What History Are You Telling This Month
During commemorative months like Black History Month and Women’s History Month, social impact communicators are tasked with amplifying important histories to participate in this time of collective remembering. As part of this task, we think through the stories that align with our organizational mission and opportunities to reach our audiences. However, with these opportunities comes a serious responsibility. Our social media posts, articles, and emails all reflect choices we’ve made about what histories get told and how.
In every retelling, we are in some way choosing a version of history to tell. Liz Manne, a leading narrative change practitioner, has said that “narrative strategy is the practice of sharing connected stories to forge, spread, and reinforce beneficial narratives and counter harmful ones.” Social justice communicators have a responsibility to not only counter harmful narratives but to reinforce beneficial narratives when crafting histories and stories.
Social justice communicators have a responsibility to not only counter harmful narratives but to reinforce beneficial narratives when crafting histories and stories.
In my own practice, I have returned over and over again to the leaders in narrative and social justice communications to inform my content. It would be easy to simply post an inspirational quote or highlight a famous figure from the field, but I worried about what harm I might unwittingly be doing. By highlighting the history of Women and Black people in the United States, at best we have the opportunity to push back on systems of oppression that silence these histories to begin with, and at worst we risk perpetuating the narratives that continue to harm those communities today.
When writing about history, particularly the history of marginalized groups, there are many narratives that will likely rise to the surface. The BROKE Project, a collaborative effort to tell new stories about race and poverty, has an excellent quick guide to some of the most common harmful, pervasive narratives social justice communicators will encounter. But it’s not enough to simply counter harmful narratives. In fact, many practitioners recommend NOT repeating the harmful narrative in order to counter it, but instead leading with the beneficial narrative you hope to reinforce.
In creating history-focused communications, we have the potential to reinforce any one (usually more) of BROKE’s narrative examples. Let us use an example from my own industry of impact finance.
Perhaps a community development finance institution (CDFI) wants to create a series of social media posts to celebrate Black History Month, particularly because its work is centered on inclusive, economic justice. This CDFI provides accessible capital for hundreds of small businesses, most of which are located in historically underinvested communities.
They choose to spotlight a historical, Black financial leader who contributed significantly to the CDFI movement and started a successful small business.
The challenge now becomes how to tell the story of this historical figure. It may feel that there can’t be anything wrong with telling this story, but a quick look at the BROKE Project’s list shows a savvy storyteller that there are lots of potential pitfalls. This story can potentially reinforce a whole handful of harmful narratives, including deservingness, hero stories, tokenism, and bootstrap stories. These harmful narratives are reinforced when we oversimplify very complicated stories and leave out people and systems that shape these stories.
Instead, successful narrative-driven communications will lead with a beneficial narrative that breaks down problematic assumptions. Instead of focusing on individualism and exceptionalism, the story can be framed within a larger history of Black financial activism, and used to highlight where systemic inequalities still prevent Black entrepreneurs from succeeding today.
Using a narrative strategy doesn’t have to mean a huge, expansive campaign, although it certainly can. However narrative change also happens when we align our everyday communications with the guidance of impacted communities.
For an easy-to-follow guide on applying narrative strategies to your communications, I highly recommend Media Justice’s “Collaborative Checklist for Social Justice Leaders Using Narrative Strategies for Change.”
Join our mailing list to get a monthly newsletter with new blogs, resources, and more.
References
Narrative Strategy: The Basics, Liz Manne Strategy
Identifying Harmful Pervasive Narratives, The BROKE Project
Telling a New Story: A Collaborative Checklist for Social Justice Leaders Using Narrative Strategies for Change, Media Justice
