CHINGONA

In this project for WRD 506 - Multicultural Rhetorics, I was assigned to collaborate with a volunteer who identified as a person of color to create their own biographical counterstory. Rhetorician Aja Y. Martinez describes counterstories as “those stories that document the persistence of racism and other forms of subordination” and that center “voices from the margins” as “the voices of authority in the researching and relating of [their] own experiences.”

The goal of the assignment was threefold: (1) to center the experiential knowledge and unique voice of my partner's identity and culture with rich, robust contexts in order to (2) point to systems of oppression or struggle and (3) empower (not victimize) people of color. By collaboratively creating this counterstory, I aimed to participate in storytelling that works toward social justice and advocacy as well as to implement rhetorical listening in a cross-cultural context.

Because the original plan to partner with students from DePaul's Office of Multicultural Student Services did not go forward due to high enrollment in the course, I was able to work with my own partner for this project: Yolanda Williford. Yolanda is known in her community for her stories and paintings of her life, particularly her childhood in Laredo, Texas. Her work is raw, vivid, and unique, and I was particularly interested in co-creating a counterstory with her that combined her stories with the artwork they inspired.

Completing this project gave me experience designing persuasive multimodal texts, and in assessing and critiquing the ethical, civic, or political dimensions of rhetoric, language, or writing technologies, including the dynamics of culture and power.