By the rude bridge that arched the flood

Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled

Here once the embattled farmers stood

And fired the shot heard round the world

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

This stanza from Emerson’s “Concord Hymn” was written about the battle that began America’s Revolutionary war, April 18, 1775, a shot was heard, it’s uncertain from which side—and the melee that ensued ultimately resulted in the American revolution. That shot heard round the world was a precursor, a declaration “before” the Declaration of Independence by the United States of America.

We are at a crossroads if not privately, than certainly collectively, either making ripples or getting ripped.  There are many personal stories rife with rip currents that are UNHEARD due to the onslaught of censorship.  These stories may or may not be preceded by a “shot” whether it is a c19 “shot” or a “shot” of a certain toxic substance, people are making declarations, of whether they want to take the shot, of taking a certain pill, or chemo, or not, but the common theme today is that “the after story” is not heard.  What happened afterwards?  It is censored, stifled or stuffed into a vault with no voice, the opposite result of the famous ‘shot’ heard round the world.  We are here to fill that void, to give voice to the voiceless, before they become victims, and to provide solutions for the ripping fabric of families left all alone, after those declaratory shots.