pessimism and trauma into healing and hope.

So I took a pause from sharing photos on 500px, because as far as fundraising goes, it was disappointing. I instead began seriously considering what kind of organization I could leave behind to continue working to ensure that the world is just, if not for something utopic, than for the basics: human rights.

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Founding Principles

I reflected on four things I found amazing about the world today in order to come up with the founding principles:

1. Digital Nomads — There are people that live everywhere, moving from place to place building an online “World Town,” a term I borrow with endearment from my favorite artist, M.I.A.. I find of these people, especially the women, they’re amazing, shockingly altruistic, and more grateful for life and the planet than anyone I’ve ever met living in a single area their whole lives. I’m proud to consider myself one, because to me, it’s no different than being an envoy of the United Nations; the goal is to “protect the world from devastation” and “unite all peoples [from every nation].” Yes, that’s from Pokemon’s Team Rocket, loosely.

2. The Associated Press (AP) — When the multinational nonprofit news agency began in May 1846 under the moniker NYAP, it was only five daily newspapers in New York City sharing the cost of transmitting news of the Mexican–American War. Since then similar organizations and resources have sprung up to assist in this global project, including the occasional fact-checking of fact-checkers at the AP and other news agencies. Being from New York and considering myself a journalist as well, I always held the organization high in regard.

3. “Free Association” — This one has two definitions, and both resonate with me. From Google:

1. In psychology, it’s “the mental process by which one word or image may spontaneously suggest another without any apparent connection.” Growing up and writing poetry, cracking puns and innuendos, and using it to succeed in Odyssey of the Mind competitions, I used to call it “Six Degrees of Separation,” which is another great theory of the interconnectedness of all humans, but not what I completely meant when I used. Although, looking back, the true definition may have also influenced me unconsciously.

2. It’s “the forming of a group, political alliance, or other organization without any constraint or external restriction.” This definition is how I operated as a student senator in university, an individual and friend in high school, and a loner in every other respect of my life. So yeah.

• Voluntourism — This one is something I think everyone should do. However, there are some caveats. Here’s a Guardian story about one such problem. I believe less in acting as a rescuer and more as a learner. Rather than just throwing help at people; actually finding out what they would like to receive, and striving to not leave a vacuum in the wake of helping others, or creating side effect issues, and even making greater attempts to mitigate cultural impacts.

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Founding Mission

The mission, in a sentence, is this:

Travel sustainably as volunteers who teach each other and learn from everyone they meet, creating local newsrooms wherever they are needed and can safely grow, for the benefit of the public, and ensuring that the human rights of all are assured, protected, and flourishing.

This project could someday use faster methods of travel. Initially, I imagine, it would be a walking caravan of teachers, advocates, nurses, first responders, activists, journalists, and volunteers.

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Values

The founding values are based in those that I’ve picked up in the fields of journalism, activism, and public service:

1. Integrity

2. Service

3. Sustainability

While the AP believes firmly in rooting out political activity as a conflict of interest, it appears that such efforts to be nonpartisan have very large pitfalls.

In the United States alone, the Overton window, or what has become, contemporarily, politically acceptable in terms of government intervention has largely come to lean heavily to one side of the political spectrum, limiting the window to one side, and actually creating a harmful effect in policy-making.

The way I described in a post on Facebook:

“In the 60s & 70s the people called for a paradigm shift. What we got was a paradigm grift.”

A grifter, as defined in a Google search, is “a person who engages in petty or small-scale swindling.” Of course, however, if that becomes the dominant paradigm, or worldview, we end up with a conman as the President of “the free world.”

Therefore, unlike the AP, in such a political reality where one side is, without a doubt, causing harm to human rights, the environment, and, trust in the same media that has, for decades, strived for integrity, a new organization must be founded upon public service before its own longevity.

That said, I do dream of a day that a partisan news agency and advocacy group can become nonpartisan once again. This would only occur in an environment that widens the Overton window and allows for real unslanted debate. This atmosphere of honest discussion couldn’t possibly occur in a world that allows the abuse of human rights.

