EPIOSODE SUMMARY

After working for half the year, we're releasing our long-awaited trailer for the Chicago community-led podcast series, Our Stories, Our World!

This collaboration connects Chicago’s Public Narrative, a longtime advocate for broader, more accurate and more authentic community representation in media, and A Picture’s Worth, a nonprofit focused on strengths-based storytelling for community transformation. Our Stories, Our World combines audio stories and photography to create a series of youth-led, citizen-centered podcasts that add depth and context to stories about Public Narrative’s three thematic pillars: public safety, public health and public education.

THE BACKSTORIES

STORYGATHERERS:
Kaylen Brandt of Chatham. “People have opinions about Chicago based on the way the [mainstream/traditional] media presents the city,” Brandt said. “I feel like that narrative actively blocks out voices that need to be heard.”

Daniel Animashaun of Woodlawn. “If you’re from the South Side, you’re either a thug or you’re stupid,” he said, referring to harmful and persistent stereotypes that are rooted in racism and that limit opportunities.

Andrea Hernandez of Englewood. “I think we need to stop jumping to conclusions, and find a way where we could come together and try to change something,” Hernandez said. 

MUSIC:
The series features original music by Malci, a Chicago-based hip-hop artist, producer and co-founder of Why? Records. He’s been releasing music since 2015, but this will be the artist’s first foray into making music for podcasts.

PRODUCTION:
Mareva Lindo

Elissa Yancey

Samantha Gattsek

In our first episode, we focus on the topic of Public Education. This episode features teen story-gatherer Daniel Animashaun in conversation with Shohn Williams, the Dean of Students from Lindblom Math & Science Academy. Williams has deep connections at Lindblom. He attended the school and graduated as its highest-scoring basketball player; he grew up in the neighborhood. He went to college on a basketball scholarship and brought his administrative and inspirational talents home to Lindblom to give back to the community that helped build him. For Williams, public education means exposure to opportunities, to a community of supporters and cheerleaders, and to the resources they need to thrive. The photo he shared to illuminate those concepts shows him towering above students, center stage in his school’s gym, surrounded by community leaders, educators and a sea of smiling young men. For Williams, it’s a vision that inspires him daily.

Our Stories, Our World is a collaboration that connects Chicago’s Public Narrative, a longtime advocate for broader, more accurate and more authentic community representation in media, and A Picture’s Worth, a nonprofit focused on strengths-based storytelling for community transformation. Our Stories, Our World combines audio stories and photography to create a series of youth-led, citizen-centered podcasts that add depth and context to stories about Public Narrative’s three thematic pillars: public safety, public health and public education.

Music: Malci

Artwork: Dan MacDonald Studios

Audio Producer: Samantha Gattsek

Executive Producers: Mareva Lindo & Elissa Yancey

This podcast is brought to you by Public Narrative and A Picture’s Worth.

In our second episode, we focus again on the critically important topic of Public Education--this time with a distinctly different perspective. This episode features teen story-gatherer Kaylen Brandt in conversation with Chicago alderwoman Rossana Rodriguez, a teacher and community organizer by training. Running as a Democratic Socialist, she won her first political campaign in 2019, when she was elected to represent the city’s 33rd Ward on the Chicago City Council. She was born and raised in Puerto Rico, where her father was a community organizer. Rodriguez studied and taught drama in Puerto Rico before government cut-backs sparked her move to Albany Park in Chicago, where she became a resident director at the Albany Park Theater Project. 

In this episode, Rodriguez shares a photograph she took when she was a teacher at Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos High School in Humboldt Park. The photo shows Koko, a Black trans woman in Rodriguez’s integrated arts class, on a very good day. Koko is smiling as she shows off a sock puppet she made as part of the class. 

Content Warning: Anti-trans violence and transphobia. 

Our Stories, Our World is a collaboration that connects Chicago’s Public Narrative, a longtime advocate for broader, more accurate and more authentic community representation in media, and A Picture’s Worth, a nonprofit focused on strengths-based storytelling for community transformation. Our Stories, Our World combines audio stories and photography to create a series of youth-led, citizen-centered podcasts that add depth and context to stories about Public Narrative’s three thematic pillars: public safety, public health and public education.

Interviewer/Host: Kaylen Brandt
Music: Malci
Artwork: Dan MacDonald Studios
Audio Producer: Samantha Gattsek
Executive Producers: Mareva Lindo & Elissa Yancey
This podcast is brought to you by Public Narrative and A Picture’s Worth.

Resources and Links

• Our Stories Our World podcast site: http://apicturesworth.org/publicnarrative
• Chicago Magazine profile of Rossana Rodriguez: https://www.chicagomag.com/chicago-magazine/march-2021/new-power-30/rossana-rodriguez/
• Albany Park Theater Project: https://aptpchicago.org/
• Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos High School: https://pachs-chicago.org/
• El Rescate: https://www.humboldtparkportal.org/directory/el-rescate/
• Resources and programs for LGBTQ+ individuals in Chicago: https://www.bravespacealliance.org/
• Public Narrative: http://publicnarrative.org
• A Picture’s Worth: http://apicturesworth.org