“There is so much fear in the immigrant community and people are pretty overwhelmed,” said Marjory Wentworth, project leader. “There was definitely a lot of interest in this project and we were looking forward to our soft launch at CultureFest. We were going to ask people what was their favorite thing about their culture and also provide facts about immigrants here because there is so much misinformation. And as people would begin telling us their stories, we would begin reaching out to find others who wanted to continue this project. We will regroup once things settle down.”
Wentworth, who served as South Carolina Poet Laureate from 2003-2020, teaches poetry in the School of Humanities and Cultural Studies at Wright State University. She said her interest in writing and working with immigrants stems from when she lived in New York City for 10 years as a refugee resettlement worker in the 1980s. Hearing the stories of Haitian refugees sparked the impulse for her to tell their experiences in narrative poems.
Since moving to Springfield with her husband last year, Wentworth has continued to advocate for the Haitian community as a member of the Clark County Haitian Coalition.
“When I got to Springfield, I noticed I heard Creole in a lot of places and then found out about the Haitian Coalition and immediately started going to monthly meetings of all the different groups who are serving the Haitian population,” she said.
Credit: ANDY ALLEN
Credit: ANDY ALLEN
Looking to spotlight the Haitian community, Wentworth applied for and received a grant from The Black Earth Institute to start Journeys. At the outset she was excited to receive support from the Springfield community but acknowledged inherent challenges due to the hot-button topic of immigration.
“We’ve been working for months to find very user-friendly ways to do this with a really strong awareness of the difficulties that were already (present),” she said. “A lot of different people were at the table figuring out how to do this without creating angry dialogue before we even get off the ground.”
Regardless of debate, she loved the idea of encouraging immigrants of all types to open up about their experiences through the arts whether orally or visually and in whatever manner makes them feel seen and valued.
“There are different ways to tell stories,” Wentworth explained. “You can tell your story in a song or through a photograph or picture. Very often when you’ve experienced trauma in particular you don’t want to talk about it. But you might make a picture that is indicative of what happened. When you read a poem or novel you can feel like you’re walking through someone else’s shoes. And looking at the world through different perspectives has a really healing quality. Story is a big umbrella word. Someone might want to talk about their experience living in Haiti and that’s okay. It’s about the process more than anything, which can be very cathartic. It takes a long time to help people find the language very often to describe the worst thing that ever happened to them and to get them comfortable enough to tell it in public or display it. These things take time to do well.”
‘America is a melting pot and we belong together’
One of Wentworth’s most vital collaborators is the Nehemiah Foundation, a Christian non-profit devoted to healing and restoration in Springfield and Clark County. The organization hopes Journeys will draw people closer together around the immigration issue within the realm of love and inclusiveness rather than divisiveness.
“We’ve wanted to foster and demonstrate unity in our city even before we had a growing number of Haitians and other immigrants to our community,” said Kelton Moore, community chaplain for the Nehemiah Foundation. “When Marjory (approached) us about her project we totally wanted to help her because it’s a beautiful project. We care about people not politics but on the opposite side of this wave that came through a week ago we’ve received a lot of support locally and nationally. It’s been amazing. America is a melting pot and we belong together. We want Journeys to be a way for people to connect and tell their immigration stories.”
Moore admits the cancellation of CultureFest was a setback but is determined to see Journeys launch for a greater purpose.
“When CultureFest was canceled it was a disappointment because of all the hateful rhetoric that’s been going around but it isn’t devastating because we already had a plan to continue,” he said. “We will find a way for people to see others as they truly are – not to put them in a box or Other-ize them.”
“Between the two of us we’ve been able to bring interesting groups together which have to do in the community,” echoed Wentworth regarding her partnership with the Nehemiah Foundation. “But right now everyone is taking a deep breath. We need some normal days to pass where people don’t feel threatened and I think there was fear before this. Feelings were escalating. We are not there yet.”
‘We’re going to have a spotlight we wouldn’t have had before’
Additional collaborators on the project include Clark State College, the Westcott House and The Immigrant Story, which documents, narrates and curates stories about immigrants.
As Wentworth determines next steps during this unexpected pause, she is mindful of the work it will take to inspire the Haitian community in particular to open up and become vulnerable, especially as threats of violence against them persist.
“These (threats) are meant to instill fear and intimidate people and it has frightened an entire community,” she said. “I don’t know if folks are going to really to want to get up on a stage and tell their story in the middle of all of this. It’s very stressful here right now. People are really traumatized. People are afraid. People are trying to keep a low profile. So, I’m thinking Journeys will start by (featuring) stories that are written and posted on a website or told through a podcast. What matters right now in Springfield is safety. Every decision is built around public safety and when that is not the first thing on your mind we can start having deep conversations.”
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Above all she embraces Journeys having more timely significance than she could have imagined as her quest for immigration storytelling evolves.
“We’re going to have a spotlight we wouldn’t have had before,” Wentworth said. “What’s happening in the Haitian community is being reported but we’re not hearing their stories. And their stories are traumatic. They’ve been through so much to get here. Many of them are separated from their families. And as a writer, I think when you hear someone’s story you have empathy for their situation. But without those stories, they’re just numbers and you’re just reading what’s in the media or on social media. I feel like we need to hear their stories.”
For more information, contact Wentworth at marjorythw@gmail.com or Moore at kelton@nehemiahfoundation.org.
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