Oral History for Social Change
Groundswell is a dynamic network of oral historians, activists, cultural workers, community organizers, and documentary artists.
Last month, Groundswell's Practitioner Support Network Working Group teamed up with colleagues Patrick O'Shea and Shiu-Ming Cheer from the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) to offer a special PSN chat: Immigration Law for Oral Historians. Check out some key takeaways and listen to the full audio!
Read MoreDuring this PSN, we will take a look at the most popular social media platforms–Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram- and how each provides different types of opportunities for storytellers and oral historians, but can also raise ethical questions about the sharing of information.
Read MoreIn this fractured time, how do we listen to workers’ stories? This PSN is a chance for workers, oral historians, activists, and anyone else who considers listening essential to advancing economic justice share ideas with one another about how we listen to workers and what we do with what we learn.
Read MoreOral history is not just something that historians do to create sources for archives. As part of a larger collective research project to document the radical roots of oral history and begin a process of decolonizing oral history practices, we invite you to join this video chat to share the roots of your radical oral history practice. What inspired you to do this work? How did you learn? Who are your oral history ancestors and mentors?
Read MoreThis PSN explores the role of storytelling and listening for activists and organizers who are, want to be, or need to be involved in fundraising. The chat will examine the various roles narrative can play in working with individual donors, volunteers, boards, grants, and foundations -- as well as the ways utilizing storytelling might support, or perhaps undermine, the social justice work of our organizations.
Read MoreOn February 3, a group of us met via video chat to discuss "E-Security for Oral Historians in the Age of Trump." Here is a reportback from our conversation, and some resources we collected. Thanks to all who participated!
Read MoreAs people using oral history for social justice, we often collaborate with and record the stories of people, such as undocumented immigrants or queer and trans people, who are particularly vulnerable to potential harm if their stories are shared in ways they did not consent to. And as activists, we may be targets of surveillance. What do social justice oral historians need to know about cyber security? Where do we draw the line between being paranoid and being naive? In this chat, we will share strategies and skills for managing electronic security for oral history projects.
Read MoreIndigenous-led movements like that to protect the water at Standing Rock highlight the power of ancestral wisdom in transformative change. As movement-oriented oral historians and practitioners, how can the process and practice of oral history help us root ourselves in the wisdom of our own traditions and ancestors?
Read MoreLearning from our Elders: Interviewing Activists from Past Generations: November 17, 3-4:15 PM EST
Oral History, Art & Activism: A Radical Mix for Social Change: NEW DATE & TIME: December 2, 2016 3-4:15 PM EST
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Fall PSNs start Oct 20 with a conversation about how to talk about money in an oral history interview.
Read MoreJoin members of the grassroots archival collective XFR (pronounced "transfer") Collective for a conversation about how to organize, safeguard, and archive oral history materials. What questions should you ask as you begin an archival project? What kinds of tools might you use to make sure that your digital and paper files are findable? Bring your own questions, and join us for what we hope will be just the start of an ongoing conversation.
Read MoreIn oral history, deep listening requires the interviewer to open themselves to the narrator's stories. Such stories can be challenging and even painful. We often discuss how to support our narrators in telling difficult stories, but rarely how to take care of ourselves as we listen to them. In this chat we will build on conversations, in both the academic and the activist world, about burnout and resilience. The goal is to share experiences and develop self-care strategies for social justice oral historians.
Read MoreAfter several years of hosting Practitioner Support Network Video Chats, we are excited to announce that we are starting two new PSN initiatives in 2016: PSN Problem Solvers and PSN One-to-Ones.
Read MoreApril's PSN Video Chat aims to develop strategies for utilizing storytelling to affect positive change in the natural world and to emphasize the human race's responsibility to our planet. This chat will examine the various roles narrative can play in environmental activism, from how storytellers can convey complex scientific knowledge to the general public to how personal storytelling can be used to affect public policy.
Read MoreWhat does it take to move from oral history to actual change? As practitioners seeking to engage oral history as a method for not only documenting, but actively contributing to social change, we often talk a lot about our struggles. But we also need to celebrate and learn from our victories! In this special PSN video chat, we invite three practitioners to share how they’ve successfully engaged oral history in service of social justice.
Read MoreIn this Practitioner Support Network video chat, we will discuss the potential and special challenges of interviewing about the body, and will develop strategies for interviews focused on embodied experience such as breastfeeding, living with a disability, being transgender, or dancing as well as strategies for keeping the body in focus in all of our work.
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Check out the notes from our recent PSN on Intergenerational Storytelling!
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 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.
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