MeToo was made up of millions of personal stories. There were the bombshell revelations about celebrities, politicians, and the powerful. But the core of the movement felt closer: posts from our neighbors, our teachers, our acquaintances, ourselves. Millions of voices rising into a crescendo screaming, “Enough.” Enough of the old ways, bad habits, and ignorance that forced us to suffer harassment and abuse in silence. Things for the next generation would be different.

But did that happen? We wanted to find out what the legacy of the MeToo movement is—five years after it became a national story, as kids graduate and enter the workplaces, the college campuses, and the world that those voices have tried to create. It seems clear that something in our culture has shifted, but how much has actually changed? To find out, we spoke to people who have lived and grown through this era, asking them how it impacted their lives. We talked with those who experienced life before MeToo, reflecting on what they hoped would be different. We also looked back at the cultural influences of this era—the media, music, and influencers who shaped it. We wanted to know: How has this era altered the landscape for the generation that came of age after MeToo? And to answer that, you have to go back to the movement’s heart: the personal stories.





Project editor: Ruth Murai
Project managing editor: Jacob Rosenberg
Reporters: Samantha Michaels, Eamon Whalen, Ruqaiyah Zarook, Maggie Duffy, Angelica Cabral, Jackie Flynn Mogensen
Story editors: Jacob Rosenberg, Marianne Szegedy-Maszak, Sophie Murguia, Nina Liss-Schultz, Kiera Butler, James West, Ruth Murai
Copy editor: Daniel King
Web developers: Robert Wise, Young Kim
Art direction: Adam Vieyra, Grace Molteni
Top illustration: Simone Noronha
Animation: Sam Van Pykeren
As-told-to illustrations: Simone Noronha
Additional art: Grace Molteni, Mark Murrmann

THE FACTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES.

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THE FACTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES.

At least we hope they will, because that’s our approach to raising the $350,000 in online donations we need right now—during our high-stakes December fundraising push.

It’s the most important month of the year for our fundraising, with upward of 15 percent of our annual online total coming in during the final week—and there’s a lot to say about why Mother Jones’ journalism, and thus hitting that big number, matters tremendously right now.

But you told us fundraising is annoying—with the gimmicks, overwrought tone, manipulative language, and sheer volume of urgent URGENT URGENT!!! content we’re all bombarded with. It sure can be.

So we’re going to try making this as un-annoying as possible. In “Let the Facts Speak for Themselves” we give it our best shot, answering three questions that most any fundraising should try to speak to: Why us, why now, why does it matter?

The upshot? Mother Jones does journalism you don’t find elsewhere: in-depth, time-intensive, ahead-of-the-curve reporting on underreported beats. We operate on razor-thin margins in an unfathomably hard news business, and can’t afford to come up short on these online goals. And given everything, reporting like ours is vital right now.

If you can afford to part with a few bucks, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones with a much-needed year-end donation. And please do it now, while you’re thinking about it—with fewer people paying attention to the news like you are, we need everyone with us to get there.

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