On November 2nd, I had the absolute honor of attending “Let’s Talk About It: Conversations on Identity, Inclusion, and Social Action.” This event hosted three beautiful speakers – Janice Iwama, Chelsea Roberts, and W. Kamau Bell — who brought to life the ever-present issues of race, identity, inclusion, community, justice, peace, and activism. While all the speakers were incredible in their own ways, I was particularly moved by Chelsea Roberts.
Chelsea Roberts is a graduate of Boston University School of Communication’s Film and Television program. And she tells stories like I’ve never seen before. Moving effortlessly in and out of monologue and spoken word, Roberts spun a captivating and moving tale of racial, socioeconomic, and social isolation here at Boston University. She compared the neighborhood she grew up in — predominately people of color, low socioeconomic status, fraught with violence and addiction — with the white, upper class, elite environment of Boston University. Her words ached with truth, conviction, and hope. They elicited laugher, snaps, claps, and sighs that practically screamed, “Me too.”
Robert’s experience growing up, battling racial identity conflict, and experiencing spatial ambiguity are foreign to me. I grew up in the type of suburban neighborhood that breeds college elites. My family always had enough of everything we needed to be successful and thriving in all aspects of life. And yet, despite our seemingly vast differences, Roberts brought us together seamlessly through storytelling. Sure, there were some other factors at play: I am interested in and passionate about the social issues of race, identity, and inclusion. I chose to attend this event. I consider myself a liberal, empathetic, open-minded citizen of the spaces I occupy.
But no matter how “liberal” I, or anyone else sitting in Metcalf the other night, feels they are, we cannot truly place ourselves in the experiences of those before us on stage. Roberts lived, and continues to live, a life that comes with a largely different set of rules and regulations, spoken or unspoken.
And yet, despite our differences, Roberts brought us into her space through creative storytelling. There are so many ways to get these messages of racial identity, inclusion, isolation, and “diversity” across to an audience. Data, reports, graphs, and anecdotes all have their place and impacts. But storytelling, the creative manipulations of words and phrases to bring musicality, life, breath, beauty to the dark and difficult messages we are trying to bring? Storytelling is how we come together.
We are all united under the power of story. No matter who we are, where we come from, what we believe in, we all have stories. We all have traditions of coming together and sharing our lives through creative means. The traditions and vehicles may differ, but we all come together with the same power of storytelling. Storytelling creates new channels to understanding and common ground.
Words that move us stay with us. We talk about the words that make us think, that make us feel. The most effective stories reach beyond their teller and original telling.
Chelsea Roberts reminded us to act up, act out. Do things that terrify us, not make us safe. Make noise, make waves, be comfortable with being uncomfortable. Be defiant in your actions. So, to use the evening’s hashtag, #LetsTalkAboutIt, let’s take Chelsea’s stories and keep telling them in our own words. Let’s spin our own stories to march our messages on. Let’s unite under the force of beautiful words with incredible power.
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