I’m trying to help people fight injustice.
My name is Mark Jacobson, and I’m looking for trouble. I need your help to find it. I know that seems like a strange request because most of us go out of our way to avoid trouble. In an ideal world, that would be easy. Unfortunately, we don’t live in a perfect world. Sometimes, trouble finds us through no fault of our own.
You see stories on 24-hour news channels or social media networks. They are the feel-good stories about people in trouble helped by total strangers. But those stories are 1 in 1,000. Most people in crisis may go looking for help, but that help rarely goes beyond family and friends because they lack the money or ability to fight back.
When I talk about people in trouble, I’m not talking about criminals who know the road they are traveling on and the consequences of their actions. I’m talking about ordinary people trying to make the best lives they can, only to find themselves up against social, economic, or racial injustices that are difficult or impossible to overcome. These people are not organized protesters. They are from various economic and social backgrounds, age groups, skin colors, and sexual orientations. With all of their differences, they have one thing in common… they need help.
That is what I am attempting to do. I’m not a kid. I have many decades of reporting and writing under my belt. I currently write a fiction book series in which I incorporate my life and life in general, from suicide to war, in my writings. I weave these issues into what I hope is an interesting story that people will enjoy reading.
I also speak to groups about overcoming adversity in life. It is something I am familiar with, having spent the first twenty years of my life in a wheelchair before taking myself out of the chair and onto crutches. I have learned many lessons over these many years. Part of my journey involved years of experimental orthopedic surgeries. Subsequently, some of those surgeries improved the lives of people who will never know the role I played in keeping them from having to endure the pain and struggles that I overcame. It’s not important that they know. It’s only important that I know.
It’s never easy to ask for money but attempting to change lives comes with a price. I am a skilled storyteller. Your donations will give me the means to utilize that skill to its fullest potential. They will allow me to get the word out, assist with operating costs, and absorb other costs of battling injustices over the long-term. I will also keep you updated on the stories of the people I’m helping; people just like you. Of course, I’ll change some of the names in order to protect the innocent.
In my younger years, I made a living as a writer. Now, I just want to use my writing ability to leave this world a little better off than I found it. I plan to do that one person at a time. Let me make this perfectly clear. I will never charge people for the privilege of helping them.
If you can, please help defray some of the costs involved with this project. You can donate any amount via the Cash app (available in the Google Play store and Apple store). My name is $TYOML.
Although your donations are not tax deductible, if you include your e-mail in the notes section of the app, I will keep you advised of how the money is being spent and the progress being made. Thank you.