In this episode, Helen Neville and B. Andi Lee speak with Dr. Matthew Miller about storytelling as liberation. Dr. Miller shares his personal journey and the origin story of the SPOKENproject, which promotes coping with, resisting, surviving, and healing from racism through storytelling. Listen in to explore the transformative power of storytelling—and get inspired to integrate it into your own life and work.

ABOUT THE GUEST

Matthew J. Miller (he/him) is a cisgender heterosexual Korean American male who has spent the latter half of his life trying to understand the many ways in which he has participated in and perpetuated white supremacy, anti-Blackness, racism, and interrelated systems of oppression including sexism, heterosexism, classism, ableism, and toxic masculinity. He is a Professor of Counseling Psychology at Loyola University Chicago where he directs the Race, Culture, and Health Equity Collective and is working to develop the unLEARNING podcast. He is also a filmmaker and the creator of SPOKEN project, a series of first-person narrative documentary style videos designed to help people cope with racism and also provide experiences of validation, support, and healing. He is currently working on a documentary film featuring the Psychology of Radical Healing Collective and another film about the educational legacy of Mamie Till-Mobley.

RESOURCES AND SELECT RESEARCH BY MATTHEW J. MILLER

SPOKENproject: https://www.youtube.com/c/SPOKENproject/featured

Keum, B. T., & Miller, M. J. (2017). Racism in the digital era: Development and initial validation of the Perceived Online Racism Scale (PORS v1.0). Journal of Counseling Psychology, 64(3), 310-324. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000200

Keum, B. T., & Miller, M. J. (2020). Social justice interdependence among students in counseling psychology training programs: Group actor-partner interdependence model of social justice attitudes, training program norms, advocacy intentions, and peer relationships. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 67(2), 141-153. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000394

Keum, B. T., & Miller, M. J. (2018). Racism on the Internet: Conceptualization and recommendations for research. Psychology of Violence, 8(6), 782-789. https://doi.org/10.1037/vio0000233

Miller, M. J., Keum, B. T., Thai, C. J., Lu, Y., Truong, N. N., Huh, G. A., ... & Ahn, L. H. (2018). Practice recommendations for addressing racism: A content analysis of the counseling psychology literature. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 65(6), 669-684. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000301

Miller, M. J., Jungeun Kim, Grace A. Chen, & Alvin N. Alvarez. (2012). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of the Asian American Racism-Related Stress Inventory. Assessment, 19(1), 53-64. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191112456407

Pieterse, A. L., Lewis, J. A., & Miller, M. J. (2023). Dismantling and eradicating anti-Blackness and systemic racism. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 70(3), 235-249. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000799

SELECTED RESOURCES ON STORYTELLING AS LIBERATION

Bell, L. A. (2020). Storytelling for social justice: Connecting narrative and the arts in antiracist teaching. Routledge.

Dutta, U. (2023). Reimagining the politics of belonging through counterstorytelling: A decolonial praxis of refusal and desire. Qualitative Inquiry, 29(5), 539-550. https://doi.org/10.1177/10778004221118690

Fernández, J. S. (2022). A Mujerista Liberation Psychology perspective on testimonio to cultivate decolonial healing. Women & Therapy, 45(2-3), 131-156.

Hayvon, J. C. (2024). Assessing inequalities in storytelling & narrative media: Conceptualizing a Freirean methodology. Critical Studies in Media Communication, 41(5), 476-489.

OrigiNatives Storytelling Project. (n.d.). https://www.jillianfish.com/originatives

Solnit, R. (2020). Storytelling and the work of justice: What do they have to do with each other? Greenpeace. https://storytelling.greenpeace.org/story/1699/storytelling-and-the-work-of-justice-what-do-they-have-to-do-with-each-other

Storytelling and Social Change: A Strategy Guide. (n.d.). Narrative Arts. https://narrativearts.org/story-guide/

Toliver, S. R. (2021). Recovering Black storytelling in qualitative research: Endarkened storywork. Routledge.

Voice of Witness. (2020). Say it forward: A guide to social justice storytelling. Voice of Witness. https://voiceofwitness.org/books/say-it-forward/

 

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EPISODE CREDITS 

Music: Amir Maghsoodi and Briana Williams  

Podcast Artwork: B. Andi Lee & Amir Maghsoodi 

Episode Intro: Helen Neville 

Episode Outro: Helen Neville

Episode Editing: Helen Neville 

Episode Transcript: bit.ly/LibNowEp16