The first HBCU Truth and Reconciliation Oral History Project at SPC

TELL YOUR STORY: ST. PHILIP'S COLLEGE STUDENTS ORGANIZING, LEARNING AND GIVING BACK THIS WEEK AS TEAM MEMBERS WITH THE SAN ANTONIO DEBUT OF AN EMERGING FREE ONLINE ORAL HISTORY ACADEMIC SERVICE 

In an environment of academic freedom, all are welcome to participate in a contemporary truth and reconciliation experience

Participation is underway by St. Philip's College students who are learning and giving back during African American History Month through an emerging free online oral history academic service that uses the power of spoken and documented words to heal and change society. The name of the service where all are invited to participate is the HBCU Truth and Reconciliation Oral History Project Feb. 15-16 in the college’s E. L. Turbon Student Center at 1801 Martin Luther King Drive with free admission and parking.

The students are part of a larger team that actually gives back by collecting content for the innovative site, intended to provide users with full-length digital video clips and transcripts of interviews capturing both experiences of ethnic discrimination and its impacts on all. The project co-sponsored by Historically Black Colleges and Universities member institutions and Texas independent universities aspires to gain a global audience after establishing in 2017 on a small scale in Texas. An early highlight of the project occurs as the college’s ethnically diverse student team prepares to host the program in San Antonio for the first time.

Twenty-two students from the college have traveled from San Antonio to Houston and Austin since 2017 in order to gather some of the site’s first oral histories from the public in the Texas Southern University Law Center. The 2019 season is the third year of college participation in the project, and project alumni have included Alamo Colleges District Student Alternate Trustees in their leadership capacities as St. Philip’s College student government members. 

Following training in oral history methodology online and on campus with visiting project founder-director Steve Miller of Wiley College, the college's students are currently preparing to host others who may be traveling to San Antonio to interview project participants for later transcription, exhibition and archiving in the library of Prairie View A & M University for the benefits of both online and library patrons. 

One representative from each participating institution has collaboratively planned and trained their students in practical oral history techniques in accordance with oral history research requirements. The representatives have also supervised three interview processes that will challenge the student participants when they perform their service in San Antonio.

In addition to the face-to-face interviews Feb. 15-16 in San Antonio, interview subjects from around the globe are welcome to email pre-recorded video or audio hyperlinks previously recorded and uploaded to YouTube, Facebook and similar social media sources. Additionally, the third way interview subjects are welcome to reach out and share their story for processing by the St. Philip's College student team is by sending an email to project program director Steve Miller at stevemiller@usclo.com.

The St. Philip's College team will capture their assigned stories using theoretical and historical research methodology to ensure the accounts are accurately gathered, processed, researched, and archived.

Find details on the project from ngskmc-eis.net/spc/BHM and hbcuoralhistoryvideoproject.org/, or from Miller at stevemiller@usclo.com.