Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Silence Speaks helps victims and witnesses of violence to tell their stories using the new technology of "digital storytelling." The goal is to inspire personal healing and also to share these stories with a larger community in order to foster dialogue and solutions for violence prevention. You can experience some of their "digital stories" online at www.silencespeaks.org. The Arts and Healing Network interviewed Amy Hill in November of 2003.

AHN: What inspired the creation of Silence Speaks?

Hill: Silence Speaks was born in the Fall of 1999. I had for a number of years been struggling with my own need for more creative work, and with the lack of arts activities within the field of violence prevention. Digital storytelling seemed an ideal way to interest domestic violence advocates in the potentials of computers; to exercise my desire for creativity; and to explore how art (in the form of multimedia production) might fit with personal healing and advocacy to end violence.

AHN: Can you tell me a little bit about the process of digital storytelling?

Hill: Digital storytelling was developed and refined over the past ten years by the Center for Digital Storytelling in Berkeley, CA, one of the key partners of Silence Speaks. Digital storytelling integrates aspects of creative writing, oral history, and facilitative filmmaking to assist people in recounting their experiences as short digital videos, or "digital stories." The focus is on personal voice and first-person narrative and is grounded in creative writing, rather than in visual expression. The standard workshop takes place over three days, during which time participants (generally eight to ten people) craft a short story, identify and prepare images to illustrate that story, record a voiceover of the story, and learn how to edit the pieces together on a computer, using Adobe Photoshop and Premiere. A key part of the experience is the story circle, where participants share their scripts and offer support and feedback to each other, with the guidance of facilitators.

Excerpt from a digital story by Carlos at www.silencespeaks.org

AHN: How has Silence Speaks used the process of digital storytelling?

Hill: Our Silence Speaks workshop have adapted this process specifically for groups of violence survivors and witnesses. When possible, we like to bring participants together before the three-day production session, for a series of writing exercises. We also emphasize the supportive aspect by making sure we have trained counselors on-hand, should anyone need an additional level of emotional support. Throughout, we allow participants the greatest possible freedom and control in creating their pieces in the way that makes sense to them. This is especially critical for survivors, who may be telling stories about situations over which they had no control at all. We define violence broadly -- stories created in our workshops have focused on intimate partner and family abuse; hate violence and racism; and the effects of institutional violence, political repression, and war -- as a way of fostering a consciousness among participants that the issues are intimately and deeply connected.

We also see the creation of community friendly and accessible venues for screening Silence Speaks stories as a key component of the program. Telling and listening to such stories must be an integral part of any effort to stimulate collective action and catalyze civic engagement.

AHN: What has been the impact of creating these digital stories on the survivors of violence?

Hill: Workshop participants themselves have voiced unanimous enthusiasm and support for the program. Specific comments from storytellers, on written workshop evaluations, include:

For me, it is important to know that spaces for women are being created for survivors of violence to express their experiences. I loved the fact that the space created is one that enables participants to feel safe and supported. I also like the marriage of teaching and learning new skills while sharing experiences of violence.

The teacher who assisted me in recording my story was also my witness during our session, and she created a container of safety for me to tell my story. I remember what it felt like to walk out of the recording room that day. I felt different, like Iíd found some resolution to something I never thought Iíd get resolution from. My story in my own voice. Wow, my experience will be taken seriously now; Iíll finally be heard.

AHN: And what has been the impact on the audience at the screenings?

Hill: The feedback and support that we have received in response to this work has been truly remarkable. Each time Silence Speaks stories are screened in public settings, many people approach us, asking to participate in workshops. The program is very clearly meeting an unmet need...that of giving visibility to survivors and their inspiring stories of recovery and healing.

Excerpt from a digital story by Sophie at www.silencespeaks.org

AHN: Do you consider storytelling a healing art? If yes, please explain.

Hill: As Susan Griffin writes in A Chorus of Stones (1992), "To tell a story, or to hear a story told, is not a simple transmission of information. Something else in the telling is given too, so that, once hearing, what one has heard becomes a part of oneself."

I think the particular beauty of digital storytelling is that it allows people to work on multiples levels, with multiple forms of meaning, simultaneously. There is the narrative level, represented by their actual stories, in written form. Then there are visual, textual, and musical levels, which can be used to emphasize feelings and ideas brought forth through the spoken story as well as to add additional content or reflection. Then of course there is the collective aspect of the process, which allows survivors to support one another as they go through the process, and to connect their experiences, thus minimizing their sense of struggling alone with their memories of victimization. Beyond the workshops, we believe the pieces have a therapeutic aspect in the context of validating the experiences of viewers.

