My experience with 9/11 was incredibly personal but it also opened my eyes to how politics shape our lives. I was 15 + watched closely as a President + his administration persisted to spread lies + misinformation over the years that followed in order to start an unrelated war.

I couldn't accept how they could blatantly lie to Americans + get away with it. I went to journalism school believing that media could uplift truth over corrupt powers. In '08, I covered a candidate who not only voted against their war but inspired hope in a new kind of politics.

I left journalism in '09 to work for that candidate-turned-president. Now, 11 years later, we're fighting another president, administration + complicit media that feeds us lies to protect their power, at any cost. No one candidate is going to save us. That's always been our job.