First Person Arts, Inc

Hearing a true, heartfelt story about someone's life, loves and losses is one of the best ways we have of getting to know someone, of truly understanding them.

That is what we are trying to accomplish; to get a few more people to understand their neighbors, strangers and people they may have never considered meeting.

Stories like these:

Christian shared his dual struggles of being a black man in Philadelphia, and of being a transexual MC in
the Hip Hop world. Ducking as a child in the car at the Mcdonald's drive-thru, while his mom asked the server
for a happy meal with a boy's toy so she would not be embarrassed for the child who presented as a girl at
that time. Christian first passed as a male when he found himself on the ground in South Philly under the
knee of a police officer for that old Philly tradition of jaywalking.

Or after a screening of our film Trigger, about the gun violence epidemic, and the mental health needs it generates, after a vigorous talkback session from an eloquent panel a man in the audience requests the microphone. He takes a silent moment to gather his thoughts, they seem many. He haltingly says "I've been shot before". Silence. "I;ve been to jail". More quiet. The audience is quiet too, respectful. A social worker sits beside him in the aisle and silently rests a hand on his shoulder; an audience member says "take your time, it's alright" He repeats himself, adding "I've found god". He says "I'm a living example of choosing another way". Behind the silence we feel the weight of the film, the pressing burden of trauma. After the wrap up he seeks help in the support room, and is connected with behavioural health resources.

Finally, Queuing in the supermarket to use food stamps for the first time, Kate held her infant child in her arms and the welfare card in the other. A man behind her in the queue saw the card and said with venom, “You’re welcome!” and “How many children is that?”
Kate never used food stamps again; she felt ashamed. She cried in her car behind the supermarket and ran through everything she wanted to go back and say to the man. To show him her scars from the domestic abuse she had suffered, to tell him how she and her only child were starting from scratch.

Kate had to work hard to share her story publicly. During 6 months of sessions with FPA, she built skill and confidence to tell her story with power. We ran the sessions with Women’s Way, a gender equity nonprofit in Philadelphia. We gave 7 other women the skills to be advocates to policymakers, journalists and other communities.

We are working with over 30 partners to find, showcase and share the best stories we can find about pressing social issues.