Oral History and the Climate Crisis: Listening in the Aftermath of Disaster

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article provides an overview of the multiple interrelated facets of the on-campus and university-community climate justice projects developed by individuals at the Oral History Lab/Laboratorio de Historia Oral at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez (UPRM). Beginning with a discussion of our oral history and documentary filmmaking program for students at UPRM and our workshop series for mutual aid organizations across the archipelago, this article explores the value of eyewitness testimony and experiential knowledge in resituating narrators who have been disempowered by disaster and/or marginalization, in contributing to global conversation about the climate crisis, and in developing ethical approaches to postdisaster research that employ decolonial and anti-racist methodologies and trauma-informed approaches. Ultimately, this article frames the qualitative, community-based data sets present in postdisaster oral histories as essential information for members of our frontline communities and the external stakeholders of policymakers, responders, and researchers who are making decisions that directly impact these communities.