AHN: What advice do you have for others who are interested in using storytelling to heal from trauma?

Hill: Network, find like-minded people, and be creative in envisioning ways to make it happen. I am always open to new kinds of collaborations, and we do travel to do this work, so anyone who is interested is more than welcome to contact me at amylenita@concentric.org or 510-653-2580.

Excerpt from a digital story by Tamika at www.silencespeaks.org

AHN: How do you sustain your work...financially, emotionally, and creatively?

Hill: The financial aspect is not surprisingly the most difficult. We rely on small foundation grants and individual contributions. Researching and pursuing money takes up an incredible amount of time, especially in the current economic climate.

Emotionally, as teachers, we take care of ourselves during the workshop process by making a lot of time for talking about what's going on and sharing how it's affecting ourselves and impacting our own personal issues. We see ourselves as part of the group that comes together for a given workshop, not merely as leaders or teachers, and so we are able to draw strength from the solidarity and courage that arises within the group.

Creatively, the digital storytelling process is incredibly invigorating. To assist people in an artistic journey, making suggestions, floating ideas, talking them through the steps they need to take to realize their vision at the same time that they share intimate details of their lives -- this is truly an honor and a privilege, a gift to be treasured.

AHN: What excites you most right now about this project?

Hill: The potentials. We have barely scratched the surface. Many, many digital storytelling efforts are using the methodology as a path to healing and personal growth and community transformation. There are opportunities to collaborate that have not begun to be explored. I can't wait to see what directions that we, our storytellers, and others take, with this important work.

Silence Speaks Logo

To view stories and learn more about Silence Speaks,
visit their web site at www.silencespeaks.org









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This 60 minute interview with Griffin by Michael Toms was recorded by New Dimensions in 2001 (tape number 2936). Click here to order a copy for $12 from New Dimensions.



READERS RESPOND

Do you have a healing story you'd like to share? Send your thoughts and feedback on the December AHN News to ahn@artheals.org, and we will include them in next month's Readers Respond.

Here are responses to last month's AHN News on Creative Aging

• Artist and Director of Art Pals Susan Hyde wrote in from Marin County, CA. "I read Crones Don't Whine and it was quite wonderful. You are correct -- it is for all ages" Susan also commented on how powerful it can be in working with art with elders to include children in the process. "I wanted to share with you an experience from my Art Pals week at the Redwoods [a home for seniors in Mill Valley, CA]. A lovely woman attended two of the sessions and she said she thought the program was unique in that she was able to interact with children as opposed to merely being entertained."
  
  
• Urban Shaman Donna Henes wrote in from Brooklyn, NY about her new book which adds a fourth stage to the archetypal woman's life cycle. As she explains, "In my new book, The Queen of My Self: Women Stepping into Sovereignty in Midlife, I expand the archetypal paradigm of the Maiden, the Mother, and the Crone to include a model for today's modern middle age women: The Queen. The Four-Fold Goddess of Maiden, Mother, Queen, and Crone is a much more accurate description of the current Way of Womanhood that compares the stages of women's life to the four solar seasons in the year, four phases of the lunar cycle, four elements, and four directions. More than a self-help manual, The Queen of My Self presents a profound and inspiring philosophy that is augmented and enriched by the wisdom of exceptional women through the ages and around the world through myth, poetry, quotes, rituals, affirmations. This book is for all women who want to enjoy the fruits of an active, independent, influential, and powerful maturity. The Queen does not ask "How To? But rather encourages, Why Not? And if not now, when?"
  

And here are some responses about the Arts and Healing Network:

• "I just have to say THANK YOU for the work you are doing. There are so many resources and things to check out! It makes me hopeful." - Karen Fitzgerald of ArtistCares, New York
  
  
• "I found your web site and I was very relieved to see that what I am envisioning is already conceptualized elsewhere in the world. I am located in Nashville, TN and I have opened a Community Healing Arts and Education Center. Your web page just confirmed for me that somewhere out there in the universe are people that believe that we all have the potential to be healers." - Karen Roberts, Nashville, TN

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