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How has your life been different than you imagined? Have things changed for the LGBTQ community over the last fifty years? How do you hope life will be different for the LGBTQ community fifty years from now? What advice would you give your teenage self? What are you most proud of? How do you want to be remembered?
These are the questions you’re greeted with at StoryCorps.org new Stonewall OutLoud project. StoryCorps' mission is to preserve and share humanity’s stories in order to build connections between people and create a more just and compassionate world.
Locally, efforts are being made via activist Deborah Allen, former ACLU of LA representative and member of Act Up. Allen posted this on her Facebook page:
"Because of my work with StoryCorps in the past connecting them to the LGBTQ community in north Louisiana, they have reached out to me to organize an exciting new initiative called Stonewall OutLoud.
To honor the 50th anniversary of Stonewall, in June 2019, StoryCorps will ask people across the country to record the personal stories of people within the LGBTQ community, particularly those who were born before the 1969 Stonewall Riots. Each of these interviews will become a permanent part of American history at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.
To date there has been no comprehensive national effort to document and preserve the experiences of everyday LGBTQ people who lived through violence, discrimination, acts of bigotry and so much more in the era before the Stonewall Riots in 1969. Help us preserve the stories of LGBTQ elders before they are lost to history
Through these conversations, StoryCorps hopes to show gratitude for those pioneers while inspiring people in all 50 states to create the largest and most important collection of LGBTQ voices ever gathered.
Stonewall OutLoud will:
• Honor and preserve the stories of LGBTQ elders who lived in the time before Stonewall;
• Reach deeply into LGBTQ communities across the country to ensure that as wide a collection of voices as possible are captured and preserved with an emphasis on rural communities, communities of color, and transgender elders;
• Connect older and younger generations through the powerful Story Corps interview experience; and
• Share the voices of the LGBTQ community with as wide an audience as possible through educational and broadcast partnerships.
There are criteria:
Who can participate? Everyone! Make plans to interview an elder and/or another member of the LGBTQ community, preferably born before 1969. The goal is to connect younger LGBTQ with those who lived and fought on the front lines of the movement. I’m so proud of the elders in my life who have fought the way for our younger LGBTQ family!”
Deborah will be holding an initial meeting on June 1 at Shreve Memorial Library in downtown Shreveport. You can find more information here: https://www.facebook.com/events/550118782178615
If you fit the criteria listed above or know someone who does, inbox Deborah on Facebook or email me at deborah@depeconsultants.com.