The Social Science Research Institute and the Program on the American South are seeking contributions for a project that invites storytelling in any form whose goal is to make inequality of all types less politically sustainable. Storytelling that is not based in research findings has long been used to maintain inequality of numerous types, and this project seeks to do the opposite—to communicate truths through storytelling. Submissions may include short stories, poems, a performed song, visual art (sketch, painting, collage), oral histories, photographs, etc.
Please send submissions by December 1, 2021 to Don Taylor and Courtney Packard Orning. We will determine the mode of presentation when we see what comes in, most likely self-publish on the web, but it could become a book pitch to a publisher with links to audio on the web.
An example of storytelling to communicate truth. I gained insight into colorism from Prof. Karla Holloway’s Novel, “A Death in Harlem” that I did not understand as fully from reading research studies about colorism and its impact on health care treatment.
If reading this makes you think “another thing, I just can’t do it” then don’t! If reading this piques your interest and you have something to submit that you would enjoy doing, then by all means send it in! We are unsure of the form this will take, but it will likely be a web based digital archive of sorts. It could turn into something else down the road.
This call is open to anyone and everyone, but we will focus publicity on the Durham and Duke Communities. We would like to identify everyone by name, but we will consider anonymous submissions if you feel that is what you need to do.