11/12/2016
With just hours before the stories come to life on the Muncie Civic Theatre stage, here is more about the project, from its creators, its storytellers and its writers. ...
MUNCIE – They are stories that needed to be told.
Stories of people in Muncie and Delaware County who have dealt with the pain of racism and the impact of race in their lives, as well as their triumphs and determination.
Stories that are personal and touching and have the power to move people toward change and reconciliation.
Stories that will be featured in “Facing Racism: A Dramatic Presentation of Exceptional Stories” at 7 p.m. Nov. 12 at Muncie Civic Theatre, 216 E. Main St.
The staged, dramatic monologues are based on the powerful book, “Facing Racism,” which features nearly 40 stories told by local community members about race – painful, honest and, in the end, hopeful stories collected through interviews by local writers.
“Facing Racism” is a project led by R.A.C.E. (Reconciliation Achieved Through Community Engagement) Muncie as part of the Facing Project, a national nonprofit that strives to bring together writers and storytellers, focused on a particular issue, culminating in a book and a community event to share the stories with the public to enhance awareness, create dialogue and impact change.
The book “Facing Racism,” several months in the making, will be available to the public free at the event.
“Who knew a year and a half ago, sitting around a table in a conference room at Maring Hunt Library, that we would have the largest Facing Project ever done?” said Jay Zimmerman, coordinator of the project. “I have been touched and moved at so many points during this project. So many people wanting to share their stories, difficult stories, painful stories, life changing stories, hopeful stories.”
Lauren Bishop-Weidner, one of the project’s writers, said she “was struck by the work ethic of the storytellers as well as by the grace and humor with which they have faced obstacles all their lives.”
“Lucky me, my people were all in their seventies, generous with their prodigious wisdom and with their talent for seeing what is good in humanity, clinging to it, and bringing out that good in everyone they meet. Their leadership is writ large throughout Muncie. Their compassion and Christian love are written on my heart. I expected to feel humbled by the process of listening, writing, and revising; but I wasn’t prepared to see history in microcosm, through people I knew to be leaders in our own community.”
Project writer Melinda Messineo, a sociologist, has studied a great deal about Muncie, but says the stories shared for Facing Racism “described a part of the community’s history that is not as widely known.”
“It made more real for me the experience of the people living in Muncie during those tumultuous times,” she said. “Listening to the storyteller also revealed to me the complexity of the issues and the importance that we not repeat the errors of the past.”
Renae Mayes, a member of R.A.C.E., was the primary editor on the project.
“In RACE Muncie, our focus in on bringing people together to raise awareness, knowledge, and skills to combat hate and oppression in the Muncie community,” she said. “What better way to raise awareness of what's going on than by hearing what your neighbor has experienced? Or by hearing other powerful stories of people in your community? Facing Racism provided that space to hear stories and call people into action.”
“These stories were powerful and add a depth of knowledge to the history of Muncie that I could not have even imagined. There are some pretty painful stories in there, which certainly were painful for the storyteller but they also hurt to read. Despite that pain being present in every story, each story is hopeful. That's what I cling to - that despite the oppression and hate that people have experienced there is space for hope and for a better tomorrow.”
Michael Daehn, faculty member in the Department of Theatre and Dance at Ball State University, put the stories together in “shorter dramatic monologue formats which contained the essence of the stories” with the help of Muncie Civic Theatre’s Executive Director Laura Williamson.
“Personal stories make accounts of racism real - I'm not just looking at cold impersonal statistics - these are real life people and neighbors,” he said. “Our community is stronger when we all listen to each other, hear about each others journey's and challenges so we can collaborate on a more tolerant, sensitive, inclusive future together. I am so grateful to have the opportunity to contribute in whatever small ways I can to make this evening happen and the conversation to begin.”
Zimmerman said the “community has stepped forward to support this project in a way I never imagined. That support started at that initial meeting at the Muncie Public Library, where people gathered to discuss a community read that would focus on race issues. Several people from that group, Zimmerman included, would go on to become part of the local R.A.C.E. group, led by local activist Jason Donati and Yvonne Thompson, director of the city’s Human Rights Commission.
Support continued with financial contributions from the Community Foundation of Muncie and Delaware County and the Champions for a Safe. Other sponsors include Whitely Community Council, The YWCA, Muncie Black Expo, the NAACP, Motivate Our Minds, the Islamic Center of Muncie, The Boys and Girls Club of Muncie, Stallings Wealth Management and the producers of “It Is Well with My Soul.”
Yvonne Thompson was one of the project’s storytellers. She was interviewed by Kelsey Timmerman, one of the co-creators of The Facing Project.
Thompson said she wanted to tell her story because “I work for the Muncie Human Rights Commission and there is a dark past that some people don’t want to admit to in Muncie. But, there is a good side to Muncie that must be shown to the world.”
“I would like people to know that yes, we have issues and always had issues in Muncie,” she added. “Exposing the wrong can help heal the hurt African Americans feel. There is a chance for reconciliation to take place but first, acknowledge the wrong. Then, let’s work to make Muncie better.”
Mayes agreed.
“I hope that the Muncie community shows up for the live event and grabs a book to read,” she said. “I also hope that those who are able to participate are pushed into action and are changed in some way. We can't go back to our same routines now that we know what is going on in our community. We have to demand better and put action behind it to get there.”
