community
realising a vision
Musician, Moses Lesco Levi is an elder Rastafarian who supports his community with various projects
art, and 'to increase', as in 'having stocks and shares that appreciate'. So, when we appreciate something, we increase it through our admiring attention. I tenderly call this, The Infectious Law of Affection. Now, eight years after having written that book, I am enthusiastically participating in the economy of appreciation by means of crowdfunding as a way to assist our local community to facilitate itself. Hopefully, this will both inspire and encourage others to explore this relatively new economic starter tool. Crowdfunding is an online platform that enables you to let others know about something you feel needs financial appreciation. The way it works – if you aren't aware already – is that you state your intended financial goal (usually through a short video), declare how long you are raising funds for, and what rewards people receive for assisting you. Then you let others know of
I
n the latter pages of The Presence Process I discussed the wonders of the word 'appreciation'. Appreciation mean both 'to admire', as in appreciating a piece of
your crowdfunded project through social media sites, and so on. Then you watch and see what sort of response you generate. Some crowdfunding sites have flexi-plans that enable you to keep all the funds you raise even if you don't reach your declared goal, whereas others require you reach your goal to receive any funding at all. Millions of dollars have already been raised and channelled into independent creative projects all over the planet through this facility. I first heard about this funding possibility when I had friends travel from the US to SA in 2009 to make a documentary – all sponsored by crowdfunding. However, my journey into it began a year before that. In 2008, when I returned from touring and teaching in the US and Canada to settle in Aberdeen in the Karoo, my intent was to start gathering equipment to construct a very basic recording facility. In 2011 I released my first attempts at recording my own music on an album called Freedom. A copy of this recording found its way into the Aberdeen townships of Thembalesizwe and Lotusville, and through this I was told about a reggae artist that I
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