The Texas After Violence Project
From Virgina Marie Raymond:
Dear friends and colleagues,
I’m writing to invite you to a information and planning meeting that will take place
at the University of the Incarnate Word on Friday, October 2, from 1 – 3 p.m., and
to invite you to lend your creativity, energy, ideas, and time to an oral history
project concerning serious violence and its effects in our communities.
The Texas After Violence Project is an independent, non‐profit organization that
studies the effects of serious violence, including the death penalty in Texas by
conducting qualitative research, especially oral histories with persons directly
touched by these events and processes; shares these stories as widely as possible
consistent with the express instructions oft he narrators; and promotes collective,
critical and constructive conversations about the most effective ways to prevent
and respond to violence. Although we seek to minimize violence and promote
transformative justice, the Texas After Violence Project is not an advocacy group.
Rather, we listen for a change.
Currently based in Austin, the project has conducted close to sixty interviews in a
little over a year. We have listened to parents, siblings, and intimate friends of
murder victims; parents, siblings, and intimate friends of executed persons; law
enforcement officials; clergy and lay religious people; media witnesses to
executions; lawyers; and others.
We have been deeply moved by what we have learned, and want to share these
stories – at the time and in the manner approved by oral history narrators. Some
narrators have already released their stories to the public; you can read brief
portions of seven interviews on our website at
http://www.texasafterviolence.org/watch.and.listen. Other narrators are still
reviewing their stories: some will donate the stories to the project for noncommercial
educational purposes now or at some point in the future, and a few may
decide, for personal reasons that we respect, to keep their experiences private.
The Digital Human Rights Initiative of the University of Texas Library System has
agreed to host those oral histories that narrators have agreed to make public, so that
people anywhere in the world who have access to the internet will be able to listen
to these stories. We hope that policy makers, clergy, poets, artists, novelists,
psychologists, teachers, students, neighborhood activists, police officers, and
families will listen to these stories and use them as they (we) all work towards
reducing violence and promoting justice. We are already working towards the first
set of community conversations, which will take place in October, and look forward
to collaborating with other community organizations, religious congregations,
schools, and neighborhoods in the months and years to come.
Would you be interested in joining our work, suggesting how we might do it
better, or adapting our ideas to San Antonio? The University of the Incarnate
Word has graciously agreed to host a reception and organizing meeting on Friday,
October 2, from 1--3 p.m. Meet us the McCreless Heritage Room, Room 155, on
the first floor of the Administration Building, on the Incarnate Word campus
at 4301 Broadway, San Antonio, 78209 (northeast corner of Broadway and
Hildebrand). The Administration Building, marked #12 on the attached campus
map, is the big building facing Broadway (east), with the water fountain in front.
Parking on Friday afternoons is generally available in the area in front and on the
sides of the building. We will serve light refreshments.
We hope that you will share this invitation with your colleagues and friends who
may also be interested in “listening for a change” – not by pushing our ideological
beliefs on others, but by listening careful to other people’s experiences, and then
looking for common ground. Please call or write with your questions, or come meet
us in person next week! We look forward to seeing you on Friday, October 2, at
1:00 p.m.
Thanks for your attention.
Sincerely,
Virginia
Virginia Marie Raymond
Director
Texas After Violence Project
P.O. Box 41476
Austin, Texas 78704
512.916.1600
http://www.texasafterviolence.org
virginia@texasafterviolence.org
Listening for a change
Dear friends and colleagues,
I’m writing to invite you to a information and planning meeting that will take place
at the University of the Incarnate Word on Friday, October 2, from 1 – 3 p.m., and
to invite you to lend your creativity, energy, ideas, and time to an oral history
project concerning serious violence and its effects in our communities.
The Texas After Violence Project is an independent, non‐profit organization that
studies the effects of serious violence, including the death penalty in Texas by
conducting qualitative research, especially oral histories with persons directly
touched by these events and processes; shares these stories as widely as possible
consistent with the express instructions oft he narrators; and promotes collective,
critical and constructive conversations about the most effective ways to prevent
and respond to violence. Although we seek to minimize violence and promote
transformative justice, the Texas After Violence Project is not an advocacy group.
Rather, we listen for a change.
Currently based in Austin, the project has conducted close to sixty interviews in a
little over a year. We have listened to parents, siblings, and intimate friends of
murder victims; parents, siblings, and intimate friends of executed persons; law
enforcement officials; clergy and lay religious people; media witnesses to
executions; lawyers; and others.
We have been deeply moved by what we have learned, and want to share these
stories – at the time and in the manner approved by oral history narrators. Some
narrators have already released their stories to the public; you can read brief
portions of seven interviews on our website at
http://www.texasafterviolence.org/watch.and.listen. Other narrators are still
reviewing their stories: some will donate the stories to the project for noncommercial
educational purposes now or at some point in the future, and a few may
decide, for personal reasons that we respect, to keep their experiences private.
The Digital Human Rights Initiative of the University of Texas Library System has
agreed to host those oral histories that narrators have agreed to make public, so that
people anywhere in the world who have access to the internet will be able to listen
to these stories. We hope that policy makers, clergy, poets, artists, novelists,
psychologists, teachers, students, neighborhood activists, police officers, and
families will listen to these stories and use them as they (we) all work towards
reducing violence and promoting justice. We are already working towards the first
set of community conversations, which will take place in October, and look forward
to collaborating with other community organizations, religious congregations,
schools, and neighborhoods in the months and years to come.
Would you be interested in joining our work, suggesting how we might do it
better, or adapting our ideas to San Antonio? The University of the Incarnate
Word has graciously agreed to host a reception and organizing meeting on Friday,
October 2, from 1--3 p.m. Meet us the McCreless Heritage Room, Room 155, on
the first floor of the Administration Building, on the Incarnate Word campus
at 4301 Broadway, San Antonio, 78209 (northeast corner of Broadway and
Hildebrand). The Administration Building, marked #12 on the attached campus
map, is the big building facing Broadway (east), with the water fountain in front.
Parking on Friday afternoons is generally available in the area in front and on the
sides of the building. We will serve light refreshments.
We hope that you will share this invitation with your colleagues and friends who
may also be interested in “listening for a change” – not by pushing our ideological
beliefs on others, but by listening careful to other people’s experiences, and then
looking for common ground. Please call or write with your questions, or come meet
us in person next week! We look forward to seeing you on Friday, October 2, at
1:00 p.m.
Thanks for your attention.
Sincerely,
Virginia
Virginia Marie Raymond
Director
Texas After Violence Project
P.O. Box 41476
Austin, Texas 78704
512.916.1600
http://www.texasafterviolence.org
virginia@texasafterviolence.org
Listening for a change
posted by PAC PR at 1:18 AM
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