“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” – Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
As people of sacred stories, we know the power of narratives to build compassion and inspire action. Our stories both show us who we are and help us imagine who we can be. With your help, we can create a hub of antiracist story-sharing that draws others to join the movement and opens hearts to new possibilities and practices of racial justice.
Make sure your story helps us get to know the main character(s) – the people driving the action. Who are the people in the story that move it?
Stories that follow a story arc with a build-up, climax and resolution, help draw people in. What did you want, what difficulties/obstacles did you face, what did you decide to do, what change occurred?
Your story should feature one significant experience with a dominant theme, including some sense of what is at stake for the community. What is the heart, the question that drives the story? What stands to be lost or won in the work you’re telling us about?
Share the feelings and reflections that are a part of the story, letting the emotions and thoughts help others relate and make connections to your story. What thoughts and feelings emerged and what does that tell us about your community and this antiracism practice?
A story can connect us to the Ultimate, to big ideas and questions, to larger truths, speaking something bigger than itself. How does this story make a larger point about human experience, the world and the work of racial justice?
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