Over the course of the last 16 years of my activism and indie journalism, I have faced accusations from haters and people who are NOT arguing in good faith attempting to discredit my work.

Now, this isn't anything new for ANYONE who chooses to put themselves into the "public sphere", especially on the internet, and I have become accustomed to it.

However, recently I noticed a wave of comments across various social media platforms claiming that my *very humble success* has come overnight and that this alleged rapid success makes me suspect.

I find this hilarious because for anyone who has actually followed my work or taken 2 seconds to look into my history, you can see that I have been busting my ass as an activist, and later a journalist, film maker, public speaker, author etc for nearly 2 decades.

Whatever limited success I have - and I am grateful for it - it certainly did not happen overnight. I am extremely shadowbanned, downranked by the algo, and have fought for every bit of audience I've gained. I've built my humble audience (about 500k across all platforms and email) by hitting the pavement and doing real journalism, and by living the message that I promote.

In fact, it was really cool to meet a few people on The Activation Tour who said they've been following me since the 2010-2012 era of my work. Not only is that so cool to know that someone has been keeping up with me for that long, but its a testament to the length of time I've been committed to this work.

Do you want to know the secret to my humbling (but growing) success?

I invest in myself and my work. It's that simple.

I'd estimate that over the last 16 years I invested somewhere between $15-20k of MY OWN MONEY into my work.

This money went towards doing in person activism and journalism in places like NYC for 9/11 from 2011-2017, protests like Ferguson, Standing Rock, COVID, etc, political conventions and events, activist and freedom events etc etc.

For the vast majority of my work I've paid out of pocket. There have been times that journalistic outlets I've worked for covered some of my costs, and there have also been times that crowdfunding covered my costs (thank you!).

Overall, though, I've covered my own costs and I've done it because going to in person events and networking with people, putting my face and name out there, and doing the real work is what a journalist does.

THIS is why people know my work. NOT because I blew up overnight and have questionable funding.

Anyways, Thanks to everyone who supports my work and efforts, whether you've been following since 2010 or 2020.