Youth Storytelling Zine

Youth Storytelling

"The gold veins on the cover represent the Japanese art of kintsugi, 'golden repair,' in which pieces of broken pottery are mended with powdered gold and lacquer, rather than treating the breaks as blemishes to conceal. The technique shows us that although an object cannot be returned to its original state, fragments can be made whole again."

- Cover jacket of Know My Name by Chanel Miller

I hope you know you're not alone

A Preface

I grew up in a town where 87% of people didn't look like me, and more than half of them

I felt small, no story to share, no one to relate to....

believed my race was a virus.

I felt such a range of emotions and not a clue how to process them

Dominant narratives made me feel that way...

But I have a story.

(just not yours)

And people who understand me

No one should have to feel alone

And a community that empowers me to tell my story

Everyone should have a community to turn to

Love, YuYu

Background

You might be wondering why we need to understand trauma. Oftentimes, we don't realize that we deal with trauma on a daily basis leading us to feel confused, isolated, and alone.

So what is.... Historical/ Generational Trauma?

From Dr. Brave Heart, historical trauma is "the cumulative emotional and psychological wounding over the lifespan and across generations." (Page and Woodland 114)

We may ask what Professor Seo-Young Chu asks: "How is it possible to grieve for something that one never knew firsthand? What right does one have to feel traumatized by a catastrophe from which one was spared?" (97)

But left unresolved, the trauma and grief of the generations before us gets passed for generations. And it's not their fault. Racial inequities, lack of access to resources, and shame or fear of harm all contribute to this cycle.

Racial Trauma

to generational trauma.

Definition:

Racial trauma is a response to racial oppression whether through microaggressions, hate crimes, verbal harassment, or other incidences of racial discrimination.

Things to note:

It's a matter of how the incident made you feel and the position of power you were in Incidents causing this response can occur within our families and even our most trusted communities Experiences can accumulate and spread over time, spanning generations when left unaddressed

Affects:

Research shows that racial trauma can lead to "the devaluation of the self, erosion of family ties, and weakened community relationships" (Chioneso et al.)

As folks part of communities of color, we need to understand and its relationship

So why

Story Circles?

Thecircleisasafe spaceforcommunity memberstodiscus, share,andconnect overdifficulttopics.

The circle process comes from Native Americans, First Nations, and Indigenous practices. Atthecircle, everyoneisanequal comingtogetherin unity.

Storytellingallows ustoreclaimthe narrative,builda strongerself-identity, andrebuildcultural connections.

Storytellingcreates trustandbuildssafe spacesofcare, solidarity,andshared understanding.

Wheredo webegin? Wheredo webegin?

First:

Start with forming a Multicultural Student Club!

Fourth:

Ask a trusted teacher or mentor to help sponsor the club. Gather friend and peers to help with the initial planning process (set a day to meet, time, place, etc...).

Second:

Connect with organizations like Stop AAPI Hate and Color of Change for resources on racial equity and youth organizing.

Third:

Make a poster, use social media, contact the media club or other accessible outlets to publicize to students and teachers.

Startyour

first meeting with a Story Circle!

Drawing from different StoryCircle models:

Consider:

Community Guidelines: Take time to discuss each individual's values and concerns so that you can create a safe space for each other. Tsuru for Solidarity's guide on Healing Circles outlines a host of values to draw from.

Time: Most clubs will only meet for an hour so be sure to delegate time wisely.

Theme: What will the prompt be for this session? The Solidarity Stories Project has great guiding questions leading to prompts that you can consider.

Size: Because of timing, limit circles to 4-6 members so that everyone has space to share. If there are more members in the club, feel free to split into groups.

Facilitator: Each circle should have a facilitator. This can be your trusted teacher or mentor, yourself, or the person who chose the theme that week. Facilitators have the responsibility to guide the Circle, take notes, and keep track of time.

"Talking Stick": Doesn't have to be an actual stick, but should be a meaningful item that is passed around to indicate whose turn it is to speak.

Story Telling Worksheet

Inspired by Oregon State University’s Toolkit, here is a printable worksheet you can fill out with recommended time allocations and guiding questions to facilitate Story Circles at your club!

