Inspiring positive social change through storytelling

As a military child who moved around a lot growing up, I’ve had many people come in and out of my life who have helped me become the person I am today. As life often goes, I haven’t stayed in touch with all of them, but I continue to carry the things I learned from them with me. One person who made a lasting impression on my life was one of my journalism professors at Auburn University who taught a feature writing class mostly focused on the civil rights movement. 

This professor empowered my class to get outside of the classroom and immerse ourselves in the worlds of the people we wrote about, whether that be visiting a women’s prison to interview the individuals who were incarcerated there or traveling to the home studios of Alabama’s many amazingly talented folk artists. Most notably, our class traveled to Selma, Alabama to interview members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee who survived the brutal Bloody Sunday beatings on the Edmund Pettus Bridge at the height of the civil rights movement back in 1965. Following those profoundly impactful interviews, we walked across the bridge, which is now a National Historic Landmark and stands today as an important symbol of the long and harrowing fight to secure the right to vote for all Black Americans. On that same trip, we also visited the roadside memorial for a Detroit mother who was murdered by the KKK after traveling to Selma in the wake of Bloody Sunday to be a part of the third and final voting rights march that reached Montgomery. 

That trip taught me so much more about the systemic oppression and racism that has occurred in our country than I ever could have learned from a textbook alone. To hear a firsthand account of what it was like to be brutally attacked on the bridge that day and to be able to write about that experience from the perspective of a person who lived through it was nothing short of heartbreaking and eye opening for me as a young college student. I’ve gone on to write about many other things during my time as a journalist and local government communications professional, but I will never forget the feature writing assignments I did in that class and the people I wrote about. They taught me that everyone has a story to tell and that we can learn so much from hearing about the lived experiences of others, especially those who have overcome unfathomable hardships. 

It is with that in mind that I’m looking forward to this next chapter in my career at the Michigan League for Public Policy. I know it is going to be incredibly rewarding to work for an organization dedicated to building equity and opportunity for all people in Michigan. As a writer for the League, I’m looking forward to telling the stories of Michiganders who have faced barriers in obtaining the resources they need to live healthy, safe, and prosperous lives, and to advocate for policy solutions that will help them thrive. 

My professor at Auburn may not remember me, given the years since I was in her class and the many students she has taught since, but I will always remember her for the memorable experiences and learning opportunities that she afforded me. She not only taught me to be a better writer, but also to use my skills to amplify the voices of people who want their stories to be heard. I believe our common humanity is what unites us and hearing and sharing the stories of others can inspire empathy, compassion and positive social change.