News
Oral History, Memory, and Aging
by Cliff Mayotte, Education Program Director Personal stories are a powerful way to share the rich, multi-dimensional nature of people’s experiences with aging, dementia, and caregiving. That’s why in 2016, Voice of Witness began a …
San Quentin Stories: I Ran a Marathon in Prison
By Steve Brooks Steve Brooks is a student at the Prison University Project (PUP) at San Quentin State Prison. His story is one in a series of oral histories that Voice of Witness has collected …
Oral History as Social Justice
2019 marks an exciting milestone for Voice of Witness, as we celebrate our ten-year anniversary as a nonprofit, and of our education program. We’re proud to have grown our education program into a mighty team of oral history champions, who …
From Solito to Solidarity
By Steven Mayers and Jonathan Freedman When we began interviewing youth refugees from Central America four and a half years ago, we never imagined that a caravan of Honduran refugees would arrive in Tijuana the …
Oral History at San Quentin Prison
by Cliff Mayotte (former Education Program Director at VOW) The Voice of Witness education team is always looking for opportunities to create deeper engagement and partnership with the communities represented in our book series, so …
10 Actions to End Solitary Confinement
Six by ten feet. That’s the average size of the cell in which tens of thousands of people incarcerated in the United States linger for weeks, months, and even decades in solitary confinement. With little …
Puerto Rico, One Year After María
It’s been one year since Hurricane María battered Puerto Rico, destroying thousands of homes, killing nearly 3,000 people, and leaving many across the island without electricity, access to clean drinking water, food, and medical care. …
Fighting Words: Stories from the New York Sanctuary Movement
by Jon Earle A bride and groom are married in chains. A mother prepares her daughters for life without her. Two prison friends sing, “Lord, give us a big heart to love, and a strong heart …