Before societies, we learned.

Before societies, we communicated,

and in so doing we created democracy.

Before societies, we lived sustainably.

Before societies, we healed our sick,

housed ourselves,

fed our families,

and, lived within loosely defined borders.

When grifters found power, in whatever way that meant, though always above others, these things stopped being human rights. That’s when I believe that journalists, scouts, or whoever acted as liaison between peoples failed the public.

“Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely.” — Lord Acton

Act. On. — An apt name for the British historian.

I also believe though, that we have the technology to make sure that such a case does not become of this planet again. And to be clear, that doesn’t mean that it should ever happen on Earth 2 either, nor does it offer a pass to environmental degradation.

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On Future Amendment

All of this, and more — never less — with the inclusion of further discussion between partners in this effort, is always possible, wherever freedom survives.

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In order to build the support for FAP, I’m starting small.

Recently, in Yuma, AZ, I volunteered with a shelter for migrant refugees released from Border Patrol.

While there, I met a young woman who dreams of being a veterinarian.

It would break my heart to know or see her studying and one day torn from her dreams.

Help me help this dreamer, and if you please, read my founding story, mission, and values for my own dream: the Free Association Press.

Yuma, AZ.

Gila Bend to Yuma, AZ.

This last leg of my trip to Yuma was made possible by the good graces of Danny. He was more than generous. Also he was a really fast, fun friend to make along the way.

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I had just walked down the road from Gila Bend to Interstate 8 towards Yuma. Danny felt a spiritual call, and he pulled over when he saw me. He just so happened to be passing through Yuma on his way to Mexico to visit family.

Danny considered himself a real Mexican regardless of his citizenship. Although other Mexicans would see him as a Chicano, he considered himself a Pisa. He was proud to be a real Mexican.

I enjoyed this part of our conversation the most because I hadn’t heard the term, Pisa, before. Besides, the last two rides that I had accepted were both from older people. So, naturally, it was relieving to relish in our shared experiences.

It was not only pleasantly validating but an empowering moment we shared. While we both came from very different backgrounds we both saw the reality, the situations, the struggles faced by our generation. We weren’t alone.

On the way to Yuma, we discussed everything from education to unemployment and the current federal government to #LegalizeIt.

While the United States is not openly and explicitly corrupt there are a lot of issues happening in this country as there are in some Mexican states and Central American countries. Some may believe that the blatantly violent corruption of those far off lands is a stark juxtaposition to the United States. I would argue that none of my friends of color, or those that have seen small town corruption and nepotism in action, would agree.

We of course changed the subject once it got too heavy. We talked about the environment, love, what things make us anxious, and God.

Danny helped remind me to refocus from taking in the sights and sounds — some of the reasons that I had started out in El Paso to begin with. So when he departed towards his home, he had left me at the door of the Yuma Community Food Bank.

So thanks again, Danny.

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When volunteers at the food bank saw me, they saw my pack first. They saw my traveled appearance and my trusty gallon of water.

Usually, these are the trappings of someone seeking assistance. However, this time, surprise washed over their faces as I said, “I’m here to volunteer.”

Hands for labor and a mind to help.

Yesterday, Friday afternoon, right in the nick of time before they closed, I wrote my name on their registry and made a commitment. “I’ll be back here on Monday, when you open at 9 a.m., to volunteer until July.” About three months of service.

At first…

When I started backpacking from El Paso, Texas to San Diego, CA, my intention was to photograph the Border, the nature, and the happenings around it, as a fundraiser.

I didn’t want the project to come off as some sort of “white savior” mission. So at first, I tried to embrace the adventure as my own and the fundraising as tertiary.

I wanted to raise money to donate to organizations that were helping asylum-seekers. At first, it was solely about helping organizations that were doing the work — at arm’s length. Organizations such as Amnesty International and Texas RioGrande Legal Aide, have been helping these refugees either jump through the hoops of citizenship, or those of asylum.

