The Boston Public Library hosted a Declaration Writing Workshop, encouraging participants to craft “declarations of self” informed by personal values, March 18 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the North End branch in collaboration with Revolutionary Spaces. Future workshops will be held March 24 at the West End branch, April 7 at Lower Mills and April 23 in Brighton.
The workshops are part of a larger effort to commemorate the 250th anniversary of this country’s founding, in this case with explicit reference to the Declaration of Independence. They were organized by Alea Stokes, Programs and Outreach Librarian with the Community History Department of the BPL, and Ed O’Connell, Civic Engagement Manager with Revolutionary Spaces, which oversees the Old State House and the Old South Meeting House.
Stokes emphasized that the declarations crafted in these workshops need not be seen as permanent statements but rather as a reflection of where a given participant currently is in how they think about themselves and what they believe in.
“I think it’s really tough to post on social media, because it feels like your word is going to be [there] forever,” Stokes said. “One of the things that I’ve been thinking about a lot with this program is really emphasizing to patrons, ‘This is really for yourself in the moment. You don’t have to feel this way for the rest of your life.’”
In the current era, the promotion of statements of values is often associated with social media posts, be they from individuals or the U.S. government. But the declarations written by participants in this workshop aren’t intended for social media. Many of them may not be shared at all according to Stokes.
“There’s — for me, at least — a great sense of thoughtfulness and care that I think people can take from a piece of writing that has been crafted and is not for social media consumption,” she said.
O’Connell also emphasized the need for writing for a narrower community than whoever might read a post online.
“These in-person writing workshops present an opportunity for people not only to put pen to paper and to express their values and to declare themselves, but also to do it directly in community with other folks, and not with that distance that social media interposes,” he said.
Any engagement with statements of values online — and certainly political statements — will involve facing a deluge of opinions and responses. According to Stokes, this can be overwhelming for some people. She emphasized how, hypothetically, declarations can serve as an anchor for people who feel simultaneously siloed and inundated with endless content on their feeds.
“It might inspire them to feel a little bit less powerless and more inspired to take action, whether that’s just reaching out to a friend or volunteering for something that’s important to them,” she said.
O’Connell and Stokes both characterize the workshops and Revolutionary Spaces’ collaboration with the BPL as part of a larger mission to educate the public not only about Revolution-era history, but its relevance to the modern day. Reference points for inspiration in the workshops include the Declaration of Independence and “I, Too” by Langston Hughes, a 1926 poem about Hughes’ relationship with American culture. Participants will then have the opportunity to submit their declarations for public display at the Old State House.
Though this is a way of sharing them, the upcoming exhibit is temporary and will not have the same visibility as a viral post online — which, according to Stokes, is probably for the best.
