Building Bridges Through
Storytelling
by Bobby González
Camden is a city in southern New Jersey where communities of color are
separated by attitudes of mistrust, misunderstanding and, occasionally, even
outright animosity. Yet, for four
days in a church basement in Camden, these negative attitudes were set
aside. Twelve adults of color sat
down to eat together, listen to each other’s stories and discover their common
humanity. Present were four African-Americans, two Native Americans and six
Latino immigrants.
The
talking circle was supplemented by two bilingual storytellers and a
translator. This pilot program was
organized by the Jamestown Project and funded by the Four Freedoms Fund. One
storyteller was a bilingual Black woman teacher from South Carolina. The
translator was a member of the staff of the Hispanic Family Center of Camden. I
was the second bilingual storyteller and the facilitator for the
workshops.
Though the
organizers were altruistic in their intent, we were not completely certain if
there would be a positive outcome.
At the first get-together, a couple of the participants expressed
trepidation and personal anxieties on different levels. And then the stories began to flow. They were asked to share stories of an
elder figure in their lives. Emotions that had sometimes been suppressed for
almost a lifetime burst forth. Every single day of this “retreat” was marked by
two or three of the participants breaking down and crying out their pain. The
following day they had been asked to provide a tale about “going back home”
which could mean returning to a faraway land, the old family homestead or to
visit estranged family members who did not desire reconciliation. The final requested narration was an
account of personally experienced incidents of discrimination. All had been subjected to acts of
prejudice because of color, language, or country of origin. One young man had
recently been pounced upon by several law enforcement officers. A gun had been
pointed at him, and he was menaced by a K-9 dog.
The talking circle was a powerful magnet that created a family. We had
bonded and did not want it to end. At the conclusion we held hands and sang a
children’s song, “Adios, Mi Amigos/Goodbye My Friends.” There wasn't a dry eye in the
house. Storytelling had brought
these people together. Personal storytelling is a tool that can build bridges
and transform individuals and entire communities.
