COMM 200: Critical Thinking and Speaking

Most people immediately recognize Martin Luther King, Jr. -- in this photo, he delivers his "I Have a Dream" speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963. Fewer of us are taught about the man standing behind him (in glasses): Bayard Rustin. Rustin's story has gradually been brought more into public consciousness over the past few decades.

This research guide uses examples of narratives by and about Rustin to show the process of finding sources for your projects.

Photo from the March on Washington for Jobs & Freedom, August 28, 1963. Copyright Robert Adelman Estate. Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.

• Social institutions develop over time in human societies. They organize and shape individual and group behavior by establishing rules and norms. They range from simple and small-scale to large, complex, and formal. Some examples include:
  • Government, legal system/laws
  • Educational and cultural institutions (schools, colleges, universities, libraries/archives, museums)
  • Healthcare institutions
  • Religious organizations
  • Financial systems and money
  • Families
  • Social conventions (spoken or unspoken)
• Institutional structures are often built on hierarchies, where a small group of people at the top have power over much larger groups of people in the middle and at the bottom. This allows certain groups of people or certain identities to assume a dominant (privileged) position over other groups and identities, and this dominance is maintained and continued at institutional and cultural levels.

Source, licensed CC BY 4.0

• Oppression = power + prejudice. It is more than the prejudicial thoughts and actions of individuals -- it's institutionalized power that is historically formed and perpetuated over time. It is built into institutions and maintained through unspoken norms and explicit laws (for example, marriage, property ownership, and raising/adopting children).
• Institutions use narratives as a tool for maintaining power. Dominant stories and narratives shape people's perceptions of who they are, what they experience, and what they can and can't do.
• Individuals and non-dominant groups have their own stories, counterstories, and narratives, which dominant institutions and narratives might suppress.
• It can take a long time to change institutions and systems, but it is possible! Uncovering and uplifting suppressed narratives is part of this process.

Some content adapted from Anti-Oppression LibGuide, Simmons University, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. 

Human beings tell stories (or narratives) to share information and make sense of our lives. We often preserve and convey stories through media and other forms of communication, like books, journals, films, news, speeches, social media content, art, and written documents. Every source is shaped by its subject, its creators, and the broader contexts in which it's created and interpreted. Every source and story carries different values, perspectives, and goals.

When thinking critically about sources, we can ask ourselves questions like:

• Who created this source and why? What was their perspective on the subject?
• Who (or what) is the subject of the source, and how were they perceived in their time? Were they allowed to participate in the creation of the source?
• How does the format or medium of the source influence the story it tells? For instance, how is the story in a book different from the same story told in a documentary?
• Who "owns" this source now? Where do you go to find it? How easily can different people access it? Do they have to pay money?
• How do our personal experiences and preexisting knowledge shape how we interpret this source?
• Has there been a societal shift in how we talk about the issues in this source since it was first created?