Storyology: Digital Storytelling by Immigrants and Refugees

Whose stories are represented in films today? And who is telling those stories? Storytelling is possibly the world’s oldest art form, and today’s primary modern storytelling medium is film and video, yet the stories presented in most TV shows and movies are rarely the accounts of everyday people who happen to be immigrants, and the powerful stories they have to share. The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)’s NC Immigrant Rights Program has as one of its main goals to lift up the voices of immigrants to the broader public. Through Storyology: Digital Storytelling by Immigrants and Refugees, AFSC empowered immigrants and refugees by imparting new digital literacy skills, lifted up immigrant stories to share with and educate the public, and also built a community of many cultures within the class. At the end of the class, each student produced a truly impressive work of art, in the form of a 2-4 minute digital story, with the student narrating her/his journey, with background music, and images chosen (and sometimes photographed) by the students themselves.

After months of preparation, in October 2010 the American Friends Service Committee Area Office of the Carolinas brought together a very diverse group of immigrant students, partner-volunteers, resource people and other helpers to produce a class on digital storytelling in Charlotte, North Carolina. The class, designed by AFSC-NC staff and an AFSC Youth Arts Fellow, occurred over two weekends and one additional evening at the Latin American Coalition in Charlotte, North Carolina. The class included writing and audio and video editing workshops, and also emphasized community building features like sharing of cultural objects and immigration journey maps.

You can watch the rest of the movies here