Stories of Home: Working in Solidarity with refugees and immigrants in the U.S.
Many refugees and immigrant communities in the United States face rampant xenophobia and racist discrimination as right-wing rhetoric dominates the media landscape and support for the reality of what some migrants endure continues to dwindle. While numerous dedicated advocates and service providers continue to extend a warm welcome and much-needed support, demonizing newcomers has gained increased political currency over the past decade—research shows that immigrants' physical and mental health suffers as a result. Despite these challenges, immigrants and refugees across the country are coming together to create new definitions of family and community, build networks of care, and contribute to local social change efforts.
Stories of Home has been working in solidarity with refugee and immigrant communities to envision new models for decolonizing storytelling and media-making. By facilitating an exploration of unique narratives of “home” located in places, experiences, material objects, and feelings, our workshops offer safe spaces for participants to claim agency in sharing what is true for them, rather than speaking about what they’ve come to believe they’re expected to say. We have held seven unique workshops and collaborated with immigrant and refugee storytellers on more than 20 short videos. In 2017, some storytellers partnered on stories with local visual artists, and in 2018, others were guided through hands-on arts activities to design visuals that bring their narratives to life in digital media. In 2020, a group created their stories in two, fully virtual workshops held during the pandemic. That same year, we worked on a virtual reality (VR) project to produce immersive media stories by immigrant and refugee women. In 2021, we supported Nepali women immigrants in sharing stories and also partnered with the California College for the Arts to have students illustrate “material memory” stories developed online. In 2022 and 2023, we guided community mental health advocates representing immigrant and refugee communities through the story exploration process. View selected stories below and find more on our Silence Speaks Storytelling YouTube Channel.
Special thanks to our funder: an anonymous family foundation located in the San Francisco Bay Area; the East Bay Community Foundation; and the California Arts Council, a state agency.