A DC Collaboration and Some Amazing Young People Inspire Us
Submitted by Nicholas Kelly, Program and Communications Intern, DC Collaborative
July 6, 2016
Photo Credit: Shout Mouse Press
Shout Mouse Press knows that everyone has a story to tell, but not everyone’s story is heard. Its mission is “to amplify the voices of the marginalized and under-represented by empowering them to write and publish their stories.”
Kathy Crutcher, founder of Shout Mouse Press, was already in the process of launching a nonprofit publishing house and writer’s program for unheard voices when she came to a DC Collaborative new members meeting. As the members went around the room and introduced themselves, Kathy heard Lana Wong, founder of the Shootback Project, describe her work coaching young people in Kenya in participatory photo storytelling, a project that resulted in a 200 page book and a traveling exhibition that went to a dozen countries. When the meeting ended, Kathy and Lana went straight to meet each other, finding that they had similar interests in wanting to amplify unheard voices, but different skill sets that could make for a wonderful combination, what Lana calls “a marriage of the minds to put the power of words and images together.”
That first meeting led to five books that have been published through Shout Mouse Press, in partnership with organizations and programs such as Beacon House, Reach Incorporated, and the Ballou Story Project, all created by young writers from Washington, DC.
Photo Credit: Shootback/Shout Mouse Press
Their most recent publication is Humans of Ballou, Volume 3 of the Ballou Story Project. In the Fall, Kathy and a team of teaching artists help between 80 and 100 students at Frank W. Ballou High School to tell their stories in scholarship and college application essays. Then in the Winter and Spring, she invites students to take what they have written and prepare it to be published in a book. While Kathy coaches the students in crafting their words, Lana brings the cameras and coaches them in crafting beautiful images. Both Kathy and Lana insist that the photography is crucial to these books being taken seriously and reaching as wide an audience as possible. The results are powerful and inspiring: words, images, experiences, fears, hopes, and dreams of amazing young people confronting the ordinary and extraordinary challenges of growing up, as well as challenges that would shake many adults.
The mission of Shout Mouse Press is to amplify unheard voices, and these books have certainly succeeded in doing so. Three of their books were named as finalists in the 2015 INDIEFAB Awards, and Our Lives Matter (Volume 2 of the Ballou Story Project) was awarded Honorable Mention for YA Nonfiction Book of the Year. Four of the young authors represented the book at the awards ceremony in Orlando. These books are in all DCPS libraries, and the picture book A to Z: The Real DC (produced by Reach Incorporated in partnership with Shootback) is in every 3rd Grade classroom in DCPS. The books even made their way into the hands of President Obama. You can read all about that story here.
Photo Credit: Shootback/Shout Mouse Press
Perhaps most important has been the impact these books have had on DC students. Lana and Kathy say that readers need to feel represented in the books they read, and these books have been especially helpful in inspiring reluctant readers to pick up books. What makes the Shout Mouse books even more powerful for young people in Washington, DC is that they were written by young people just like them. Many of the young writers have done readings at DC schools, showing their fellow students that they can tell their own stories, too. For the writers, the experience of having their experiences and their voices taken seriously and heard broadly gives them confidence, dignity, and the energy for more writing.
This work is a testament to the life changing power of providing young people the opportunity to express themselves creatively, especially in the beautiful, professional products that Shout Mouse creates. Through her work with Shootback, Lana has had a nearly 20-year window on what happens when you give young people this opportunity. Of the students in her original project in Kenya, eight have gone on to be professional photographers, filmmakers, and foundation founders. Her experience is proof that when young people express themselves creatively, it really can change their lives.
The partnership between Shout Mouse and Shootback is also a testament to our arts and humanities community here in DC and the potential for amazing things to happen when we work together. Kathy told us, “I want to give credit to the DC Collaborative for making possible these kinds of collaborations. Meeting people with similar interests and different skill sets can create magic.” Lana agreed, saying, “There is such value in having a space for like-minded arts educators to meet and cross-pollinate.” We are so happy that the Collaborative could help make this amazing work possible!
So what are you waiting for? Pick up these books and read some amazing stories!
How To Grow Up Like Me: the first volume of the Ballou Story Project
Trinitoga: Stories of Life in a Roughed-Up Tough-Love No-Good Hood: a novel-in-stories by middle school authors
A to Z: The Real DC: DC teens take the reader on an alphabet tour of their city
Our Lives Matter: volume 2 of the Ballou Story Project
Humans of Ballou: volume 3 of the Ballou Story Project
The Day Tajon Got Shot: coming in Fall 2016
Shootback Project History
Shout Mouse Meets the President
2015 INDIEFAB Finalists Announced