Even though a cloud's white curtain in a far-off corner flashed
An' the hypnotic splattered mist was slowly lifting
Electric light still struck like arrows, fired but for the ones
Condemned to drift or else be kept from drifting
Tolling for the searching ones, on their speechless, seeking trail
For the lonesome-hearted lovers with too personal a tale
An' for each unharmful, gentle soul misplaced inside a jail
An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.
-Bob Dylan, "Chimes of Freedom"
TAKE A STEP BACK.
SIT DOWN.
LISTEN.
In the midst of our rushed days, there's a whole lot of things we leave unexamined. May it be that long overdue haircut you've been meaning to get, or that long overdue friendship just waiting to be rekindled...there's many reasons why we rush past all the nitty-gritty that surrounds us. The purpose of this site is to create a platform for the voices of the past, present, and future to be heard and for willing ears, to listen. It's the story of one, and the story of us all. Nuggets of wisdom are just waiting to be discovered. The act of listening and story-telling within itself is not only cathartic, but serves as an agent for preserving culture, restoring values, reliving dreams, and is a huge helping of good old fashion medicine for the heart.
LANGUAGE.
The job of a storyteller is revered in many cultures and traditions--for as long as humans have been able to speak and as languages evolved, personal histories and memories serve to define us. The conversations and interviews collected here so far are from senior citizens and their family members in the greater DC metropolitan area. All of which are spoken in their native language: Vietnamese.
Tiếng Việt Còn, Người Việt Còn...which translates into, "if the Vietnamese language endures, the Vietnamese people will endure". The point of keeping these oral histories in the native tongue is to preserve ethnicity and to foster the remembrance of language for generations to come. I have also transcribed these oral histories into English--why exclude those who are not proficient in the language? This project is all about inclusion and collaboration.
NO HUMAN MEMORY IS PERFECT.
The stories conveyed here may not be the most accurate, but they serve as a demonstration of how events have and continue to affect the narrator--often times, it may be the same event (e.g. war, trauma, abuse) that translates into a multitude of end results. That's why collecting these narratives serves as a portal to understanding each other, and our hope for preserving and remembering the resiliency that came before us.
So as these voices chime their unique melodies, you may find that amidst these particulars, lies many universals.
An' the hypnotic splattered mist was slowly lifting
Electric light still struck like arrows, fired but for the ones
Condemned to drift or else be kept from drifting
Tolling for the searching ones, on their speechless, seeking trail
For the lonesome-hearted lovers with too personal a tale
An' for each unharmful, gentle soul misplaced inside a jail
An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.
-Bob Dylan, "Chimes of Freedom"
TAKE A STEP BACK.
SIT DOWN.
LISTEN.
In the midst of our rushed days, there's a whole lot of things we leave unexamined. May it be that long overdue haircut you've been meaning to get, or that long overdue friendship just waiting to be rekindled...there's many reasons why we rush past all the nitty-gritty that surrounds us. The purpose of this site is to create a platform for the voices of the past, present, and future to be heard and for willing ears, to listen. It's the story of one, and the story of us all. Nuggets of wisdom are just waiting to be discovered. The act of listening and story-telling within itself is not only cathartic, but serves as an agent for preserving culture, restoring values, reliving dreams, and is a huge helping of good old fashion medicine for the heart.
LANGUAGE.
The job of a storyteller is revered in many cultures and traditions--for as long as humans have been able to speak and as languages evolved, personal histories and memories serve to define us. The conversations and interviews collected here so far are from senior citizens and their family members in the greater DC metropolitan area. All of which are spoken in their native language: Vietnamese.
Tiếng Việt Còn, Người Việt Còn...which translates into, "if the Vietnamese language endures, the Vietnamese people will endure". The point of keeping these oral histories in the native tongue is to preserve ethnicity and to foster the remembrance of language for generations to come. I have also transcribed these oral histories into English--why exclude those who are not proficient in the language? This project is all about inclusion and collaboration.
NO HUMAN MEMORY IS PERFECT.
The stories conveyed here may not be the most accurate, but they serve as a demonstration of how events have and continue to affect the narrator--often times, it may be the same event (e.g. war, trauma, abuse) that translates into a multitude of end results. That's why collecting these narratives serves as a portal to understanding each other, and our hope for preserving and remembering the resiliency that came before us.
So as these voices chime their unique melodies, you may find that amidst these particulars, lies many universals.
1 comments:
Can't wait to read the stories!
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