Stories of emerging solutions to systemic racism, a global pandemic, and the climate emergency
To submit your story or if you have questions, please contact tompkinssolutions@gmail.com. For audio/video recording tips, click here.
We are faced with three interconnected crises – a global pandemic, systemic racism, and the climate crisis - that have exposed systemic inequities that disproportionately marginalize people by race, class, gender, ability, age, etc. Each crisis is requiring us to imagine and activate solutions that are not band-aid reforms but ones that build a more just and compassionate society, in which no one will have to say “I can’t breathe.”
In response to the pandemic, Tompkins County residents have responded with abundant generosity and creativity. We believe the remedial measures we are putting in place can be designed to address all three crises simultaneously, with long-term and scalable possibilities.
We are collecting local stories that highlight the ways our values, thoughts, actions, and policies are shifting in order to create a more just and resilient Tompkins County. This is an opportunity to explore how you are responding to the pandemic, and what solutions or signs of transformation you see emerging.
Use whatever medium you like: self-made video or recorded audio (1-3 minutes and horizontal orientation, preferably), written story (200-400 words), or original works of art or poetry. We will share the stories through multiple media to a broad range of audiences.
To get you thinking about the solutions we all need, we’re including a short list of topics below as possible jump-off points, though our main interest is your unique story.
Communicating and working better across differences of identity or circumstance.
Keeping everyone in our community safe and secure.
Balancing growing self-reliance with greater governmental accountability.
Improving the ways we interact with our ecosystem.
Changing how we do food, waste, housing, jobs, education, childcare, eldercare, the environment or human rights.
To submit your story or if you have questions, please contact tompkinssolutions@gmail.com. For audio/video recording tips, click here.