At the very least, I wanted to dispel the misinformation that, not only perpetuated racism, but further endangered these people. I wanted to put my own advocacy journalism on top of this issue, laying out the facts in my own archives. Then, drawing on that original knowledge-base, work constantly on breaking through the haze.

Beyond that, I needed to chip away at the blinders of misinformation. Because those blinders don’t solely exist in front of the eyes of those looking at immigration policies. Those same blind eyes turn their gaze upon the world.

The world that I always wanted to live in is a meritocracy. The opposite paradigm of the current administration. A direct democracy built on progressive ideals. Not simply a Democratic-Republic run by corporations, but an inclusive democracy governing in the best interest of every individual.

But more on that later.

The Humanitarian Crisis

From reading out of curiosity, I knew on a basic level, some of the real reasons behind the massive humanitarian crisis at the border. This journey began from that as a fact-finding mission to create original articles dispelling the lies from the President’s right.

I knew that a Wall in the desert, currently growing to 30 feet tall in Yuma, was not the answer.

Sister Cities.

However, since first leaving El Paso my laissez-faire opinion had changed. There was another way to show people real solutions, but unfortunately it didn’t dawn on me how it could be done until I got closer to Phoenix. That’s when I read a report from the Arizona Republic.

Nonprofits were calling for volunteers in Yuma. Border Patrol had given the organizations a day’s notice that they were to release detained migrant families. However, in massive numbers, and without guidance, migrant families were going to be left to the desert, rising racism, and no resources.

I left the library on a secondary mission.

“Meh,” has more or less, become the new religious chant in America.

There’s always a reason to be inactive now. The comfort and distraction is real. And in a way that scares my hopes for the future.

That fear drives me more than any FOX News commentators’ fear-mongering, because it may be stronger than the desire to help others.

I didn’t want to succumb to this “meh” anymore than I wanted to continue finding comfort in insecurity. “Who is John Galt?” Right?

This and my growing discontent with the circumstances of politics and journalism today, tied with a deep need for a feeling of complete freedom, got me on a bus from Denver, CO down to El Paso in the first place.

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From that decision, I found the lifestyle of being a digital nomad nearly fulfilling rather quickly. Prior to this, I had practiced disciplining my vegan diet and my fasting. Now, living the nomadic lifestyle every day is a new adventure.

My desire to see a better world for myself, and my imaginary future family, was not satiated however.

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Once again reforming my vision, I had left Phoenix towards Yuma’s refugee response. I needed to get closer to what was happening, not just report from arms-length as I passed through.

From this, yet another, a third, vision has emerged.

I saw that what my project was doing could go farther with a hands-on approach.

Protecting new Americans and those seeking peace here, was not enough to keep them protected from another dictator, another gang, another Trump.

As much as I don’t know, I’m exceedingly confident that I know enough to be optimistic and steadfast in my ideals. Some would even say that I may be more aware of the world than most. And I’m still optimistic!

Isn’t that what we all need? Maybe most of all, refugees need a hopeful examination of the world from an American perspective. A perspective of democracy built on freedom and amendments to our shortcomings.

Still, that sounds a bit too much like a white savior mission, no?

Even looking at the Yuma organizations making a difference on this issue, there’s an underlying philosophical cornerstone that a lot of Americans, especially my generation, can’t completely work beside.

Is it the nonprofits, or from which directions we come to find them?

Perhaps a third party, a digital nomad volunteer group could act as partners to orgs such as the Catholic Community Services of Southern Arizona, the American Red Cross, and the Salvation Army Social Services.

In addition to volunteering with these orgs, that’s my next mission.

I want to create a nonprofit that not only educates future digital nomads but inspires location independent newsrooms around humanitarian crises, human rights, and a better democracy.

Hopefully, connecting teachers, nurses, first responders, and journalists to better policies, better politicians, and better politics, can create a better world.

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The blue needs you.

If you’re in the Yuma area, come find me. Consider volunteering with some of these great organizations. And if you like my nonprofit idea, leave your comments below.

