#ownvoices

For challenge two of the FF contest (2018), I ended up learning a lot about the conflict in Syria in an effort to do justice to the story that had grabbed me in response to the prompts, while feeling a bit uncomfortable about the issue of #ownvoices (I am not Kurdish, I am not Syrian, and I have never had to be a refugee). I submitted my story, but I probably won't seek to publish it anywhere because I feel ambivalent about my right to tell this story...

Edited by GGreen - 17 Sep 2018 at 5:49am

I've thought about this too - I reckon write what you want, don't resort to stereotypes and you should be fine. Sounds like an interesting story you wrote!

HR Garcia wrote: MadEyeMary wrote: I think that human resistance, pain, delight , is universal. I do see where you're coming from, but if you've made an effort to do it justice, to humanize the refugee plight, I wouldn't worry so much about this. If we only wrote in the narrow bubble of what we've experienced, then imagination and empathy wouldn't need to exist. I agree with this. Also, when you have more time than 48 hours, try to get someone that IS represented in your story to do a Sensitivity Read for you.

sensitivity readers are good, but you know if you’ve gone to far. The readers are good for pointing out something you might not have considered, but the overall feeling, for lack of a better word, is up to you. 

My original story idea this round (mystery/racetrack/crowbar) was to have bronze horse statues stolen from a defunct horse track, and for it to turn out to be a local Native American man scrapping the metal to use in building and repairing houses in a nearby reservation. It was inspired by a modern Blackfoot poet I like who once wrote a story about a young man who stole cars as a modern method of stealing back the horses white men stole from them. However, there were lots of flaws in my story idea. Not only did it seem like way too much story for 1000 words, but I am not full-blood Cherokee. I am not only mixed, but don't even look it the way my brothers do. Physically I "pass white." I've never lived on a reservation. I stood the chance, either way, of coming off as insensitive, painting Native Americans as criminals or poor or so forth. So I scrapped it.