Facilitator: Date:

Theme/Prompt:

Time Steps

10 min Introduction

Guiding Points

Split into groups of 4-6 if necessary

Introduce today's prompt

Do a round of introductions

Ask: What is one thing this group can do to make you feel safe? (Passes are allowed)

25 min Story telling (3-4 min per person)

The facilitator will answer the prompt first

When finished, pass the "talking stick" to the next person (Passes are allowed)

What were some connections?

15 min Debrief

What did you resonate with?

What were some takeaways?

10 min Conclude

If splitting into groups was necessary, regroup and share a comment or two about the process

Share a word describing how you felt

Share your rose, bud, and thorn

Archiving Your Stories

Saving your stories is just as important as telling them. When we share our stories, we're also creating history. Archiving in a trusted place allows us to have control over the stories we share in our future and what our history can look like.

Free and low-cost platforms like Google Drive or Dropbox allows you to saving documents, recordings, photos or more through online storage.

Digital saving concerns when archiving? Use two-factor authentication and a secure password storage app like Keeper, or save your materials to a flash drive or external drive!

Need Inspiration?

Organizations like Self Evident work to highlight and share oral histories on their podcast platform. Narrative Arts provides resources and guides on how to archive your own stories to create Story Banks.

Sources Cited

Chioneso, Nkechinyelum A., et al. “Community Healing and Resistance through Storytelling: A Framework to Address Racial Trauma in Africana Communities.” Journal of Black Psychology, vol. 46, no. 2-3, 5 June 2020, pp. 95–121, https://doi.org/10.1177/0095798420929468.

Chu, Seo-Young. “Science Fiction and Postmemory Hain in the Contemporary Korean American Literature.” MELUS: Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States, vol. 33, no. 4, 2008, pp. 97–121, https://doi.org/10.1093/melus/33.4.97. Accessed 2 July 2020.

Healing Justice Project. “The Origin of Our Healing Circles.” Healing Justice, 16 Nov. 2018, healingjusticeproject.org/news/2019/2/26/healing-circles.

Martinez, Charlene, et al. “Story Circles Toolkit.” July 2020.

Miller, Chanel Know My Name : A Memoir New York, New York, Penguin Random House LLC, 2020.

Narrative Arts. “Story Banks.” Narrative Arts, narrativearts.org/article/storybanks/. Accessed 25 Aug. 2023.

Page, Cara, and Erica Woodland. Healing Justice Lineages. North Atlantic Books, 2023.

Self Evident. “Asian America’s Stories -- Pitch.” Self Evident, selfevidentshow.com/pitch. Accessed 25 Aug. 2023.

Solidarity Stories. “How to Use.” SOLIDARITY STORIES, www solidaritystories org/how-to-use-solidarity-stories

van der Kolk, Bessel. The Body Keeps the Score: Mind, Brain and Body in the Transformation of Trauma. London, Penguin Books, 2014.

Yasumura, Nora. “Healing Circles for Change.” Tsuru for Solidarity, tsuruforsolidarity.org/get-involved/healingcircles/#:~:text=Tsuru%20for%20Solidarity.

Acknowledgments

To Stanford's Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity, the PRAXIS Fellowship, and Stop AAPI Hate (SAH), thank you for giving me the ability to do work I'm passionate about and explore the possibilities of an Ethnic Studies education. Thank you to Sophie, Raquel, and the 2023 Praxis cohort for their support and friendship throughout the summer.

To the Community Capacity team at SAH; Aisa, Cyn, Eunice, Lee, and Trinh; the work you do is so crucial to providing our community care and support. Your work, dedication, and support inspired me to create a zine that could fill in the gaps and provide additional support when needed.

Thank you to Miko, Josh, Patrick, and Johannah for being my sounding board throughout the creative process. Special shoutout to Aisa, my supervisor, for editing this zine and showering me with support from day one of my internship. This zine wouldn't be possible without your affirmations and belief in my vision.

This zine was created on Canva and its provided formats and elements. The vase on the cover page includes artwork from Anne Koeleman, Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya, Effiong from Adobe illustrator, Google Doodles in collaboration with John Lee and Samantha Cheng, Richard Tokunaga, a graphic from Solidarity Stories, and Alonzo Designs.