Capturing the Present for the Future
There was a skillshare on Information Handling held just a few minutes ago, with DS leading and me assisting. The main idea for the session was to discuss how the participants are gathering data / information on various issues, mostly related to human rights abuse and the freedom movement.
I'm really grateful that the participants engaged the discussion, sharing with us how information flows from within to outside their borders. From accounts from grieving mothers to internationl human rights databases. But beyond the information flows and cycles, beyond the technologies and strategies employed, what I think I'll remember most from the training will be when one of the participants said: "we're gathering information for the Transition".
Or in other words, for when they finally achieve freedom for their country.
There you go: the real point of all this in a nutshell. The heart of the matter. The raison d'etre.
Gave me goosebumps, to be honest.
Of course, my (possibly) ADHD-addled brain called up Ingrid de Kok's "The Transcriber Speaks" two seconds after the goosebump break-out. And now that I've had about three cigarettes after that session, I think I know why.
These particular lines (or my mental paraphrases of them) have been playing on replay in my head:
"But how to transcribe silence from tape?
Is weeping a pause or a word?
What written sign for a strangled throat?"
"And if the silence seemed to stretch....
Was it my job to conclude: "The witness was silent. There was nothing left to say"?"
These lines speak of things that we have no technology to fully capture as these activists are documenting the facts of human rights violation/s. A spanky, effective human rights database might be developed. Martus might be deployed to key organisations and activists. But how can bits and bytes fully capture what can't even be articulated? How can we even begin articulating the full extent of trauma?
I'm really grateful that the participants engaged the discussion, sharing with us how information flows from within to outside their borders. From accounts from grieving mothers to internationl human rights databases. But beyond the information flows and cycles, beyond the technologies and strategies employed, what I think I'll remember most from the training will be when one of the participants said: "we're gathering information for the Transition".
Or in other words, for when they finally achieve freedom for their country.
There you go: the real point of all this in a nutshell. The heart of the matter. The raison d'etre.
Gave me goosebumps, to be honest.
Of course, my (possibly) ADHD-addled brain called up Ingrid de Kok's "The Transcriber Speaks" two seconds after the goosebump break-out. And now that I've had about three cigarettes after that session, I think I know why.
These particular lines (or my mental paraphrases of them) have been playing on replay in my head:
"But how to transcribe silence from tape?
Is weeping a pause or a word?
What written sign for a strangled throat?"
"And if the silence seemed to stretch....
Was it my job to conclude: "The witness was silent. There was nothing left to say"?"
These lines speak of things that we have no technology to fully capture as these activists are documenting the facts of human rights violation/s. A spanky, effective human rights database might be developed. Martus might be deployed to key organisations and activists. But how can bits and bytes fully capture what can't even be articulated? How can we even begin articulating the full extent of trauma?