Mickeeya Harrison Click to visit The Highlander Center Facebook Link
Mickeeya Harrison photo by Amy Smotherman Burgess/ KNS©2012 | | Mickeeya Harrison, MSSW '11, Helps Lead Racial Healing and Equity Project A recent storytelling event had the unusual aim of aiding racial healing. This innovative exercise was part of the East Tennessee Racial Healing and Equity Project and helped kick off the Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend. A group of 15 people representing different ages, genders, and racial groups gathered at the Beck Cultural Exchange Center in Knoxville on January 14 to tell their personal stories. Individuals were encouraged to recall the first time they noticed that race mattered in their lives. Afterward, the group discussed common experiences that appeared as themes. Harrison, one of three group leaders, observed,"We want to challenge people to purposely seek out other people and learn their stories and understand their perspectives. In the end, that's going to make for a stronger community."
The story circle process is funded by a grant from the Highlander Research and Education Center and will continue with a February meeting. The focus then will shift from personal accounts to community-involvement strategies and policy action.
The Highlander Research and Education Center (http://www.facebook.com/highlander.center) is a social justice leadership training school and cultural center. Highlander has been in existence since 1932. During the 1950s, it played a critical role in the American Civil Rights Movement, training several notable civil rights leaders including Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr.
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