Multitopic Resources
Voice of Witness
Voice of Witness (VOW) is an oral history nonprofit that advances human rights by amplifying the voices of people impacted by—and fighting against—injustice.
VOW’s work is driven by the transformative power of the story, and by a strong belief that social justice cannot be achieved without deep listening and learning from those marginalized by systems of oppression. Through our programming, we work with communities to ensure that:
voices of marginalized and silenced communities are centered in narrative contexts (education, media, movements, and policymaking);
students and communities have the tools and training to tell their own stories through oral history;
storytelling practitioners and institutions use ethics-driven methodologies to gather narratives.
The VOW Book Series depicts human rights issues through the edited oral histories of people, VOW narrators, who are most deeply impacted and at the heart of solutions to address injustice. The series explores issues of race-, gender-, and class-based inequity through the lenses of personal narrative.
The VOW Education Program brings unheard stories and our ethical oral history methodology to classrooms and organizations across the US, connecting students, educators, and advocates with training and tools for storytelling in order to advance social change.
Through our partnerships and consulting, VOW offers expert storytelling and program support to nonprofits, activists, schools, foundations, and more. These customized projects and workshops use VOW’s award-winning approach to promote empathy, build relationships, and amplify community voices.
Books We Love: Great books about identity and culture : Pop Culture Happy Hour
The latest edition of NPR's Books We Love project rounded up hundreds of book recommendations from critics, writers and NPR journalists to try to give you just the read you're looking for. Today, we're giving recommendations for our favorite books about identity and culture.
Reading List: Power Dynamics at Play in Social Change (SSIR)
Ahead of the 2022 Frontiers of Social Innovation conference, “Power at Play in Social Change,” a collection of articles exploring shifts in philanthropy, place-based social change, public interest technology, and more.
Opinion: If you say you're a trans ally, this is what you have to do | CNN
Given how many legislative attacks there are on transgender people's lives and existence, allies need to take the time to speak up on Transgender Day of Visibility, which is March 31 each year, to defend the lives and experiences of trans and nonbinary people.
Fighting to breathe : race, toxicity, and the rise of youth activism in Baltimore - Nicole Fabricant
"Industrial toxic emissions on the South Baltimore Peninsula are among the highest in the nation. Because of the concentration of factories and other chemical industries in their neighborhoods, residents face elevated rates of lung cancer and other respiratory illnesses in addition to heart attacks, strokes, and cardiovascular disease, all of which can lead to premature death. 'Fighting to Breathe' follows a dynamic and creative group of high school students who decided to fight back against the race- and class-based health disparities and inequality in their city. For more than a decade, student organizers stood up to the proposed construction of an incinerator and to unequal land use practices, and initiated new waste management strategies. As a Baltimore resident and activist-scholar, Nicole Fabricant documents how young organizers came to envision, design, and create a more just and sustainable Baltimore"--
#HashtagActivism : networks of race and gender justice - Brooke Foucault Welles; Genie Lauren (Foreword by); Sarah J. Jackson; Moya Baile
"The beginning of the 21st century brought forth a number of social media platforms that have allowed activists to increase their audience exponentially and with relative ease. Under hashtags such as #BlackLivesMatter, #MeToo to the Arab Spring and the Occupy movements, digital social activision mobilized people and movements like almost never before. In #HashtagActivism: Networked Counterpublics in the Digital Age the authors examine how and why Twitter hashtags have become an important platform for historically disenfranchised populations to advance counter narratives and advocate for social change. We contend that members of these marginalized groups, in the tradition of counterpublics, are using Twitter hashtags to build diverse networks of dissent and shape the cultural and political knowledge fundamental to contemporary identity-based social movements. Given shifting understandings and ongoing conversations about the role of social media in 21st century democracy, and considering recent high-profile public debates about racial violence, feminist inclusivity, and sexual identity, #Hashtag Activism will provide readers with a model of how to study political identity and meaning-making processes within digital spaces while highlighting compelling cases of counterpublic activism and dissent"--
America Dissected | iHeart
Wellness isn't just about mindfulness, exercise, or the perfect skin. Politics, media, culture, science — everything around us — interact to shape our health. On America Dissected, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed explores what's really making us sick and what we'll need to take on — be it racism, corporate capitalism, or snake oil salesmen — to keep all of us healthy. From insulin price gouging to ineffective sunscreens, America Dissected cuts deeper into the state of health in America. New episodes every Tuesday. Want to know where to start? Here are some fan-favorite episodes to search: Cannabis Capitalism with David Jernigan Weight Weight Don’t Tell me with Harriett Brown Black Scientists Matter with Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett
Black Americans, Education, and Poverty
2018 is the 50th anniversary of civil rights activist Stokely Carmichael's election as chair of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and his founding of the Black Power movement. In this program from the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, panelists talked about how education and poverty affect black Americans in modern society. Speakers included Newark, New Jersey Mayor Ras Baraka and [New York Times] Magazine contributor Nikole Hannah-Jones.
Poverty, Inequality and Race
As part of the "National Media Forum on Poverty, Inequality and Race: 40 Years after the Kerner Commission," journalists and others talked about topics such as lack of media coverage of race and class; coverage of poverty, inequality, and race by reporters with no real-life experience of these; urban violence; diversity in media news rooms; and coverage of the Hurricane Katrina aftermath. After their presentations the participants questioned each other and responded to audience members' questions.
The Milton Eisenhower Foundation is the private sector continuation of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders (the Kerner Riot Commission) and the National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence (the National Violence Commission).
SCLC Looks at Race and Poverty
Civil rights leaders talked about race and poverty in the United States. They focused many of their remarks on Dr. Martin Luther King's beliefs and teaching regarding poverty. Other topics included economic literacy, perceptions of the poor, and unemployment.
The panel discussion was part of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) 55th annual convention.
Race and Poverty in Healthcare | Issue at Hand
The Brookings Institution reports that the difference in life expectancy between the rich and the poor and between whites and minorities has more than doubled since the 1920s. In Georgia, access to quality healthcare may come down to how much you earn, the color of your skin, and where you live. Jemea Dorsey, CEO of the Center for Black Women's Wellness joins "Issue @ Hand" to discuss how her organization is working to overcome healthcare disparities.
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