Narrative Initiative

Archivo Cubanecuir (Cuban Queer Archive) is a project that started after its founder, Librada Gonzalez, noticed that official records focused on the trauma, suffering, and the criminalization of LGBTIQ+ people in Cuba. “That was not queer history, but the history of transphobia and homophobia”. Journalist Eileen Sosin writes about Librada Gonzalez and Archivo Cubanecuir for Field Notes. https://lnkd.in/ewXPyWWb 

When Fernando Araujo awoke on his wife's birthday, their first as a married couple, he had every reason to believe the day would be like any other. Araujo’s time as Minister of Development under Colombia’s Conservative President Andres Pastrana was behind him and he was about to embark on a new consulting venture. On December 4, 2000, at the dawn of a new century that slid Colombia even further into socio-economic crisis, Araujo’s naiveté came to an abrupt end. For Field Notes, Martina Castellanos writes one man’s evolution while captive for six years. https://lnkd.in/ek8TDVmS

Announcing VOW’s summer workshop series! We’ve adapted our oral history approach into three online skills-building workshops for advocates, educators, artists, and orgs interested in using first-person storytelling to advance a project or mission. Register today to reserve your spot: https://lnkd.in/egjqXyUB #OralHistory #NarrativeChange #Storytelling

Recognizing the need for a different approach to calls for nonviolent assistance, the City of Durham piloted an alternative crisis response program. Yewande O. Addie, Ph.D., MPH writes about the city's first public safety unit staffed with mental health clinicians, peer support specialists, and EMTs for Field Notes. https://lnkd.in/eTUMXefd

Are you a social justice organizer/practitioner with a book (or book idea) in progress? Our partners over at the Narrative Initiative just launched its 2025 Changemakers Authors Cohort that offers support, community, and tools to help organizers, educators and other power-builders write and publish books for lasting narrative change. Register to learn more at the upcoming info session on June 14! https://lnkd.in/eQ-fk7xc

How Baby Shark is introducing climate change to younger audiences, a big welcome to our newest Changemaker organization, and a very important resource to help move forward with your book project. Read about it all in the latest Word Force Observor, from Nikesha Williams 👇 https://lnkd.in/g6yEAQvX

The Sámi are among Europe’s remaining indigenous peoples, with a history stretching back as far as the melting of the glaciers at the end of the last Ice Age. For Field Notes, Shafi Musaddique speaks with members of this nation on the importance of solidarity with Palestinians. “The discourse of colonialism has been in Sami life for decades. We have this never ending occupation, siege and ethnic cleansing. Any talk of decolonization is not credible if we Sami stay silent,” says Helga West, researcher at the University of Helsinki. “The Sami know how it is to be marginalised and lose our lands. It all starts with state borders,” says Aslat Holmberg, president of the Saami Council. Read more: https://lnkd.in/dcXigk8m

#Organizers #WritingCommunity #SocialJustice folx! The Changemaker Authors Cohort is open for applications for those writing books that create durable change in social/racial justice. These books can be fiction, nonfiction, graphic narrative, poetry, or hybrid! Applying is free and the program provides a virtual community space with book coaching, peer circles, and craft talks for up to 12 months starting in March 2025. Next year marks the third cycle of this program and we've already had Cohort members gain book deals, get agented, and learn more about their craft. Applications are due August 15th, so please spread the word and begin your app! Any questions lemme know or email: changemakerauthor (at) gmail dot com. (This program is a partnership with Narrative Initiative and Unicorn Authors Club.) #writingprogram #socialjusticestories #writingforsocialjustice Learn more and apply at this link: https://lnkd.in/e8vrPZzG

For Field Notes, Bikash K. Bhattacharya describes how the Kachin Orature Project successfully preserves the history of communities living in Myanmar’s Kachin state. For generations, before Christian missionaries introduced writing, Kachin peoples recorded history through a robust oral tradition that includes naming oral sources and meticulous detail preservation. Note: Though the name “Kachin” originates from the British and not a local language like Jinghpaw — it is still used today to refer to multiple indigenous groups who live in Kachin state. https://lnkd.in/dHU_yZjQ

Opal Lee, a retired teacher in Texas, is the reason why Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021. Before then, the holiday was essentially only celebrated by African Americans since the first Juneteenth on June 19, 1865. Called "America's Other Independence Day," the holiday commemorates the completion of announcing the Emancipation Proclamation across all the former Confederate states after the end of the U.S. Civil War. This legally ended the practice of slavery in the former Confederacy, while enslaved peoples in the Union states would not gain their freedom until the Emancipation Proclamation became ratified as the 13th amendment later that same year. Today, we are revisiting Nikesha Williams' interview with Dr. Marvin Dunn, president of the Miami Center for Racial Justice. Dr. Dunn leads "Teach the Truth" tours for high school students and is a longtime advocate for historical accuracy in Florida schools. Dr. Dunn on the effect of his tours: "I would say that students, in particular, have been awestruck and puzzled as to why they didn’t know these things before." #Juneteenth https://lnkd.in/gJWC66sb