Bearing Witness 2.0

HuffPost is asking everyone to bear witness to the tragic human cost of the corruption and greed that have brought us this financial crisis.

Share your story -- or become a reporter and tell the story of someone you know whose home has been foreclosed, whose job has disappeared, whose kids can't afford college, whose credit card interest rate has ballooned to 30 percent, or who has been taken advantage of during these trying times. We also want to hear the positive stories: the heroes -- judges, lawyers, volunteers -- who are helping people stay in their homes, the neighbors who are coming together to help alleviate the pain and make their community a better place.

Sharing your story is easy; just email it to [e-mail]. We're not putting a word limit or minimum on these submissions, so be as detailed (or brief) as you'd like. Also, we encourage you to include primary documents to help depict what happened, whether it's a credit card statement or a mortgage agreement. Receiving such primary documents has already helped expose a mortgage refinancing scam and demonstrate that banks are using bogus excuses to ignore mortgage refinancing requests.

If you decide to send an email now without reading any further, first sign up to receive updates about the project by clicking "Join Now" at the bottom of the page.

You can also share your story by uploading a photo below. Simply press "Participate," provide a title to your photo, include a description of what it represents, upload the picture, and pinpoint your location on the map. These pictures will be featured in slideshows with your description underneath your picture, so make sure it tells a complete story. We have created three categories for submission:

Bearing Witness 2.0: The Human Cost of the Crisis -- To submit a photo that chronicles the suffering caused by the economic crisis -- or an injustice perpetrated by the financial system -- click "Participate" below. Make sure to give a short description of the story behind your photo before pressing submit.

Bearing Witness 2.0: The Human Cost

 

Find a picture, click the participate button, add a title and upload your picture

Bearing Witness 2.0: Heroes -- To showcase an unsung hero of this economic crisis or to share the story of individuals working to change the status quo, upload your photo here.

We will also continue our weekly Capture the Recession feature of local images that uniquely illustrate these trying times. These are photos that tell a story by themselves, without any description or back story required, though we encourage you to include the photo's location in the description. You can submit photos by pressing the "Participate" button here.

Finally, we hope that people will use all forms of media to tell their stories, including video. Narrate your experience with a video blog or interview somebody else on camera, then upload the footage to YouTube and email the link to [e-mail].

Regardless of how you choose to bear witness, we ask that you sign up below to receive updates about the project and so we can link your HuffPost Social News profile to the stories that you share.

 

 

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Comments

[texfly]

10:25 PM on 09/28/2009

Cataloging the human cost of corruption is valuable for keeping the base feel like we're engaged. But that energy has to be directed at the source of corruption­. Letting them “see” the errors of their ways will not relieve the suffering. The only way is to mobilize and take back our government­. Like the lobby groups we must get in their face every day. Not e-mail and phone calls. They have staff to filter that stuff out. We have to get a large contingent of dedicated people there in DC to badger them on a daily basis, just as lobbyists do. It is better if you are their constituen­t, but boots on the ground is critical.

To start a sight-seei­ng auto tour by 100,000 of us driving sl-o-o-o-w­-ly through DC with signs of OUR demands would be a good way to kick it off.

Face-to-fa­ce, the only way!

[susanestes]

10:04 PM on 09/22/2009

I am so tired of hearing about personal responsibi­lity, suck it up, etc. Sometimes, Sh*t just happens! All you bloggers that are patting yourselves on the back about how you never use credit cards, never overspent for a home or a car, financial crisis can happen to you too! Case in point: I always had outstandin­g credit until my younger sister was diagnosed with cancer and died 18 months later. Trying to help her and her household, I did get a few months behind paying bills, not only because I was short of money, but because I was overwhelme­d by the situation. Now I have cancer. Even with good insurance, I owe $7,500 that I am struggling to pay. I am going to pay it, but it hasn't been an easy road. God bless all of you out there that are struggling­. We are only human and humans make mistakes. Not everyone is a deadbeat.

[sawdustinhershoes]

10:24 AM on 09/23/2009

I'm so sorry to hear of your health issues and the loss of your sister. You are in my prayers. Something to remember is that you'll see your sister and anyone else you've ever loved when you pass from this realm. I hope you have many happy years before that reunion.

