See a photo of Karen, a link to her bio, and Part 1 of this Q&A, and Part 2.
Q&A with Karen Gilliam, PhD (Question 3):
Q: Your doctoral dissertation focused on the influence of the story of Joan Southgate, “the 70+ year old African-American grandmother, educator, social worker, and community activist, who walked 519 miles of the underground-railroad.” How did you come across her, and how did you decide to focus your doctoral research on her journey?
A: A good friend who was involved in the planning of the last leg of Ms. Southgate’s walk invited me to his home to meet her. It’s quite startling how we imagine someone might look based on limited prior knowledge and assumptions. Her story of traveling the path of the underground-railroad had become so large that I imagined her to be of the same stature, but when she stood for our informal introduction, I saw that she was short, petite and unassuming in her demeanor. What she lacked in height was more than compensated for in her presence, strength of character and unwavering belief in what she was doing.
Her storytelling reminded me that rather than discounting or ignoring my heritage, I needed to recognize and reclaim its richness and goodness. I needed to know from whence I came, find and reestablish my voice in articulating a self-claimed Black identity, and then support others in finding voice, gaining control of their existences and becoming all they were meant to be.
My story of Joan Southgate’s story is only one version. It’s based on what I paid attention to and on what I needed in order to make meaning in my life. Recognizing this truth led to my foreshadowed question: What is the impact of story on the listeners and why do they react the way they do? From a knowledge-application perspective, I hoped to uncover how business/community leaders could better connect with those they’d like to influence in some way and how storytelling could be used for a social movement.