Paula Lovo, “Storytelling in the Voices of Gun Violence Project”
Mentor: Portia Cobb, Film, Video, Animation, & New Genres

Through the lens of social awareness, attention is brought to the complex and unheard narratives of the survivors of gun violence and their relationship to the greater city of Milwaukee. In this interdisciplinary collaboration, we use storytelling  to recover memories and experiences that have been overshadowed in the epidemic that is gun violence. Stories are gathered in three components: retelling, reviewing, and formation. As an audio editor, my process is to carefully review  transcriptions, select important moments from audio testimonials and edit hour long recordings to create concise excerpts rarely exceeding five minutes, that is added to the VCV archive website. Through my involvement with the community and the VCV creative team, this project has expanded to include  the voices of youth. As a  liaison  between  Milwaukee youth and the VGV team,   and I am working to facilitate select young storytellers as panelists  for a public engagement component of this research.  It is important to note these stories are deeply personal and must be conscientiously reviewed to meet the approval of the survivors,  the university and the VCV team. In reviewing these narratives,  I see a commonality between the excerpts leading to a call to action where community members demand change. Their stories hold much value because they reveal  the tragedies of gun violence from a different perspective. Awareness has fallen short in the media where official narratives omit the human connection and loss from the community.  Though the study has not concluded, there is a great awareness that active change must occur based on connections between the gathered testimonies. This study only shares the expansive stories that have and are left to be archived as a remembrance to  honor the lost lives of those who have died at the hands of gun violence.