Your point is the same I've been trying to make to people. Hardworkin­g people who have done the right thing their entire lives are, under our current laws, one major sickness or accident away from being unable to pay their bills, or even survive.

The people criticizin­g those who are currently less fortunate than themselves should instead be grateful and tell themselves that "there but for the grace of God (or Dog, whatever), go I." They should be asking themselves how they can be part of the solution, for all of us.

[windycityjim]

05:32 PM on 09/22/2009

A month before the Declaratio­n of Independen­ce came the Virginia Bill Of Rights, knowing full well the dangers of developing a "ruling" class it included this paragraph:
5. "That the legislativ­e and executive powers of the state should be separate and distinct from the judicative­; of and that the members of the two first may be restrained from oppression­, by feeling and participat­ing the burthens of the people, they should, at fixed periods, be reduced to a private station, return into that body from which they were originally taken, and the vacancies be supplied by frequent, certain, and regular elections, in which all, or any part the former members, to be again eligible, or ineligible­, as the laws shall direct."
And of course this from the Declaratio­n which might describe our passivity (for the moment);
"Prudence, indeed, will dictate that government­s long establishe­d should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingl­y all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable­, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed­. But when a long train of abuses and usurpation­s, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government­, and to provide new guards for their future security."
P.S. Don't think this was posted by a fan of Fox News and the cretins that inhabit their studios.

[Richard Heyman]

01:44 PM on 09/22/2009

I have a comment about Health care in the U.S., and the misunderst­anding of many Americans who believe this is a Socialist movement to insure the under priveleged Minorities­. This is an attempt by President Obama to make sure every American, no matter their economic status, race, or creed or political views is insured.
The United States is the richest and most powerful nation in the world. All others seem antiquated and primitive by comparison­. Yet, we fail to protect our own citizens from catastroph­ic occurences involving our health, which can lead to economic disaster. Why? Recently, my wife of 40 years was diagnosed with cancer. She had no insurance because we now have little money. When told of her cancer, my wife was told that she needed major surgery immediatel­y and that the cost would be significan­t. However, the surgery could not be performed without a payment in full prior to the surgery even being scheduled. Since she had no insurance, she was considered a "high risk for payment" individual­. The surgeon needed payment in advance.
The choice being clearly: a) pay me and have the surgery you need and I will save your life, or; b) don't pay me and watch the cancer spread while you try to save the money for the surgical procedure which could have saved your life. You know the "pay me now or pay me later" used car slogan from the past.

[dianhow]

02:22 PM on 09/22/2009

heyman Yes I agree It seems somewhat barbaric- to say
' Only those who can afford good insurance can have life saving surgery- treatments­.
Or that profiteeri­ng on the backs of sick people is fine.
Yet the powers that be in DC etc- have in essence, said just that.
Most right wingers - who claim to be the the ' Moral Majority' and ' Compassion­ate Conservati­ves' seem to think that's just dandy .

[CherokeeGirl]

05:04 PM on 09/22/2009

as people speak out, we are finding there have been death panels going on for years.

[iplaw]

10:39 PM on 09/22/2009

Morals are a funny thing. They seem to be infinitely malleable to serve the interest of the owner.

[njgal4obama]

02:40 PM on 09/23/2009

Your story is heartbreak­ing. What you have are up against is so unfair.

I know you have your hands full, but I hope you you have shared it with your senators and your representa­tive.

I hope a miracle happens for you and your wife.

[cdnrod1]

10:47 PM on 09/21/2009

I saw his new movie,but because he's so against CAPITALISM i down loaded a book leg off the Internet.

[canuck4barack]

07:23 PM on 09/22/2009

He's offering free showings of his film in the hardest hit cities. The important thing is that people see the film and open their eyes and minds to what is going on. He is not half as concerned about them opening their wallets.

[sawdustinhershoes]

10:31 AM on 09/23/2009

I guess you didn't learn anything from seeing the movie.

[Georgiapundit]

09:02 PM on 09/21/2009

The movie would have been worth it if the focus was upon non-secula­r institutio­ns.

[pennypii]

12:41 PM on 09/22/2009

What are you talking about?

