Say it Forward: A Guide to Social Justice Storytelling

by Cliff Mayotte (Editor), Claire Keifer (Editor)

Oral history is a universal form of storytelling. For many years, Voice of Witness has shared powerful stories of people impacted by injustice with a broad audience of readers. Say It Forward extends this work, offering a DIY guide for social justice storytelling that outlines the critical methodology at the core of Voice of Witness’s evocative oral history collections. Field reports candidly detail how to harness the power of personal narrative to expose larger issues of inequality. Cliff Mayotte is the education program director with Voice of Witness. He previously edited The Power of the The Voice of Witness Teachers Guide to Oral History . Claire Kiefer is the author of Bear Witness . She was a Voice of Witness curriculum specialist and currently works at the Georgia Capital Defender.

Genres: Nonfiction, Activism

288 pages, Paperback

Published December 18, 2018

Reviews

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting book about work that Voice of Witness coordinates about oral history recordings. It provides background on the overall work, and some information about conducting oral history interviews. Much of the book is written extracts of oral histories with commentary about processes provided by the interviewers. The oral histories are not designed to be listened to and this is my biggest problem with this book and the approach, because from my perspective oral histories are to be listened to with transcripts providing discovery and search options, rather than dominant access. For Voice of Witness the transcripts are the dominant access. Not all the oral histories have safe homes for the recordings as these may be private projects not connected to libraries, museums, archives or other collecting organisations. There is an however to all of this, and it is this, however, the recordings which extracts of their transcriptions are available can provide access to stories not otherwise recorded. This highlights the need for more collecting organisations and researchers to record a wider range of oral histories and to make their information available. It highlights the importance of training in how to conduct an oral history interview.

[lorisa salvatin · Rating 5 out of 5]

i have a shout-out in this book, because I was on the team of journalists who retold stories of survivors in the aftermath of The Great Eastern Japan Earthquake. so i don't know if my review will be biased.

but i will say, this book sparked this new found interest in oral history and was a catalyst in potentially pursuing media and storytelling as a part my future career plans. so many of the projects included in this collection are so awe-inspiring. it is a great read if you're interested in social justice, social politics, or just love a great story.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Practical tips and examples for anyone interested in ethical storytelling. Great for nonprofit communications professionals and those working with community members in a variety of settings.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

More words of wisdom than How-to. The majority of the book contains reflections on specific oral history projects, covering project framing, ethical considerations, power dynamics, and the interview process. I would have loved more insight on the editing process—like a side-by-side of the unedited transcript and the final narrative with some commentary on particular editorial choices.