Thank you for reading.

Why Can’t Beggars Be Choosers?

To be clear, I don’t consider myself homeless. Yes, I’m a digital nomad, don’t know where exactly I’d call home, don’t own anything larger than can fit in my bag, and am riding the poverty line like a mechanic bull, but I don’t consider myself homeless. I’m a digital nomad.

The world is my home. So right now I’m just exploring the other rooms to see what my roommates have done with the place. I don’t have much but what I do have is outweighed by my hope that my home can be an open house filled with friends that care for friends of friends of friends of Kevin Bacon.

So as I was been walking, taking photos, what cash I’ve had, I’ve given to the homeless. There hasn’t been many, at least not until I got to the Phoenix metro area, so when I finally ran into someone with a sign that read, “hungry,” I’ll be the first to admit that I was judgemental.

America creates a lot of food waste. I’m vegan. There’s better places to post-up for change.

All these things swirled in my mind, until I stopped them and took a good inventory of them. It also helped that I watched a young couple of color not only go up to the man and eventually take him out for lunch, but they spent a good amount of time with him.

This made me stop and reflect deeper. I’ll admit, I was ashamed that I had thought about someone else’s position from the standpoint of my own. This person doesn’t have to be vegan, although I believe it’s a healthier and more spiritually enlightening diet. Maybe he was allergic! Maybe he didn’t want to be that guy digging through the freegan section for a half eaten burger. I mean, really Brienna. I was hoping to make up for those thoughts with what change I had left when that nice couple took the man away. Now I had no way to atone for the thoughts that stopped me from helping that man.

With another mile behind me, I came across an older man of color, a veteran, in a wheelchair. Hallelujah, I could repent! I gave him my change intended for the previous man and felt better, but not completely.

I walked another mile. By the freeway stood a man beat red from the sun with only a sign and a bag. I had no change now. I was begging for another way to help this man on the side of the freeway.

I had water.

“Would you like a water?”

The man seemed surprised. Too often people can’t stomach the effort to dig a little deeper in their wallets for change. How many of them had water and didn’t even offer him such a vital resource. The eagerness of his nodding was the answer.

Finally, I had really felt a sense of atonement. It made me question what it meant to help other people. Perhaps I could have asked the Hungry Man if he knew how to fast. Perhaps I could have taught him something that would have helped him. Or perhaps he was as thirsty as the Thirsty Man.

So why can’t beggars be choosers? Because helpers need to be better askers. Asking how you can help someone is far better than imposing your version of helping onto others. If I could go back in time, I would have walked up to that man and asked, do you like Taco Bell? I would’ve found a way for us to split a vegan plate of nachos, loaded with protein.

Why can’t beggars be choosers? When I’m walking and people read me as a homeless person, they offer me things. Beggars must be choosers. I wouldn’t accept a ride from a single male or group of men. I wouldn’t take up space at a soup kitchen or other service that belongs to someone in need. I wouldn’t accept a plate of meat from someone because I’m hungry. I wouldn’t spend the night with a stranger. And I certainly am not interested in giving you head or an old fashioned.

Choice is important. Choice, even though we can’t always control where it comes from or know the causality that brings us the option, is freedom. To say that “beggars can’t be choosers” is to say that along with not having much in the way of possessions, wealth, or food, that someone in such a position should have no freedom as well.

Coming to that conclusion gave me pause. Who would want to take someone else’s freedom away? Surely there’s a minority of people with their own predelictions to this end but I have hope that the 99%, the great majority of not only Americans, but the world, feels this way.

At least that’s the sense I get. Education, culture, tradition, etc., aside; does this seem true to you too?

Borderline Humanitarian Crisis

Hey folks!

Earlier this month, I set out on foot from El Paso, TX. The goal was to document the length of the southwest border and through photography of the environment, region, and relevant images, raise money for humanitarian causes.

