Storytellers Project, part of the USA TODAY Network, announced this week the launch of the \u201cI Am\u201d series focused on stories of people of color that celebrate the ways race and ethnicity weave through American identities.<\/p>\n
Each Storytellers Project event showcases a diverse mix of storytellers sharing entertaining, illuminating stories for about an hour. For the \u201cI Am\u201d series, only those who self-identify as people of color will share the kinds of stories only they can tell.<\/p>\n
The first show of the identity-based storytelling event series, \u201cI am Hispanic,\u201d is taking place on June 9, 2021 and will be available to registered viewers on events.storytellersproject.com and simulcast for free to the USA TODAY Facebook page and YouTube channel, as well as available on usatoday.com. Storytellers for the event are: Manny Garcia, the vice president and executive editor at Gannett\u2019s Austin American-Statesman; Christy Haubegger, executive vice president communication and chief inclusion officer, WarnerMedia and founder of Latina magazine; Charlie Echeverry, managing director of Black\/\/Brown, a strategic diversity consultancy; Marilyn Torres, a professor at the South Mountain Community College Storytelling Institute in Phoenix; and Lily Be, founder of Chicago-based storytelling platform \u201cThe Stoop.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI have a heartfelt appreciation for the freedoms that this country holds true \u2014 specifically the First Amendment,\u201d said Garcia, who will share his story and those told by his parents and grandparents, who fled dictator Fidel Castro\u2019s rule in Cuba to make a new life in the United States. \u201cI get to openly practice journalism in the United States, where in Cuba, my birthplace, there is no freedom of the press. In Cuba, reporters end up jailed and silenced.\u201d<\/p>\n
The \u201cI Am\u201d series is part of Gannett\u2019s ongoing mission to tell the stories of all Americans more fully and accurately. The series features everyday and notable individuals telling true, personal stories on a national stage. In addition to \u201cI am Hispanic,\u201d shows will include \u201cI am Black,\u201d \u201cI am Indigenous,\u201d \u201cI am Asian,\u201d \u201cI am Middle Eastern\u201d and more.<\/p>\n
Storytellers Project helps people tell true stories about who they are, what they do, and why it matters. Since 2016, at hundreds of shows with more than 5,000 tellers, the events create community and connection at scale.<\/p>\n