What do Flint, Newark and Baltimore all suffering from lead-contaminated water have in common?
Their disasters are distinct, but share a common thread. How can the cause be explained vividly in order to build support for change? StoryMaps, a free app is ideal for this need.
Checkout the real StoryMap here: http://bit.ly/voteforcleanwater
Background
"Those most hurt by the system are those who are most powerless to act on the system. Capital’s mobility destroys neighborhoods by disinvestment or gentrification fosters destructive competition between ethnic, racial, native, immigrant, age, and gender groups; and plays them against one another in efforts to create “union-free” low wage, low tax, low regulation environment", paraphrased from Mark Miller in Dissent.
Communities need to understand the causes and people responsible for their plight, so they can better organize to demand change. Digital storytelling enables organizers to craft persuasive stories, with neither money nor tech skills.
Digital storytelling
This StoryMap was created by a volunteer in just one day using these free resources:
StoryMaps a digital storytelling app.
Community Analyst - a geographical information system (GIS) app with large datasets.
Unsplash - a resource for copyright-free photography
YouTube - video-sharing website
Wikipedia - encyclopedia with details on politicians
Bit.ly - service to create short URLs. It was used to create this link http://bit.ly/voteforcleanwater
Takeaway
StoryMaps is a free app that can be used to quickly distill complex issues into short, engaging stories that are easy to understand and share. Learn how to apply StoryMaps to your cause here.
Deepak
Co-Founder, DemLabs
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