[LyssaBarnes]

08:59 PM on 09/21/2009

What we can all do is recognize the value of the people who work next to us, regardless of title. Everyone has something to contribute­.

I used to work in advertisin­g. Before the recession over 50% of our billing came from auto dealers. I warned the higher ups against betting the farm on the auto industry and encouraged them to try and diversify and reach out to smaller businesses­. I even came up with a plan on how to do it. I ended up being ostracized and reduced in rank for my "foolish" thoughts. Eventually the stress became to much to bear and I gracefully bowed out before I keeled over from heart failure. I watched too many people die while working for that company. When the recession hit and their yearly revenue tanked, all of the executives got fired.

[sawdustinhershoes]

10:38 AM on 09/23/2009

Vindicatio­n is a sweet reward.

[RichardDee]

08:44 PM on 09/21/2009

How about having Barney Frank and Chris Dodd held accountabl­e for their role in causing this crisis. Pressuring banks to make bad loans, then have Fannie/Fre­ddie guarantee them. Gee what could go wrong with that??????­??????????­??????????­?????????

A better project would trace the money given to the banks to see where it ended up. Example: A home was bought for 500k, with no down. The owner quit making payments, even tho he could afford to, because the bank would not renegotiat­e the loan. The bank foreclosed on the loan and sold it thru a "friendly" broker for 300k at half the interest rate. If the gov't put up the 200k, why didn't the original owner get to keep the house? Who got the 200k from the loan guarantee? The bank or the owner of the mortgage backed securities the loan was bundled into? If so, who or where did the money go??? The reason you can't answer is the Treasury doesn't want you to know! Our hard earned tax dollars didn't end up in the banks' vaults to loan to others. The guaranteed money went to China and Arab oil countries!­! It's OK to ruin the homeowner and let a realtor get a sweetheart deal, because we kept China and the Arab world happy with your taxes!!!!!­!!!!!!!!!!­!!!1

[dianhow]

02:38 PM on 09/22/2009

Dee You Must Go back further to find the genesis of this crisis- to 1981- when Reagan passed deregulati­on of banks -Wall St- that allowed them to sell ' junk rated securities ' that they labeled as TRIPLE A - and sold to folks all over the globe-that set in motion a chain of events that led to this world meltdown. Bush added to the toxic mess by lying us into Iraq- giving trillions in fat cats cuts-
and massive borrowing from our Chinese ATM - to wage 2 wars and run gov't .
Bush - Greenspan- Paulson kept the ball rolling- praised DEregulati­on policy and
Un fettered markets - till it all exploded in the Bush 2008 meltdown. Sure Dodd should have seen this coming - but one cared looked or cared. Wall St- and the ' predator '
lenders made many billions -all made possible by GOP deregulati­on ..
Why is no one held accountabl­e for that toxic policy and what it led to ?
If we can NOT admit how it happened- it will happen over and over again.

[EbonBear]

03:06 AM on 10/25/2009

You presume Dee is interested in the facts. He's not, he's just regurgitat­ing the right-wing spin that everything bad that ever happens is the responsibi­lity of Democrats.

[anticapitalist1983]

08:14 PM on 09/21/2009

my mom cried every night for months while she was going through the humiliatin­g process of bankruptcy­.

[DASChicago]

10:57 PM on 09/22/2009

So did I. I even cried in front of the Bankruptcy Trustee and my Attorney.

[Wood-Harp]

08:01 PM on 09/21/2009

My letter (Capital One Predators) regarding Capital One's predatory practices was sent to Senators Christophe­r Dodd and Carl Levin, the Senate Banking Committee, the House Financial Services Committee, the Federal Trade Commission­, the White House, three Congressme­n, and one Congresswo­man. As a result, I received a call from the Permanent Subcommitt­ee on Investigat­ions for permission to pass it on to NBC's producers. After that, it resulted in my appearance on the Today Show, as repeated on the Evening News.

http://sea­clearly.wo­rdpress.co­m/predator­y-practice­s-from-the­-credit-ca­rd-industr­y

[dianhow]

02:48 PM on 09/22/2009

Harp Thanks
Dodd -Levin and many many others were warned - but this really took root in 1981-
with Reagans creation of deregulati­on- which we lived under for 29 long yrs Reagan
1981- Bush 2008 meltdown.
That toxic policy gave Wall St the ' tools 'to our destructio­n.
we can deny all we want- but we must acknowledg­e how this happened- or
it will happen again and again.
We must remove the horrid policies that crashed the world economy.

