StoriesLive® and Tackling “The Danger of a Single Story”

StoriesLive® and Tackling “The Danger of a Single Story” 
by Hannah Lapuh

It seems as though StoriesLive® has gotten a bit lost in the tumult of the launch of Story Slam Season IV.  Interest in storytelling events is growing steadily, and maybe it’s just the prevailing energy here at the office, but it feels like people are really buzzing – anxious for the “first days of school.”  Fittingly, the theme of the first slam of the season at Doyle’s Café was “Schooled” – but the scholastic similarities pretty much end there.  For one, the massmouth classroom(s) serve beer.  But more than that is the distinct (and until a few years ago, well-documented) lack of storytelling in the typical classroom.

Just as it has for the last two years, StoriesLive® will be starting again this fall and I just want to take a minute to remind everyone (ourselves included!) why the work we do through StoriesLive® is - really and truly - so exciting.

I recently stumbled on this TED talk, given by an incredible young novelist and storyteller, Chimamanda Adichie.  Admittedly, I’m a bit late to the party as this was recorded in July of 2009 – but if you’ve seen it before, I highly recommend giving it another watch.  And if you haven't: joy!

For those of you who are familiar with StoriesLive®, the significance of Chimamanda Adichie's Talk and its relevance to our program will be obvious.  For those of you slightly less familiar, I offer the following (I'll try to be brief) redux:

Our goal at massmouth, perhaps most evident in the StoriesLive® program, is to empower people; to give them a voice, to make them the masters of their own stories.  In her talk, Adichie says, “The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story.”

I can think of few clearer or more compelling explanations of why teaching storytelling is so important.

The majority of the students we teach belong to a group, or groups, about which there is consistently only one story: immigrant, poor, minority...  Few authorities, even those who interact with them daily, take the time to assign more than one story to any given student.  Adolescent, perhaps quiet, troubled -- or maybe flamboyant and well liked by teachers and friends; positive or negative, these single stories can be disempowering.

We’ve seen, time and time again, the transformative power of stories in this program.  Students and teachers alike are blown away by what they hear because all of a sudden, those single stories 'blossom' into human beings...

Here are a few StoriesLive® highlights that illustrate the above point.  If you don't have time to watch the whole thing, jump to 1:00, 2:12 and 6:44.

 

Near the end of the talk, Adichie offers this erudite summary:  "The consequence of the single story is this: It robs people of dignity. It makes our recognition of our equal humanity difficult. It emphasizes how we are different rather than how we are similar."

Classes start soon -- to follow the students' progress, read about winners, watch videos, see pictures and get involved go to: http://massmouth.org/

If the embedded video doesn't work, click this link:
http://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story.html

Chimamanda Adichie's website:
http://www.halfofayellowsun.com/