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Nadine Sookermany has been a community literacy worker at PPR since
2001 and is also an adult educator with George Brown College. Nadine
is a former ESL teacher and women’s shelter worker and sits
on various boards where she promotes an anti-racist perspective.
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the commodification of stories…
stories to sell?
stories to consume…
to ingest…to digest
we carry them in our stomachs
and on our backs
whose stories
not our stories
others’ stories…
those people…
their stories
story is central to our work because what we do all day is take
stories in, the stories of our clients, learners, friends. a
woman shared her story at a conference about violence and learning. her
story of a client telling her that she can’t bear to share
her story again because it is all she has left. her story has
become a commodity that she peddles to gain access to services, to
shelter, to resources. what does this do to her, to her story? what
is the impact? what about those of us who hear her story. how
does it impact us, where does in fit into our lives? what about our
story. does it fit anywhere? If she is a woman of colour,
I hear her story and it resonates with mine. my liberation is tied
up in her story (Lily
Walker). it must be. It has to
be. what do I do now?
power
there is power in telling a story and there is power in listening. Reflecting
on our power is difficult. It is difficult to acknowledge our
power… particularly when we are unaware of our location,
specifically our social location; that being our race, class, gender,
sexual orientation, ability… where are we located as the listener
in relation to the storyteller? Do we consciously ask ourselves
this? Or must we remain objective, free and clear of any judgment. If
we locate ourselves things may become clearer, or they may become
muddier…at least we are aware of our power. |