Hello, scientists with a story!
Those who read the site frequently know I intermittently produce spoken word events. The most recent was 40 Hours to Trump, which raised nearly $1,200 for local groups working in areas targeted by the then-incoming Trump administration. Speakers included schoolteachers, volunteers, activists and immigrants.
We’re doing it again, but this time, we only want scientists. We want to give a stage — and an audience — to voices the current administration is trying to silence.
We want your submissions — due by April 1 — for an upcoming live lit storytelling fundraiser. The event, tentatively set for the days leading up to the April 22 March for Science, will collect funds for groups working in climate change, STEM education, public health, the environment or other science or science-adjacent areas under attack in the current political landscape.
Which groups? That’s up to you.
Readers will pick and pitch their favorite charities, nonprofits or other groups to the audience. Audience members will donate to the groups they want to support, whether that’s some, all or (hopefully not) none.
We want scientists to share true, first-person stories from the lab, field, classroom or just their lives that highlight or promote specific organizations. Tell the audience how the LVEJO fights climate change in communities of color, or share your story of how cleaning beaches with the Alliance for the Great Lakes or researching bird migrations in Peru or petcoke heaps on the South Side made you realize the importance of the work a local group does.
Just make the audience care as much as you do.
Send your 900-1,200 word story (no longer than 10 minutes) and the charity you want to collect donations for to 1001chicago@gmail.com (questions go there too) no later than midnight April 1, 2017.
Oil executives are in charge of the environment. A billionaire dilettante bought her way into educating our children. Facts about climate change are being stripped from government websites by an administration headed by a game show host who thinks global temperature data are part of a Chinese hoax. Voices are being silenced.
That means we should raise ours.
Scientists, please come to the stage. We want to listen, and help.
Learn more about submissions and RSVP for the event
