Oral History for Social Change
Groundswell is a dynamic network of oral historians, activists, cultural workers, community organizers, and documentary artists.
n our November PSN, a group of practitioners came together to develop strategies to maintain the momentum in volunteer-powered, and volunteer-led, oral history projects. You can read the full minutes here, and here are a few of our favorite tools, organized by each phase of a project (with thanks to Alice Kovacik for the great notes!):
Read MoreAn intergenerational framework in oral histories can be useful to both parties involved--the interviewer/youth can learn valuable lessons from the person being interviewed, while the interviewee/elder can find it very fulfilling to pass their stories down to the next generation. This can particularly be useful in activist groups to form bonds and build community that might otherwise be fractured by generational differences.
Read MoreBlack Women's Blueprint is using oral history interviews and oral testimony as the basis for a Spring 2016 Black Women's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, focusing on rape and sexual assault against Black women in the United States. In this interview, Naimah describes Black Women's Blueprint's approach to interviewing victims and survivors, and reflects on what it means, in practice, to respect, honor, and be accountable to the women they interview - at all points in the process.
Read MoreThis reportback shares our thoughts on what it might look like to bring a language justice perspective to oral history practice. The notion of “language justice” recognizes that language is power. Language can be both a tool of domination and oppression as well as a powerful means for facilitating inclusive democracy and cross-community movement building and learning. Interviewing and sharing oral histories across languages presents unique opportunities and challenges. In this chat, we explored participants’ experiences, questions and strategies around navigating the technical and ethical issues that arise in doing oral history in bilingual and multilingual environments.
Read MoreIn this PSN chat, we will discuss the challenges of sustaining the long-term work of oral history when working with, or being, volunteers.
Read MoreIn this chat, we’ll explore participants’ experiences, questions and strategies around navigating the technical and ethical issues that arise in doing oral history in bilingual and multilingual environments. Together, we’ll consider what it might look like to bring a language justice perspective to oral history practice.
Read MoreWe're thrilled to introduce you to two new members of our Groundswell team. Amaka Okechukwu (a core member of our GS2015 planning team this past year) will be joining Sarah Loose as one of our Co-Coordinators and Maggie Von Vogt has come on board as Groundswell's new Blog Coordinator!
Read MoreGroundswell needs a logo. Something evocative (even provocative, perhaps). Something that says: oral history. social justice. a listening revolution. Might be edgy, might be thoughtful...
Read MoreIn this interview, Amy describes how she incorporates an anti-oppression framework into both her teaching, as a professor of Columbia's Masters program in Oral History, as well as her own projects. In particular, she describes the importance of engaging in a process of ongoing consent and the interviewer's responsibility to reflect on and gauge their power and privilege in an interviewer/interviewee dynamic.
Read MoreBecome an Official Sponsor for Groundswell's 2015: Oral History for Movement Building Network Gathering, June 17-18th, Detroit, MI!
Read MoreJoin Groundswell Oregon on Tuesday, April 7th at the University of Oregon Turnbull Center in Portland, OR for a social justice oral history listening party - Listen Hard: Stories of Resistance and Resilience (and a special "Democratizing the Voice of History" pre-workshop on using a smartphone to capture oral history)!
Read MoreIn this PSN chat we will share and brainstorm strategies for using oral history to document movements against police brutality and the experiences of the families and communities impacted by police brutality. Here, we can discuss different strategies for involving community members in this oral history work, supporting movements on the ground, and publicizing patterns of police brutality through alternative media.
Read MoreOral historians and other storytellers focusing on feminism and gender justice come together to talk about our work and ways in which we can learn from each other. In this talk, you can share your experiences on working with narratives to advance feminism and strategize with colleagues on best practices.
Read MoreHow do you build anti-oppression principles into your project from its inception onward? In this PSN chat we will be discussing the design phase of oral history projects and sharing our thoughts and experiences on how anti-oppression can be built into project proposals.
Read MoreAs oral historians continue to develop their collective audio editing skills and editing audio at the request of a narrator has become feasible for many, an issue has arisen for which there seems to be no standard in the field. Should we show where an interviewee has edited a transcript or audio tape? If so, how? If not, why not?
Read MoreWhat does it mean to approach the pre-interview process from an anti-oppression framework? in this chat, we’ll dig deep into the heart of “informed consent”, looking at the kinds of conversations that narrators, interviewers and other oral history project participants/stakeholders might have with each other before an interview takes place.
Read MoreIn this PSN video chat, we will reflect on how the (real and/or perceived) identities of narrators and interviewers can impact and play out in the interview space. We'll explore how OH interviewers can offer narrators a safe space to define and interpret oppression in their daily life or in their activism...
Read MoreIn this PSN video chat, we will bring together activists, artists, geographers, academics and oral historians to share and brainstorm strategies for using oral history for housing justice, with a particular focus on how oral history can be used in the context of gentrification to build understanding and support resistance.
Read MoreIn this chat, we will bring together activists, artists, academics and oral historians to share and brainstorm strategies for using oral history for migrant justice. We’ll explore challenges that may arise (e.g. interpretation/translation, publicness and immigration status, access to detention centers, cross-border dimensions) and consider...
Read MoreDon't reinvent the wheel. If we don't know our history, we're condemned to repeat it. History is a weapon of the oppressed. Part of the promise of oral history for organizers, activists and movement leaders is to help us learn from the success and mistakes of our movement elders. But how does that happen?
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