SOCIAL JUSTICE

Herstory is committed to providing an environment of intensive instruction which, in addition to creating literary works, upholds our values of empathy, inclusiveness, self-guided healing, safety and the search for social change in the expression of voices that historically have been most profoundly silenced.

Herstory’s ‘Education and Activism’ readings in community-based settings and universities alike feature the output of Herstory writers, including former inmates, and create the ripple that magnifies the impact of the women in our writing workshops. Programs featuring Herstory writers on topics ranging from immigration to pay equity, from domestic violence to restorative justice, work to change hearts and minds, to improve tolerance and to influence behavior of future decision makers.

Herstory’s publications are another means of outreach by which we seek to change hearts and minds. Our classroom-friendly prison anthologies place the writings of HERSTORY INSIDE members in the context of restorative justice; our Latinas Write/Escriben magazine is the only literary magazine featuring memoir by women writing in Spanish in all of Long Island.  

In communities experiencing violence and hatred – as in certain Long Island communities in which Herstory works – the Herstory approach, with its readings and publications, become an important human rights tool, as it helps people hear one another’s stories, building better bridges and stronger neighborhoods.  In the highly segregated communities of Long Island in which Herstory has its roots, Herstory celebrates the diversity of Long Island by giving voice to people who are not often heard to promote tolerance and new solutions.