Collective Visioning by Linda Stout

Author:Linda Stout
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
Published: 2010-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

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I discovered the power of storytelling in my work for change in desperation when I first started organizing in the rural Piedmont area of North Carolina. It was the first time that blacks and whites had come together outside of the textile mills where they worked. I struggled with how to break down the distrust and sometimes hostility that existed between the two groups. At one of our first meetings, blacks and whites sat on opposite sides of the room, staring at each other uncomfortably. Then I asked people to tell their stories of why they were there by talking about their concerns for their children and their future. As people began to tell their stories, the room erupted in excitement and loud voices. People openly expressed surprise that they shared the same concerns. Telling our personal stories became a process that we used to build one of the most effective multiracial organizations in the Southeast at the time.

In some cultures, storytelling is part of everyday life. Many families in the rural South pass down their histories this way.

Storytelling is a basic human instinct, but so many people have lost that part of themselves. Radio, television, the Internet, and the way we live our lives leave us with no time or space for storytelling. That means losing an important part of our culture. While storytelling is still part of family gatherings and rituals in many indigenous and immigrant communities, as a whole it is a lost art. I find that when I bring people together and they have a chance to tell their own stories, a huge shift begins to take place in the group. New understandings of each other emerge. Many people have forgotten the stories they find buried deep in their hearts once they are given the time and encouragement to tell their personal stories. Many are moved to tears.

Here’s an example of what I’ve seen storytelling do. In North Carolina, we used to have an annual celebration to which we invited supporters from other parts of the country. Folks who supported us often wanted to visit to see our work, which took a lot of our time and energy. So, with the help of volunteers from the Boston area, we created the Spring Tours, where we invited folks to join us in celebrating our victories in our communities. A group of between twelve and twenty people would come—often from snowy, cold New England—to our beautiful spring for four full days. We would rent a small bus with a driver for the visitors.

On the first day, we would take them to see the communities we worked in and give them a tour of the textile mills where many of our members worked. On the second day, we would take them to another area two hours down the road. At the end of touring those communities, we’d visit the farm of one of our staff, Jesse Wimberley, and then would have a giant potluck and celebration in one of the communities.

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