31: Joe Lambert - Making Good Stories that Help Us

Show NotesThe Story of My Story A Digital Story by KMUSIC PLAYINGK: In a funny way, books raised me. I didn't have the things a child needs to be a child; security, safety, comfort, love. But I always found happiness in learning new things. When I turned eight, my mother passed away from her battle with AIDS.I remember how even at her funeral, I was thinking about how I could get my homework done. .Right after that I was brought to this country. And the only thing I could bring with me where my love of books, learning and knowledgein high school, I used to dream up. I would explore outer space when I was suddenly drowned by their words, criminal illegal. And I thought, how could a human be prohibited by law? I was so confused. My first reaction was laughter. The laughter turned to tears and rage. I made up my mind, I was going to fight to go to college and continue my education.I shared my story and quickly found that there were many like me. I began to speak out. At first, it felt good. I felt like I could bring about change. But one day I heard a voice on the radio, and I realized it was me, but it wasn't me. It wasn't my story. It was a story of a perfect poster child. They twisted my devotion to education into a sick plea to my oppressors.It was slowly killing me, having a face of the people that were denying me, the basic things, a human needs to be a human. To beg them for scraps from their fruitful plate. The very same plate they had filled by raping, enslaving, and killing my ancestors and my brothers and sisters around the world. I came to see that this was not just about me, not just about going to college, but about fighting the injustice experienced by all immigrants and all people sufferingEven today, as I am denied the things a human needs to be a human. I lie in bed with a new book. I glance over at the shelf and see the books I read as a child and think of what I will write in my own.Bill Cleveland: This short story (The Story of My Story) is the audio from a video created by a young woman who identifies herself using the letter “K”. She made this piece at a digital storytelling workshop at the Story Center in the fall of 2012. Although it has an office and a classroom in Berkeley, California, the Story Center is not merely a place. It's actually a conviction that we all have stories to share that can inspire teach, bring joy, bear, witness, and heal. It's also a process that introduces people to the stories at their center that they've carried with them all their lives. The center's impact over nearly three decades has been both intensely personal and global.This conversation with Center director, Joe Lambert, explores the story of the Story Center, its history, its practice and its influence. Joe describes himself as a “small businessman, that has kept a little business going for a long time.” He's also unabashed and adding, “and we want to be revolutionaries” with the impetus once again, in Joe's words, “making good stories that help us.”JOE LAMBERTJoe and colleagues founded the StoryCenter/Center for Digital Storytelling in 1994, where they developed a unique computer training and arts program known as 

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