To the editor:

The Barrington Town Council recently approved a proposal submitted by Councilor Kate Weymouth to establish a Listening Project. This project would invite residents of Barrington to privately share an experience of feeling “othered” by either town institutions or by other residents in town. Othering is a term increasingly being used in anti-racism and anti-oppression work. It is defined as viewing and treating a person or group of people as intrinsically different from and alien to oneself; it engenders marginality and supports ongoing inequality.

Volunteer participants would meet with a trained facilitator to briefly describe their experience. The volunteer facilitators would not have ties to Barrington and would be recruited from the fields of social work and public health. Minors could not participate without parental consent, and the identity of all participants would be protected.

The conversation between the participant and the facilitator would be recorded, transcribed, and then re-recorded by a third party in order to preserve anonymity. The re-recordings would be archived on a town website and available to the public. Houses of worship, civic groups, municipal departments, as well as individuals, could listen to the recordings and begin to have conversations about racism and other forms of discrimination in Barrington.

Councilor Weymouth designed the project with Maria Suarez, a town resident. They would serve as administrators of the project and would not be involved with the volunteer participants. Councilor Weymouth has extensive experience in envisioning and implementing projects in town. Ms. Suarez is the associate dean of graduate student support at Brown University, where she previously served as associate director of psychological services. She also served as assistant director of the crime victims counseling unit at the Kings County Supreme Court in New York.

It is true that there has been opposition to the project. I, however, support it. Another town resident, a woman of color told me, “I think it [the Listening Project] is a great idea. A lot of minorities are uncomfortable to speak about things that have happened in this town because they have to continue to live here. Protecting their identity would encourage more people to share their stories and the hurt they have been living with.”

I believe that personal stories are not only primary historical sources that document lives and events; more important, they can change hearts and minds. Stories are powerful instruments that can inform policy, effect changes that lead to a more just and equitable community, and, hopefully, heal us.

Trinki Brueckner

4 Ellis St.