Aliana Ritter
Research Mentor: Alisa Perkins
Mentor Department: Dream of Detroit, Not Available
Author(s): Dr. Alisa Perkins, Aliana Ritter, Dr. Alisa Perkins
Session: Session 1 (9:00 AM – 9:50 AM)
Presentation Type: Poster 140
Abstract
Dream of Detroit’s Storytelling Project is a public humanities initiative that preserves the history of social justice efforts in Detroit led by Black American Muslims. Dream of Detroit (DREAM) is a Muslim-led community-based neighborhood revitalization organization on Detroit’s west side. As part of its work, DREAM is committed to cultivating communities grounded in shared beliefs and values by extending the legacies of Black American Muslim community leaders in Detroit. By tracing the historic significance of these leaders, including their involvement in the Great Migration, the Civil Rights Movement, and current social reform, the DREAM Storytelling Project emphasizes generational legacy, activism, and the role of spiritual identity in shaping a mutually reciprocal and enduring community. The Storytelling Project builds knowledge about these legacies by gathering oral history interviews with community leaders and sharing them publicly via a digital archive, a documentary film, and related publications. Over the course of two semesters, my work on this project centered on organizing materials for the DREAM Storytelling Project’s archive and preparing them for wide dissemination. One of my contributions was developing keywording charts, a process that required close reading of interview transcripts to identify recurring themes, significant terminology, and patterns of representation. I produced six comprehensive keywording charts containing hundreds of indexed terms in English and Arabic, including concepts central to Islam. In addition, I also composed summaries for five oral history interviews. My keywording charts and summaries will be included on the DREAM Storytelling Project archive as significant meta-data, facilitating the ability of community members, students, and scholars to locate and access the information that they need.
