In 2019, Voice of Witness had a lot to celebrate.
We released Say it Forward: A Guide to Social Justice Storytelling – our DIY guide that outlines our critical oral history methodology – and Solito, Solita: Crossing the Border With Youth Refugees From Central America, bringing VOW’s total books published to 20.
We also celebrated VOW’s 10 year anniversary with a wonderful evening of social justice storytelling, where Voice of Witness narrators and renowned authors, media makers, and activists connected around brave stories and bold movements.
In 2019, narratives from Solito, Solita were read on the floor of Congress, shared at protests on the southern border, and taught in schools across the country. We were honored to learn that Solito, Solita was shortlisted for the Juan E. Méndez Book Award for Human Rights in Latin America, placed #1 on Remezcla’s 2019 list of the best Latino and Latin American history books, and selected for Emma Watson’s Our Shared Shelf book club.
Voice of Witness’s education program collaborated with teachers and advocates to empower students and communities to share their own stories, learn about pressing human rights issues, and build empathy to enact positive social change. VOW’s consultancies also took off in 2019, allowing us to support organizations through tailored oral history trainings, workshops, and resources.
We also witnessed exciting developments in our forthcoming projects, including an audio series featuring a behind-the-scenes look at Mi Maria: Puerto Rico After the Hurricane and an insightful opinion piece on Native representation from Sara Sinclair, editor of How We Go Home: Voices from Indigenous North America.
Yet, there is still so much work to be done to address human rights abuses in the U.S. and across the world. We are so grateful for the Voice of Witness community and its support in this fight. VOW is more committed than ever to amplifying the voices of people impacted by injustice, and we look forward to everything we will achieve together in 2020.
