The Power of Storytelling

Published 08/23/2023 in Scholar Travel Stipend

Written by Daniella Gonzalez | 08/23/2023

One of my favorite things about having the Milken Scholarship is the friendships that I have made with my cohort. A group of incredibly talented individuals who are fighting to make the world better in their own way. We all believe in the Foundation’s mission to “discover and advance inventive, effective ways of helping people help themselves”. We do this in our daily lives by creating mental health companies, advocating for health justice and environmental justice, and many other ways that help shape a better tomorrow.

As someone who has dedicated my professional work to help in the energy sector, I constantly see communities being left out of the conversation; as one of my favorite environmental lawyers likes to remind everyone around him, “if you aren’t on the table, it means you’re on the menu.” Although this saying might seem blunt, I have seen in my work in using community-empowered storytelling to uplift and amplify the voices of marginalized peoples that innovative “education” methods are indeed the “means most conducive” to “helping people…lead productive and satisfying lives.” 

My experience with storytelling started during my time at Princeton. I translated and transcribed interviews of Latin American immigrants to Spain as a research assistant. I really loved this project because I felt deeply connected to the interviewees and found it incredibly powerful to share the stories of those who feel forgotten in the world because their stories are written out of history. Contributing to and developing an archival database of marginalized voices was such an impactful and history-making experience and furthered my lifelong love of storytelling. This experience has deeply influenced my work today, where I interview members of fossil fuel-dependent communities and work to develop a national story map (along with news articles and popular media coverage opportunities) that uplift community struggles and needs. Because these communities are not normally “at the table” when it comes to climate change and energy policy, amplifying their voices allows for more equitable and community-driven solutions to these global problems. Yet, in a lot of these interviews due to school or COVID, I had not been able to meet the participants and be a part of the conversation as it happens. 

During my trip to Jamaica, I was able to continue expanding my skills in interview analysis and database management in another storytelling project in a traditionally marginalized community: LBGTQ+ Jamaicans who are fighting for their right to live and to love freely. Jamaica is a deeply religious nation that still holds traditional values that are often at odds with the reality of the country’s LGBTQ+ population. Outright discrimination and violence have become commonplace for those who identify as non-heterosexual, and this reflects a societal and cultural misjudgment of the queer community. Lack of equal rights have also meant that LGBTQ+ Jamaicans have endured decades of persecution and marginalization, with limited access to employment, housing, education, and healthcare. This discrimination highlights the historical roots of anti-LGBTQ+ attitudes in Jamaica, which has long been viewed as a conservative society. However, it is not widely known that Jamaica's LGBTQ+ community played a critical role in the fight for independence and social justice. The country has been plagued with some of the highest levels of homophobia globally, and the government has, for years, failed to protect its LBGTQ+ community from violent attacks. The laws penalized homosexual acts, and the few activists who have spoken out have faced constant threats and the police's wrath. As more progressive voices join the Jamaican authority, it is essential to promote education and awareness so that the general public can recognize and acknowledge LGBTQ+ rights. 

As an individual with significant experience in both conducting qualitative data collection and visualizing qualitative data for mass education purposes, I knew that assisting in the collection of Jamaican LGBTQ+ elder interviews and compiling these interviews in an open-access database would help significantly further my career aspirations as well as create an educational resource for communities. What I wasn’t expecting was the level of human connection and healing that was felt during these interviews. Being in the same room as the interviewees made their emotions palpable while hearing their stories. It reignited a feeling of self direction and solidified how storytelling fits into my professional life. There were a lot of tough topics in these conversations: suicide, mental illnesses, abuse, lynching, loss of family and friends, isolation, imprisonment to name a few. A big topic that stood out to me was grief. It was evident that there was no time to grief for a lot of the communities while still being in harm’s way from their family, neighbors, religion and government. Elders, activities and community organizers spoke about all of the history and the trauma caused by the action of others. It created moments where the scholars had to lean on each other to carry these heavy feelings and support each other as we debriefed all of these incredible but challenging interviews. I had to work specifically on two tasks: interview transcription + cleaning and developing database to public interface, including database design, search engine optimization, and outward-facing educational efforts that clearly explain our mission and purpose for database users. Though overwhelming at times, we constantly reminded ourselves of the importance of independent, data-driven research and how the Milken Institute uses these methodologies to change the world for the better. 

Beyond just doing the technical work, the Milken stipend provided an opportunity otherwise unattainable to me at this point in my career. The trip to Jamaica was more than just in person interviews. It allowed us the opportunity to explore Jamaican culture with food, dancing, and the beautiful landscape. We were all very lucky to have Michael with us and his willingness to show us around his home. It was a wonderful reminder that there was still joy in these communities aside from all of these terrible past experiences. Our cohort stayed in 2 different cities on opposite ends of the country which showed the differences and lack of infrastructure for basic needs in some parts of the country. We were also able to explore some of the more intact areas where the congestion of people hadn’t taken over. The contrast was a good example of how much larger some of the issues faced by Jamaican citizens are. It is not just about sexual identity or orientation, but rather a full class system that favors only a lucky few. This research project and this trip are just a stepping stone for future researchers to add on more stories of LGBTQ+ Jamaicans and have their legacy rightfully preserved. It is thanks to the Milken Institute and Family Foundation that we were able to make this happen.