WRITING SIX-WORD STORIES

What is a counternarrative? We live storied lives. Stories are the means by which we fashion our identities and challenge the identities thrust upon us—they are a part of self-making. Stories are also a mechanism for societies to either maintain the status quo or activate change—a tool of world-making. When society holds stock stories that persistently misunderstand and misrepresent some identities and experiences, counternarratives deliberately challenge the stock stories, expand and amplify stories of resistance and persistence, interrupt the status quo and pave the way for change. 1 Counternaratives are “narratives that counter the dominant narrative and take into account the social and political context within which the dominant narrative is made.” 2 Six words is not enough space to explain anything, but it is just enough space to spark curiosity and a conversation about the realities we experience and the realities we want to co-create.