Turning Personal Stories into Real-World Action.
Public health storytelling has the power to mobilize communities, advocate for needs, and change public policies. With funding from the Boston Foundation, the Activist Lab at the School of Public Health partnered with the BCYF-Blackstone Community Center to help high school students served by the center tell personal stories about the challenges they face. On October 30, the students presented their stories to friends, family, and members of the Blackstone and Boston University communities in a storytelling showcase.
“Stories shape lives,” said Keith Houston, administrative coordinator at the Blackstone Community Center, in his opening words at the showcase. “That is why I’m here. That is why we are all here.”
Over the course of six weeks, the students at Blackstone participated in an intensive storytelling workshop led by Katie Leisener, a professional storyteller and the board president of Massmouth, a Boston-based non-profit organization promoting the art of storytelling. Leisener taught the students about the power of their own voices and how to use them to convey experiences that have impacted them, their families, and their communities.
“Once the students could feel true caring from the people working with them, they began to share and express their innermost thoughts involving the incidents of their stories,” said Marylyn Creer (SPH’19), community liaison for the Activist Lab. “All of a sudden, we began to realize that what these young people have experienced and so innocently normalized is the very essence of what public health is all about.”
At the showcase, the participants shared six powerful stories with the audience, on topics ranging from divorce and family separation to loss and substance misuse. After each performance, the crowd erupted in praise for the students for sharing their stories and having the bravery to stand up and be vulnerable in front of a room of strangers. Though each student’s story was different, they all had unifying elements of resiliency, strength, and inspiration.
As the second step of this project, stories presented in the showcase will inform advocacy activities for programs and policies to improve the health of the Blackstone community. “This is an opportunity to take these young people’s powerful stories about the challenges they face and turn them into real-world action,” said Harold Cox, associate dean for public health practice and director of the Activist Lab.
In the spring, the Activist Lab will continue their storytelling advocacy project with adult residents of Boston’s public housing developments.