Who Tells Your Story?
By Diane Bui, MD Middle School Coordinator
Photos Courtesy of Sanctuaries DC
Storytelling is a skill each person has, but often goes unnoticed. This summer, Asian American LEAD (AALEAD) wants to focus on youth stories and storytelling skills. AALEAD wants to empower our youth to take control of their own story in order to provide a safe space to be open about who they truly are. Our summer theme MIC CHECK focuses on just that: highlighting individual experiences and using a creative outlet to tell those stories.
To determine which medium each youth wants to engage with to tell their story, our Maryland Program connected with community members who use art to tell their stories.
As a kickoff, the 60 Maryland MIC CHECK participants had the pleasure of spending all day with Sanctuaries DC, a local and diverse group of people that seek to inspire and change the world through their respective creative outlets.
Five awesome facilitators spent a full day with the youth to share their personal stories and how they use their chosen medium to tell their stories. Youth learned about spoken word, music and free styling, graphic art and design. After sharing their stories, they challenged the youth to think and write their own stories and experiences. At the end of the day, the youth created 10 joint storybooks that were all displayed for everyone to read.
It was a wonderful experience to see youth connect with people who make it their life work to spread activism and positivity through art. Many youth had no idea such art forms could be used to tell a story, and were challenged to highlight their own art medium as a way to tell their story.
Take a look at all the activities the youth were involved in on our day with Sanctuaries DC, and stay tuned for more MIC CHECK projects and storytelling adventures!
AALEAD youth in a workshop with Sanctuaries DC
Youth creating their individual stories to compile into their group story books
Youth were able to screen print their own bandana with a logo created by MD Intern, Lisa!
Part of the screen printing process
A snapshot of the collaborative story book each group made