Using an individual’s narrative to create empathy

Last week, our class had an especially interesting set of speakers. One of them was Sonia Bone Guajajara, the national coordinator of Brazil’s Association for Indigenous Peoples and a strong spokeswoman for the indigenous rights movement. She discussed the seven issues that the organization directly focuses on are defending indigenous rights, territorial rights, the formation and implementation of public policy, the right to be consulted, a fight to retain these rights, exposing the problems of indigenous rights, and using social media to create a community of indigenous people who share their own narratives.

After she discussed her experience with the Association, Christian Poirier talked about Amazon Watch, a non-profit organization founded in 1996 to protect the rainforest, preserve Amazon’s ecological system, and advance the rights of the indigenous people. Amazon Watch strives to create a world where governments, corporations, and society respects the rights of indigenous people over their territories and resources. Poirier also shared a video created by Amazon Watch about a girl named Nina, who resides in the Amazon rainforest and discusses how oil drilling companies will destroy the lifestyle of the indigenous peoples and ecological system if they enter her community’s territory. After watching the video, I realized the extreme importance of Guajajara’s seventh point of using social media to share individual stories to create empathy amongst people who may initially have been unable to relate to the problem.

It was one thing to listen to Poirier and Guajajara, and a different experience to watch the Amazon Watch video. Although I understood the importance of pushing for indigenous rights, I was only able to internalize the problem after witnessing how it was impacting Nina and her community. Seeing her emotions and reactions to the oil companies who were threatening to destroy her community’s territory made me better understand her situation.

Through these speakers, I have come to the conclusion that perhaps it is more effective to hear an individual’s personal perspective on a social dilemma rather than simply learning about a community’s negative sentiment towards an issue.

-Basma