Who’s writing the stories about where we live and what our lives are like?

The authors come from outside the community. They bring their biases and their blinders. They see folks standing on the corner, and their keyboard clatters out crime. They see the row of shuttered buildings, and the notes read investment risk. They see the park where no one is gathering, and they remind themselves to tell a friend that this is a blank slate for their idea. They take that tour, and they drive away, and they write the stories about how communities of color are failing, and those stories take hold in the machinery of pop culture and nightly news and white papers.

Who’s writing the stories about where we live and what our lives are like?

The authors come from inside the community. They inhale and exhale this place every single day. They see folks standing on the corner, and they know their neighbors. They see the row of shuttered buildings, and they note to themselves what used to be and what could be again. They see the park where no one is gathering, and they remind themselves that this community needs livable wages to be able to enjoy assets and reliable public investment to make those assets something to enjoy. They take that community, and they walk away, and they tell the stories of how their community of color is persevering, and they might not have the platform to make outsiders care, but that doesn’t mean their story isn’t truer, more proximate, and closer to community needs and community solutions.

In the rough and tumble of community development, things like stories and narratives can get lost in the mix. However, just because residents and practitioners lack the time and resources to narrate their own story doesn’t mean others aren’t telling their own. There’s a long history of pop culture and mass media creating caricatures of what communities of color are and are not. Stories of dysfunction and risk generate a profit; if it bleeds, it leads. Of course, narrative has power beyond financial returns; they contribute heavily to biases in policies, procedures, norms, and practices that permeate the work that community development does every day.

It’s time to prioritize being the authors of our own stories. In this issue, we pull out the collective typewriter and start writing something new. ThirdSpace invites you to review our Storied Communities, Community Stories report (created in partnership with the Community Opportunity Alliance and with funding support from The Kresge Foundation) and our partner Storytellers for Change’s Crafting Anti-Racist Narratives for Community Development toolkit. Then delve into how folks are thinking about dominant narratives and stories and what it takes to resource our own more accurate depictions.

Together, we can craft something beautiful by, for, and of the people … but it takes practice. Onward.