Working with Wa Na Wari I designed the curriculum for the Seattle Black Spatial Histories Institute, a pilot oral history / community story training program. In 2021, a paid cohort of six community members will explore the ethics, techniques, best practices, tensions, and dilemmas of oral history. The cohort will then practice their new skills by conducting oral history interviews with local community members around the themes of: Seattle's Black barbers and beauticians, Black educators, and Black experiences on the waterfront.
The Seattle Black Spatial Histories Institute is one way, among many, that Wa Na Wari seeks to build collective power towards a future of Black ownership and belonging by rooting our work in a legacy of Black resilience, creativity, and self-determination. Training community members in the techniques and best practices of Black memory work is an important step towards shifting power around whose stories are told, how they’re told, and what place those stories hold in the shaping of Black futures.
The Seattle Black Spatial Histories Institute is one way, among many, that Wa Na Wari seeks to build collective power towards a future of Black ownership and belonging by rooting our work in a legacy of Black resilience, creativity, and self-determination. Training community members in the techniques and best practices of Black memory work is an important step towards shifting power around whose stories are told, how they’re told, and what place those stories hold in the shaping of Black futures.