Reflections of Let Me Tell You My Story by Kate Farrell
Written by Megan Carson
Kate Farrell, Director of Marketing and PR at Familius, has been an invaluable source of vision and energy in helping us launch our book, Let Me Tell You My Story. We are so grateful for the efforts and talents she brings to helping us share the stories of our friends seeking refuge. Here are some of her thoughts about working on this project with us:
"When I was in college, I studied how storytelling through media can create communities and inspire social change. I know that this book will prompt long-lasting ripples of powerful dialogue.
"I’ve always had access to an education, a bed, and my family to hug. I learned about other cultures primarily through two other luxuries: books and travel. I cared deeply about others, and always tried to listen to others when I met them. As I grew, I increasingly realized that this wasn’t quite enough. Many of the media platforms that I admired and wanted to learn about diversity from were dominated by people who had access to the same things that I did growing up, and who often looked very similar to me.
"As I learned, listened, and grew, I searched for answers and tried to listen to stories created by people of all backgrounds, something that became increasingly important as my awareness of life outside of my small town grew too.
"Speaking with and supporting the TSOS team, reading these refugees’ stories, and promoting this book makes me feel like I am fighting for a better future.
"Everyone deserves a platform to tell their stories. We must listen to and acknowledge the coexisting pain and the love in the journeys of those around us. We must learn about one another’s cultural backgrounds, hardships, and personal victories (if our friends are willing to share) so we know how we may best love and support each other as humans with commonalities, but also beautiful, wonderful differences.
"I feel the TSOS team is my family, and I am extremely grateful to them for laboring over this book for years before I joined the project. I am also extremely grateful to every refugee who was willing to share their story and their voice for their project. Your bravery and vulnerability is beautiful, and you are strong beyond what I could ever hope to be. I hope that this book will take readers’ breath away and compel them to take moments out of distractingly busy lives to connect with the people within these pages. Human stories are what life is about- I’m just lucky to be able to work with and share them."
-- Kate Farrell, Director of Marketing and PR at Familius
Why consent matters to us (and why it should matter to you too).
It is especially important to provide accurate information as to how a photo will be used and obtain consent when working with refugees.
Stories are Changemakers: An Instagram Live with Sarah Kippen Wood
Sarah Kippen Wood, Former Executive Director of Their Story is Our Story (TSOS), shares how stories connect and lead to change in an interview with Darien Laird, our Director of External Media. Sarah gives us an inside look at how TSOS functions and shares how telling her story helped her fight a stage four cancer diagnosis.
Uniting for Ukraine: U.S. Sponsors Needed
Just as citizens in Europe and the U.K. have heroically supported displaced Ukrainians by opening up their homes or securing other housing, assisting with school enrollments, employment needs, and language learning, Americans now have the opportunity via the Welcome.us Sponsor Circles program to directly help newly arrived Ukrainians. The United States has committed to welcoming 100,000 Ukrainians temporarily for a period of two-years and the ability to apply for employment authorization in the U.S. as long as they have a U.S.-based sponsor to petition for them.