Wanted! Your "social action" stories--written and/or recorded, original, or revisited.
What is meant by a Social Action Story?
"Story has the power to hear our lives and experiences yet untold, to deeply listen to stories of resistance, loss, pain, and inequity. Story can be a catalyst to help one see how privilege often filters, censors, and hides a life....We need to tell and hear the stories that lead us to wonder, question, inquire and act."
(from the soon to be released book Social Action Stories: Impact Tales for the School and the Community, Parkhurst Brothers, 2023, www.parkhurstbrothers.com).
For the next two weeks, we are collecting these type of stories to share for the international StoryBox Project. We invite you to contribute.
What is the StoryBox ?
I began the StoryBox project in 1995. It is a large decorated StoryBox full of stories that travels from one location to another over the course of every couple of weeks. It has been mirrored all over the United States and the World. I have launched a StoryBox every other year since 1995. We have had contributions from well-known authors, new writers, someone who simply has a story and visual artists make lasting impacts with their messages.
This year was are launching the Social Action StoryBox.
Each place that the StoryBox arrives a "Story Ambassador" does more than collect the StoryBox, he/she/they create events that uses the story for learning and invites more stories to travel.
At a time when people are trying to silence voices, let us loudly share our social action stories. Let us speak up and share out. Let us use our stories to invite change or action.
This Social Action StoryBox travels for a year and returns to the place that launched the StoryBox, in this case Ohio University Lancaster University.
Your story can be about anything that addresses social action.
It can be about a time you should have acted and didn't.
It can be about a time when you listened deeply and responded to help.
It can be about inequity or the hard choice to be equitable when it didn't affect you.
It can be about when you took a stand.
It can be about what you witnessed.
It can be about when you knew the change was real.
For the last semester, I have worked with colleague Dr. Pamela Kaylor at Ohio University Lancaster and many sponsors have worked to create a program to address the subject of equity in our prison systems. This also includes bringing Dr. Anthony Ray Hinton (see image below) who was wrongly incarcerated on death row for 27 years. He is the author of The Sun Does Shine. The book chronicles the unfair treatment of his time in prison as an innocent man.
At each event, we have been collecting stories. We have a StoryBox at the Hannah V. McCauley Library at Ohio University Lancaster Campus and the Fairfield District Country Library. We need more stories. We need people to (Feel free to share your email if you wish to receive feedback on your story.) to share their Social Action Story. This can be a short glimpse into the issue of equity in your world or a longer short story. It can include images supplied but it is not required. It can be artwork send via emails below. (You can also snail mail your story or artwork, but you would need to send it to the physical address. Contact me for more details.)
We call this "global publishing." We don't edit what is being sent. We do ask it has the tone to promote social action or help us reflect on social justice issues. We ask you help us build the stories for reflection. Your story is your story. You are providing us permission for others to share it or learn from it.
We are only collecting stories for Two More Weeks and need your help to fill the StoryBox!
We would love to launch this StoryBox as early as spring. However, we need your story or stories. Please don't say it is not ready, instead consider that you have a story and you want or need to share it.
Please send your story to the OUL Library at careynev@ohio.edu or the Fairfield Library at bschaade@fcdlibrary.org
We will work so that your story invites action. I hope you can help us build our story collection so that we can address inequity.
If I can help in anyway, please reach out. you can find a contact page on this website. We look forward to reading and sharing your story. Story gives us voice. Story helps us reflect. Story often creates action. We invite your story.
Kevin
"Together we do make a difference when our stories are shared."