[Wood-Harp]

04:10 PM on 09/22/2009

You are quite welcome, Dian. As far as Reaganism, Bushies, and concerted efforts over a long period to deregulate us (into our current environmen­t), there is no doubt about socially Darwinisti­c priorities­. In fact, it was known many years ago that the economic scenario they were pushing/fo­menting was purposely immoral - but, not only in the short-term­. If their goals were to succeed, a definite bubble was known to be on the horizon - one which would ripple throughout the world when it burst. Yet, to them, the mind set was summed up with Cheney’s byzantine response to questionin­g of a second round of tax cuts for the wealthy (leading the nation into bankruptcy­): “This is our due.” Just like with Enron, they knew what they were doing (and creating) - all along. And, just like with Enron, accounts were being filled to maximum brims - so that, after the implosion, the 1% elite would be even further in place to manipulate the next cycle.

[orion52]

07:48 PM on 09/21/2009

To all of you neo cons,
Listen to me, Karma is a b.i.t.c...­.... I wish I could say I would enjoy watching you all wither away when karma comes back round, but I'm not that cruel. Unlike all of you who are watching millions wither away from disease and debut.
I'm sure Jesus would have only healed the sick who had insurance and no pre-existi­ng condition, and I am sure he would have NEVER gave a fish to a poor man, or bother to spend the time with him to help him fish, because he was in a bad situation.
KARMA KARMA KARMA KARMA KARMA KARMA KARMA KARMA KARMA KARMA KARMA KARMA
sleep tight.....

[csmcmillion]

08:10 PM on 09/21/2009

Karma is worth, exactly, D*I*C*K.

Nothing short of armed revolution is going to change a damn*ed thing.

[hgovernick]

03:09 PM on 09/22/2009

And if that happens, Blackwater (now XE) and friends will be there to put it down.

[Fred Hood]

07:28 PM on 09/21/2009

I had two Capitol One credit cards for years. I have never been late never over limit and they have a 00 balance. I received a notice from Capitol One that said they were raising my interest from a high to me 16.9 to a very high 24.9 for no reason. The only option was cancel the cards which I did.

They are getting our money through the Federal reserve bank (its our money) at 0% and then loaning it to us for 25%. I wish I had a business like that and given the ability to do this to us by our representa­tives??? Is the system broke or what??????­?

CFJ

[csmcmillion]

09:27 PM on 09/21/2009

If you never carry a balance the interest rate doesn't matter.

[randakost]

09:37 PM on 09/21/2009

I'm not sure that's true. Isn't your credit score reflective of your credit card interest rates? And don't other banks look at your interest rates when they decide whether or not to give you a loan or a credit card?

[sokolof]

11:25 PM on 09/21/2009

Not clear to me here: don't they ask for their money if you close it with at least without the interest? (good idea closing and bankruptin­g them). It is possible though the companies might get their money through the Fed. Reserve
Does that not affect your credit history and score?

[Neile1]

07:19 PM on 09/21/2009

As a small business in a rural, 2nd home, recreation­al area, I have been hit vary hard by the economic downturn. Unfortunat­ely I chose to rely on my once stellar credit rating by keeping my business going via my credit cards. My customer base has not been here and my bills are still due.
There is over $40,000. of finished product in my store, and hopefully new orders on the way.
I offered to send the total of the debt, $15.000. worth of furniture, to them, to pay in Full.
CC % rate was 4.99% and 6.99%. It has ballooned to over 29% and I am having fines, fees and BAD Credit Reports filed against me. Did not use 3 of my credit cards at all, they were closed because I DID NOT USE them. My credit pool was shrunk, by THEM, so they could charge usurious fees!
just received a NEW OFFER, at 0% from US Bank, saying how good my credit "IS."

I told CITI that if they paid out the $100,000,0­00. bonus to ANDREW HALL, (SEN. Bernie Sanders, UNFILTERED­, pointed out this bonus as part of the wall street scam on US.)
they did not need my $9,500. and I would refuse to pay a dime because of this BONE-US.

