2 pm, Sunday, Nov. 23
Kalamazoo Peace Center
2101 Wilbur St
Kalamazoo, MI
First presented at the 2007 Allied Media Conference, this workshop will offer a supportive, confidential space in which participants can reflect on their own experiences of trauma and oppression and on the power of narratives in creating change. The workshop will have several different stages. First, the presenter will use a collage of quotes and excerpts from stories to simultaneously provide a framework of understanding and to illustrate the community of survivors, thinkers and storytellers who stand behind us and with us in this work. Trauma will be approached as a disruption of the narrative flow from past to present to future. From there, the role of discovering / creating / reconstructing narrative in healing and creating change will be explored. The connections between individual experiences of trauma and broader social forces/systemic structures will be emphasized.
Next, participants will have the opportunity to discuss their own experiences and perspectives. This conversation will be grounded in the perspective that, “This is your story and only you can tell it. No one else can tell you how you should tell it.” While this will be an open, free-ranging discussion, potential topics include difficulties in confronting trauma through creative writing, strategies for sharing and publicizing our works, the social changes needed to prevent further traumatic violence from happening, and the potential for organizing groups of survivors creating art and change together.
Finally, a writing exercise will give participants the chance to reflect on their own traumatic experiences, how these are connected to broader social forces, the changes they want to see, and how they might craft and share their own narratives for change. Time allowing, a discussion of this exercise will follow.
Participants will leave this workshop with a handout which includes a list of resources about trauma, recovery, and writing.
Image modified from one by Bruno Veloso
Tags: kalamazoo, narrative, oppression, speaking out, workshops
November 18, 2008 at 2:43 pm |
[...] burning for change, rooted in earth: phoenix and tree « i’m presenting a workshop this weekend! [...]
December 6, 2008 at 7:34 pm |
[...] By phoenixandtree I’ve fallen silent recently, mostly because a lot was stirred up by the workshop. Today I’ve been reading a lot of things that have been really inspiring–it’s so [...]