Kingston, NY Non-Profit TMI Project Presents #BlackStoriesMatter - Live Stream and Digital Campaign
KINGSTON, NY (PRWEB) March 21, 2017 -- On Saturday, March 25, 2017, the Kingston, NY-based non-profit TMI Project presents #BlackStoriesMatter-Live! featuring true stories about the experience of being black in America. The event begins at 7:30pm and will be live-streamed for a national audience on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/TMIProject). Following the performances will be a community Q&A session and will include questions received from our Facebook Live audience. The stories shared that evening are the result of a series of writing workshops that have taken place at TMI Project’s offices in Kingston, NY.
The event also marks the launch of the #BlackStoriesMatter digital campaign. TMI Project invites people of color from anywhere in the country to contribute videos of up to three minutes in length, or true stories of up to 650 words accompanied by a photograph. Once received and curated, they’ll appear on TMI Project’s website, http://www.TMIProject.org/blackstoriesmatter, and on the organization’s social media pages using the hashtag #blackstoriesmatter.
TMI Project is a non-profit organization whose mission is to empower people and bring about social change through true storytelling. Through this campaign, the organization seeks to raise awareness around issues of inequality and injustice and inspire people to take action.
“#BlackStoriesMatter is our way of participating as an organization in the national outcry of injustice that has been amplified as a result of senseless killings at the hands of law enforcement, frequent racial profiling, and the history of racism in this nation,” said TMI Project co-founder and Executive Director, Eva Tenuto. “We are incensed about what is happening in our country, and impassioned about trying to affect change through this campaign.”
The organization also hopes to raise awareness of, and celebrate, the positive aspects of American black lives. “We also want to use our platform to amplify the voices of those who have inspiring stories to share, about surviving--as well as thriving--in the United States,” Tenuto added.
TMI Project board member, Tameka Ramsey, has co-led the #BlackStoriesMatter planning committee and is at the helm of the digital campaign. "Racism is a personal issue that we cannot continue to hold at arm's length," said Ramsey. "TMI Project's mission with this campaign is to elevate the underrepresented stories of the black experience in America - the full spectrum - the triumphs, humor, beauty and resilience. The hardships and everyday humanity of living in a system intrinsically stacked against a unification of races, of people. We need to know each other on a human level to transcend this condition."
---------------------------------
About TMI Project:
TMI Project is a non-profit organization founded by executive director Eva Tenuto and Julie Novak, which offers memoir writing workshops that culminate in performances and/or publication. Through its Community Outreach Initiative, TMI Project brings distinct versions of its workshops to the incarcerated, at-risk teens, cancer patients, survivors of domestic violence, military veterans, LBGTQ teens, and other populations where people don’t often get to tell their stories or be heard.
In its workshops, TMI Project workshop leaders help people write well-crafted true stories from their lives, including the “TMI” or “too much information” part they usually leave out because it’s too painful, shameful, or embarrassing. The workshops typically culminate in Moth-style storytelling shows where participants perform their stories for a live audience.
Transformation occurs when participants share their stories and release long-standing shame, and when audience members identify with the participants’ stories. Often, hearing the stories gives audience members “permission” to share their own stories of pain and shame—with the storytellers after the show, and with friends and loved ones when they go home. Releasing the pain and shame associated with old stories helps participants and listeners alike to move on.
Members of the public are invited to share their stories. Visit TMIProject.org/blackstoriesmatter to learn more. Admission to the March 25th performance is free, but reservations are recommended. Visit http://www.TMIProject.org for more information, or to reserve a seat. To view the live stream, visit our Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/TMIProject.
Eva Tenuto, TMI Project, http://www.tmiproject.org, +1 914-299-2363, [email protected]
Share this article