Media Activism #9

I suppose the theme to these past few weeks has been about mothers and daughters, This week I participated in a project called Story Corps with my mother and interviewed her in a “StoryBooth” for forty minutes. StoryCorps is a nationwide project aimed at recording American lives through sound. For only ten dollars (more if you’re feeling generous), you can invite someone to interview and have access to broadcast quality sound equipment in a sound booth located at Grand Central Station. You receive a copy of the CD and it goes into the archives of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.

It was really a wonderful opportunity to sit down with my mom and ask her things about her life that wouldn’t normally come up in casual conversation. I’m getting married next year, so I decided to ask her questions mainly about her married life. She was married to my father for 33 years before he passed away and I always felt very fortunate to have them as my role models for a successful marriage. It is hard not to be cynical these days with so many people getting divorced, so it is comforting to have grown up in a house with two parents who loved each other so much.

I feel like this project is a good example of media activism. Obviously with so many television channels, radio stations, films, and publications, much of our society is being recorded, but how much of that is truly documenting the lives of everyday Americans? This is a chance to record the normal lives of people who are dealing with all kinds of issues that may seem highly personal and specific, but are very revealing about the world we live in. On the website are excerpts from interviews that you can listen to. It is amazing how a minute or two of the interview sheds so much light on people’s lives and can touch on many themes that are universal. I highly recommend inviting someone you know for an interview. It feels really great to participate in this important project and you get to take home a wonderful keepsake.