Telling the Difficult Stories

Infants and toddlers who are victims of incest.

Women who are sold into slavery in our nation’s cities and small towns, seeing their bodies repeatedly violated, day in and day out.

Children traded on the streets of our cities for their addicted mother’s next high.

These are some of the stories that frequently go untold in our country – and beyond.

But why does this silence exist?

Often, the stories are difficult to document. The people involved are elusive, afraid to speak out or unable to do so.

At other times, those who probably should tell these stories can’t quite seem to get their hearts and minds around the details. They know that the stories need to be told, but don’t feel that they have the energy to allow themselves to be immersed in them. To look, honestly, at some of the darkest elements of humanity is a painful, draining process – and one that may call us to make changes or take risks we are not yet ready to make.

In other cases, people willing to speak such difficult truths find there is no audience for their stories. Many people do not want to be challenged – to have their notion of what can and does happen in America changed. Because, after all, if we allow such things to happen in our country, what does that say about all of us? What does it say about our leaders? What kind of people are we?

It is difficult to look at some of our nation’s most haunting issues honestly -- to rip back the curtain of supposedly polite, civil society and see who we are at our ugliest.

But these are stories that need to be told – however uncomfortable they make us and however difficult it might be to move toward change.

These are some of the stories that the Institute for Educational and Social Justice is here to tell. As difficult as they may be to share and to hear we must continue to use our voices.

What stories will you dare to tell? Why do they matter? Where do you go from here?