Today, on Facebook, I started a direct donation button to my personal page to this end. The button is for the Texas RioGrande Legal Aide (TRLA), which is helping represent migrants affected by what has become a humanitarian crisis, abuse, at the border.

On April 30th, it will be Mexico’s Children’s Day. This is a reminder for us to make a drastic change in our treatment of people at the border, and most importantly those children seeking asylum.

If you can’t directly support TRLA through the link in my Facebook page or are unable to do so here, please consider sharing my photography project.

I began the project on March 16th, and am calling it Open Borders. The photos are for sale at my eponymous gallery on 500px. All, 100%, of proceeds from any photo purchases made during the month of April will be donated to the following organizations:

• Journalists for Human Rights
• Reporters Without Borders
• Texas RioGrande Legal Aide
• Amnesty International

Thank you for caring about this issue.

3/29 Update: Halfway to San Diego, CA to photograph the Tijuana border. After that heading north for a short personal photowalk before heading back towards the Rio Grande border.

Here’s a sneak-peek into the gallery while you’re here:

Rice One!: Doing Good in 2018

Was your 2018 New Year’s Resolution to get smarter? Give more? Well, if you don’t feel like reading or searching for the charity for you, here’s one possible solution: FreeRice.

It’s an oldie but a goodie.

Created back in 2007, the game has donated trillions of grains of rice, from the United Nations World Food Program, and millions of users have helped accomplish this. The “100% non-profit website” accomplishes two goals: 1) it provides free education; and, 2) it strives to end world hunger one free grain of rice at a time.

I used to play it in the computer lab instead of solitaire, galaxy pinball, Runescape or Kongregate like the other kids. With several game types to choose from on FreeRice, my favorite right now is “famous paintings.” Thanks, Google Arts & Culture.

During the Aughts, there were a lot of sites that did similar things for idle, maybe even educational, gaming, to support such causes as feeding dogs, giving flour or beans.

From websites to apps, some things have changed. The top hits from the list are the following two, for donating for activity, rather than per dollar. Donate a Photo, supported by Johnson & Johnson only asks a photo! Charity Miles may make you walk a bit, but hey, cardio that gives to charity at no cost? Nice!

What I like about this

Apps that do good things are great. Altruism doesn’t need to be an uncomfortable adventure with the Peace Corps or Habitats for Humanity anymore! Now you can be your own type of superhero right from the comfort of home! Or at the gym!

That’s all pretty wonderful, but the ease of altruistic behavior and doing good isn’t entirely what keeps me excited about things like this. It’s where things like this will develop. What’s the diachronic outlook here?

Look at 2007 to 2017! Our charitable giving can start from a larger screen, playing games, answering questions and ultimately donating grains of rice at a time, to taking a selfie or a landscape photo and donating money to a variety of causes. Things look to be opening up in the direction of doing good.

People want to not only simplify their budgeting but do good with their wealth too. Even if only with spare change, they want to save easier, retire securer, and invest in their futures. I’d love nothing more than to delve into how the world around millennials is changing personal finance, but that’s for another article.

Here, I would like to conclude on an idea that I brought up in talking about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It came up in that post and may make a milestone moment this year: Universal Basic Income. It’s a topic that, like finance apps, will need to be further expounded elsewhere, because the concept of free money, as Finland has proven, is better than it sounds.

A Universal Basic Income sounds awesome already, but it could get even better if it were integrated with the taxing system. Not stopping there though! Transparency is a must for personal finance and all parts of civil society.

The Universal Income (UI) and taxing software would need its own platform, like an app. The UI would need a fairly simple user interface, or (also) UI. In some of our minds, we may even imagine being able to move our money, plan, save, budget, and even decide how much of it is taxed and where it goes.

That would be the kind of future where getting involved and interactive means not only making money but budgeting and saving money and learning more about civics and taxes.

There’s another upside to it also: Say you don’t want to support war. Well, you can open up your UI app and would be able to set your taxes so none of your money went towards the military budget, and instead goes to the education budget or the highway budget. That would be the day, right?

We could use more organizations like OneTreePlanted too.