March 25, 2010

Model Citizens

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Looking like a million bucks—even if you’re flat broke—is the first rule of La Societé des Ambianceurs et des Personnes Élégantes, a subculture of Congolese dandies who bring high fashion to the streets. Sapeurs may beg, borrow, or steal to get the latest from Paris and Milan. Disputes over who’s the most dapper are decided by duels: Whoever flashes the most exclusive label wins.

For more of Daniele Tamagni‘s “Gentlemen of Bacongo,” click here.

This photograph appeared in the March/April 2010 Issue of Mother Jones.

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WE'LL BE BLUNT

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't find elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

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