Holding The Stories of Justice for the Uncertain Times Ahead - By Andrea Spagat

Editor's Note: We continue our Social Justice Blog Series by re-publishing this powerful reflection from our staff member Andrea Spagat, about the need for story sharing and listening, in this turbulent political era both in the U.S. and globally.

I remember where I was when I heard the news about our current President-elect making comments about his ability to grab women's crotches without consequence. I remember it because, like so many other women, I’ve experienced this kind of groping, at the hands of an entitled male. For me, it was when I was 12. I'm still wondering how to talk about all of this with my feisty eight-year old daughter.

Of course, this was not the first time this year I had been shaken by the news filling my Facebook feed. When yet another young African American man, Philando Castile, was murdered in Minneapolis I thought of all the black and brown boys I know. We'll be inviting some of them over to our house this month for my son's 10th birthday party. They will watch a movie together and look at their Pokemon cards and roll close to each other on our living room floor when they finally fall asleep. Sometimes, when I think about what these boys will likely face as they become young men, I find it hard to breathe.

Yes, it has been a long, eventful, and heartbreaking year. Almost too much to take in, from my vantage point at StoryCenter. We help people make meaning and take ownership of their experiences, through the crafting of personal narratives. We support the individuals we work with in finding the heart of their stories, and, as a result, in articulating them confidently and with purpose. As we have persevered in our work, it has been a challenge for our staff to stay at the center of our own stories while so much of what is difficult and frightening about our world has been put under the spotlight. 

Sadly, none of it is new. StoryCenter and many of its friends and supporters understand that police brutality has long been an unjust burden for communities of color in the United States, that women continue to face harassment and attack, that Native communities have endured the depredation of their land and people for hundreds of years, that LGBTQ individuals contend with violence to their spirits and their bodies, and that it is the vitality of immigrants, who are being targeted with hatred and the forced separation of their families, that drives much of what is good in the United States. But even though these experiences are not new for each of these communities, the in-the-moment documentation that we see in social media and on the airwaves of violence, discrimination, and disregard is brutal.

It cuts us to our core.

In the wake of the election, the future feels more uncertain than ever. The political stability long taken for granted in the United States has been called into question. It is apparently fair game for political candidates and elected officials to refuse to concede an election, to refuse to confirm a Supreme Court justice, and to publicly call for the persecution of minorities. These views, and the many like them, add up to a dominant narrative of hatred and fear.

In the face of all this, we attempt to cope by turning to the strength and connection derived from listening to and telling stories with the people we’re close to - our family members, our friends, and our neighbors. We can mirror the practices that are key to our work at StoryCenter, where our staff hold space for storytellers to speak their truth and witness the truths of their fellow workshop participants. We can bear witness to the vulnerability, confusion, pain, alienation, joy, and growth that may be represented in a story. We can reflect back and affirm the experience, hold up the strength and courage that each of us needs to move forward.

Part of what makes a Story Circle magical is that there is a sense of purpose in each story. Members of a circle are not telling stories simply to soothe themselves, but because they believe that in the telling, they will change, and that they will thus be better able to make change in the world around them.

When individuals come together in community to share with each other, they gain strength in the knowledge that they are not alone. The digital stories they produce carry their voices. Their experiences are amplified, and they become agents of hope and justice.

At StoryCenter, we understand that joining together is what will sustain us. We will stand with our friends who are persecuted and threatened. We will listen. We will struggle through confusion and fear, towards hope and resolve. And we will help create stories wherever we can that weave together a different narrative – one that renounces hatred and instead champions compassion, love, and justice.