Principal Investigator Ethan Zuckerman
Co-investigator Patricia Maes
Project Website http://cronicasdeheroes.mx/
ro Reports / Crónicas de Héroes is a campaign of positive thinking. It gives citizens a place to report acts of civic courage and other positive contributions to society that they have witnessed. We believe that given the right tools all citizens can create a stronger sense of civic pride and help build a more civil society.
This is the civic courage that also keeps us safe.
The project highlights small but notable acts of friendliness, respect, honesty, civility, and responsibility. Each story highlights an action that deserves to be recognized and shared by all.
The most succesful instance of Hero Report -- a Spanish-language version called Crónicas de Héroes -- is deployed in Ciudad Juárez and soon expanding to other cities in Mexico. Some of its goals are:
(*) At a local level, to inject positive energy and civic pride into the city. And by increasing civic pride we hope to rekindle the optimism and fighting spirit that has characterized Ciudad Juárez throughout its history.
(*) At an international level, citizens of other countries who view Juárez through the lens of the news media can’t help but see an unsafe city battling with crime. However, the vast majority of Juarenses are upstanding citizens who believe in the value of community. Crónicas de Héroes allows them to show the world that this is true.
To promote the project in Juárez, MIT is collaborating with local organizations and schools (such as the Tec Milenio, Tec. de Monterrey campus Juárez, IADA, Preparatoria Allende, Uniendo Esfuerzos por Juárez, etc). We have distributed posters, postcards, and stickers as well as placed billboards around the city. We have organized workshops and worked with local media, who feature various crónicas in print and on radio and television. We have also been collaborating with local artists who are painting Crónicas-inspried murals around the city. Additionally, we are deploying a Public Art competition where these positive stories can be exposed in a public space in the city.
Crónicas de Héroes is a non-profit project. We work with the support of the community; therefore, we want to invite more institutions, groups, NGOs, ACs, etc to contact us. Everyday there are heroes among us and they did not sit around to wait for better times, thus lets follow their example and grow together for a better present.