Project Progress is a response to the horrifying trend of suicides due to bullying. The goals of the project go beyond advocating against bullying to promote public support and expression of equality, acceptance, and social change. Ultimately, the project seeks to provide an outlet for people to express their support for such values publicly, spreading the word through creative mediums such as photography and written stories of hope and progress towards a more understanding society.
The project stems from the idea that we need to make hate a taboo. As a society we need to stigmatize judgment of our fellow human beings that results in violence and cruelty. We can do this not by spreading negativity but by promoting the positive values that encourage acceptance of all sexual orientations, races, religions, body types, disabilities, and other differences among us. This endeavor seeks to promote a a mindset rather than focusing on a specific issue. This way people of all walks of life can benefit from the ideas and mission of Project Progress.
Project Progress currently has two core components with more in development:
-A photo project that expresses positive values and ideas to popularize them among young people. This strives to make attitudes of acceptance the ‘cool’ mindset among people of all ages, but primarily youth. Currently the first photo-shoot has taken place and photos are forthcoming. Eventually we aim to partner with an appropriate organization to donate a percentage of proceeds from selling prints. If you have suggestions for organizations to contact please feel free to email.
- Stories of people’s experiences of progress towards a better society. This aims to provide examples of how we can live out the values and ideas we are promoting. Have a story of support when faced with bullying, judgment or hate? We are looking for submissions to post on a section our the official Project Progress site for others to see. We will have guidelines for these submissions.
- More ideas? Email them! Get involved!
