[MUSIC PLAYING]

Sarah: Oakland-based artist Allison Smith gave us a call to action-- to declare what you are fighting for and fashion a uniform to express your cause. We received so many fantastic responses to this through our regular channels as well as through a variant of the assignment we put out through GISHWHES, which stands for the Greatest International Scavenger Hunt the World Has Ever Seen. This assignment is all about identifying your own personal mission statement and deciding how you want to present it to the world, so it makes no sense for me to interpret or judge the responses here. We just wanted to present a few of them to you and let their creators speak for themselves.

BSIANJAMES: My uniform for the muster used to be my lab coat. I've just earned a degree in biomedical science, and I've spent five years allowing myself very little time to do anything else. I've missed out on pursuing the other things I love, like art, languages, history, and writing. By dying my lab coat with ink, liberating myself from the pure whiteness of the coat, I feel like I'm breaking away for my rigid university education. For me, this uniform symbolizes personal freedom and hope for the future as well as an understanding that each of us has more than just one passion or purpose.

LYRICLORELEI: I fight to connect people to the information they need. I fight to keep libraries rooted in their traditions as well as to actively pursue new and innovative ideas of all kinds. I fight for libraries to not just be houses of books, but to be progressive, equitable gateways to information and meeting places for individuals and groups to research and create.

JUSTHEWETT: I was paralyzed two weeks before my 25th birthday, and my surgeon told me I'd probably never walk again. My wheelchair's become part of my uniform, and it's beautiful. I still struggle to be seen in my chair because I've been objectified a lot through this experience of being disabled. My declaration-- I'm not here for anyone's objectification, but that doesn't mean I have to hide. To paraphrase the prevalent Hank Green quote, "I do not exist to please someone else exist. I exist for my own sake." I want that existence to be one that makes the world a better place.

YEARBYDESIGN: I am fighting for balance and joy. I want to be more accepting of who I am. I don't want all the different parts of me-- teacher, weightlifter, woman, pinup girl-- to have to be totally exclusive of one another. I want my weight and my measurements not to matter to me or anyone else because I'm healthy. I want to spend more time being my true self, whoever that is.

CARPEDIEMPHOTO: When I hear the word muster, I immediately think of the phrase muster up your courage, so I'm mustering up the courage and fighting to accept my body. I am blessed with being healthy, and really, what more could you ask from your body than to be healthy and functioning? However, a large portion of my life, I have been self-conscious of it. I firmly believe all bodies are beach body worthy. I'm trying to live out my belief and overcome my self-consciousness. Posting a picture of myself and sharing it is just another step in that process.

MINNESBETA: I'm fighting for the balance of the system. Nothing exists in a vacuum. Every component fits the whole. Always changing, always forming and reforming, the system is never in isolation from itself. If too many parts are being cut away, the system will break down, and as parts of that system, we will break with it.

YOGURTBELLE: A while back, the hashtag "kill all Muslims" was a trend on Twitter, and despite increasing hate speech and crimes that go as far as murders, Muslims are still treated with no respect and no acknowledgement about their history in this country. So what am I fighting for? For finally bringing an end to the infamous narrative of Islam versus the West.

REBECCAJOYW: I carry the implements of all my maybe futures-- the cup of the volunteer, the notebook of a scientist, the pen of a writer, the paintbrush of an artist, the needles of a crafter, not yet choosing one and left so I cannot do anything but juggle them all. I carry it all because I don't know what I fight for anymore. What I thought my life would be spent fighting for has changed with every contact of a new idea or career. I want to be all of them and more. I can't find a job as an activist, and I no longer like my art, and it's too late to change my degree, and the work to pay my bills has left me no time to create. I want to be everything. I would settle for a couple of things, but the fight has left me with nothing.

Sarah: As always, thanks for participating. And remember, just because we made this video doesn't mean you can't make your own response. We continually troll the internet for the art assignment hashtag and would love to reblog your response whenever you get around to it. And don't forget to check out our new website to see more responses to this assignment and many others.