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| Established | 2004 |
|---|---|
| Founders | Dave Eggers, Lola Vollen |
| Headquarters | San Francisco |
Executive director | Mimi Lok |
| Website | voiceofwitness |
Voice of Witness is a non-profit organization that uses oral history to illuminate contemporary human rights crises in the U.S. and around the world through an oral history book series (published by McSweeney's) and an education program. Voice of Witness publish books that present narratives from survivors of human rights crises including: exonerated men and women; residents of New Orleans before, during, and after Hurricane Katrina; undocumented workers in the United States; and persons abducted and displaced as a result of the civil war in southern Sudan.[1][2] The Voice of Witness Education Program brings these stories, and the issues they reflect, into high schools and impacted communities through oral history-based curricula and holistic educator support.
By using personal narratives, the series seeks to empower witnesses and survivors, generate awareness about social injustices and human rights issues, and provide documentation for educators, advocates, and policymakers.[3] The editors of Voice of Witness utilize interviews, primary source documents, and extensive fact checking to construct the stories presented in each book. Dave Eggers, Voice of Witness co-founder and author, describes the project as "a partnership between the people telling their stories and the people transmitting them to the reader."[4]
The Voice of Witness book series was founded in 2004 by author Dave Eggers and physician Lola Vollen, M.D. Mimi Lok joined in 2008 as Executive Director & Executive Editor, and turned Voice of Witness into a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Voice of Witness is based in San Francisco, California.[5]
- ^ Cooke, Rachel (March 7, 2010). "Dave Eggers: From 'staggering genius' to America's conscience". The Guardian. London. Retrieved May 3, 2010. [dead link]
- ^ Sharrock, Justine (March–April 2009). "MoJo Interview: Dave Eggers". Mother Jones. Retrieved May 3, 2010.
- ^ "About Voice of Witness".
- ^ Gidley, Ruth (June 25, 2008). "Breaking the silence: A new project led by Dave Eggers is documenting the stories of people whose voices usually go unheard, finds Ruth Gidley". The Guardian. London. Retrieved May 3, 2010. [dead link]
- ^ Alter, Alexandra (July 17, 2009). "A Family's Flood: Author Dave Eggers tries to gives Katrina survivors a voice in a nonfiction book". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved May 3, 2010.