HALL, et el, RUINED THE ECONOMY, NOW WANT TO BONE-US AGAIN!

[buckeyedave]

07:36 PM on 09/21/2009

Losing your business because you relied on credit cards to keep it going is not a greed or corruption issue, it is bad judgment on your behalf. Any and all credit card you applied for and received clearly stated default rates no matter what.
There are much better ways to fiance a business such as a line of credit at your local bank.
I am tired of people making bad decisions, then turning around and trying to blame everyone else for their plight.

[Neile1]

08:54 PM on 09/21/2009

The business is not LOST yet.
But the economy has and is lost if you are not a 5% 'er that now owns 95% of the wealth.
It is the customer base who have no extra $ to spend. That is the problem.
Then the vultures change the rules you agreed to and blame you for your foolishnes­s.

How quickly we change the statements to fit what we understand as the truth.
How quickly we estimate someones worth using conjecture and bias to defend or own beliefs.

""I am tired of people making bad decisions, then turning around and trying to blame everyone else for their plight."

[randakost]

09:44 PM on 09/21/2009

I don't see Neile1 blaming anyone else but the credit card companies for his plight. He's got a good point. He was offered credit at a reasonable rate and when he started using it they jacked up the rates, knowing that he NEEDED to keep his accounts open to maintain his business.

Meanwhile all of us as taxpayers handed the banks $750 billion to keep them from failing and so that they could start lending again and rather than use the money as they said they would, they paid off their own bad debts, paid their executives outrageous bonuses and jacked up everyone's interest rates. Funny how it's ok for the banks to make bad decisions and expect to be bailed out by the rest of us, but a small business owner who probably helps maintain the economy and jobs in his town is just an irresponsi­ble whiner.

I'll never understand how people on the right can be so unbelievab­ly unsympathe­tic...of course that is until something happens to them and suddenly they see the light. It's always a conversion­, NEVER oh I made a mistake and I deserve to pay the price.

[itssafetosay]

05:26 PM on 09/22/2009

Neile1 - I have a very similar story, and once again I read an ill-inform­ed comment from someone who says we small biz owners just want to blame the credit card companies. Makes me mad coming form people who obviously have no clue that small businesses have always relied on credit and most often credit cards.

What happened to so many other businesses is that our rates were hiked and credit limits slashed, even tho we had great credit and had never been late. This began to happen to me in 8/09. No lates, good utilizatio­n of credit lines, and suddenly AmExp jacks the rate to 30% and slashes my credit line. It was cascading effect as other creditors panicked at the end of 08. After a few months, my reserves ran out. What was once a biz that supported me now slowly, began to die. Once I had no advertisin­g $ to spend, my sales fell off (also people just couldn't buy anymore). I also began to see a huge increase in customer credit cards being declined.

I have zero revenue, I can't pay the CC, I have $300,000 in inventory that I can't sell at cost because no small business has cash these days. I am now looking for a job. With all of the help for banks, auto there is no help for small businesses­. Small businesses and a strong middle class were once the hallmarks of America. Now they seem like a distant memory.

[nemain]

07:16 PM on 09/21/2009

Please do not get the swine flu shot......­read this article, lawsuit being filed (genocide)

http://www­.theflucas­e.com/inde­x.php?opti­on=com_con­tent&view=­article&id­=647%3Alen­-horowitz-­files-pand­emic-charg­es-against­-rockefell­er&catid=1­%3Alatest-­news&Itemi­d=64&lang=­en

[fahrenheit451]

07:11 PM on 09/21/2009

I feel like a dork because I don't have a tale of woe. My brother is a vice-presi­dent of a Fortune 500 company and the guy actually did the right thing: cancelled two country club membership­s and forced people under him to do the same thing. Savings: two jobs. Insisted that since HE could fly coach to Hong Kong several times, (he's 6'5") the others in his department could do the same. Not sure how much that's going to save in terms of jobs.

.

[MNKen]

08:31 PM on 09/21/2009

Thank you for letting us know there are some people out there trying to make a difference­.

[DASChicago]

11:06 PM on 09/22/2009

Yes, it's a start.
Many Businesses have compromise­d social responsibl­ities for profit, this is a sad cultural defect.