Poverty Porn & Lions Who Can't Write

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The number one tool the visionary uses to stop chasing and start attracting resources is storytelling.

Storytelling is the one tool that will catapult your fundraising to wonderful new levels.   As visionaries harnessing the ancient power of stories, we amplify the voices of the voiceless.

Shining a light on someone’s story, we can:

• Help address inequitable systems

• Change mainstream narratives

• Give opportunities to understand other people’s lived experience.  

  
  

What can go wrong?   An old African proverb says it so well:   Until the lion learns how to write, the tale will always glorify the hunter.  

The proverb conveys a powerful message about the importance of perspective and who gets to tell a story or shape a narrative.   Unfortunately, when we tell stories that portray our beneficiaries as helpless victims in need of saving, we are not amplifying their voices.  

In this proverb, “the lion” speaks of those who may need our help. The “hunter” symbolizes those in charge of his story. The proverb suggests that the stories, histories, and narratives we hear or read are often told from a perspective that doesn’t honor the lion.  

As a result, these stories tend to paint a positive or heroic picture of the storyteller and their organization that may harm the people they are trying to help.   We hurt our beneficiaries:

• When we depict them as helpless victims who need saving.

• When we tell stories that are inaccurate or one-dimensional.

• When we perpetuate stereotypes.

• When we don’t consider their well-being more than the story.

• When we use their identities without checking beforehand to see if it is safe for them.

• When we portray them as passive recipients of aid.

• When we don’t give them credit for their own agency or dignity.

"Poverty porn" is a term often used to describe the exploitation of impoverished communities for emotional reactions. It typically involves the portrayal of people living in difficult or desperate circumstances, focusing on their suffering, and reducing their complex lives to one-dimensional, pitiable narratives.  

A real answer to poverty porn is to allow people the opportunity to participate in the writing of their story. When we give people the chance to participate in the sharing of their experiences and shape the narrative, a more balanced perspective emerges.   As the storyteller, go the extra mile in involving your beneficiary in their story.  

Arturo Rago at Canva offers five principles for ethical storytelling:  

1. Remember, it’s not your story

The person to whom the story belongs should approve of and be happy for how they will be represented.

• Are they okay to be photographed?

  • Can they choose what to wear? The location?

  • Are they involved in the selection of images? Captions? Quotes?

• Do they get to decide what to say?

• What say do they have in the overall tone of the story?

2. Do no harm

The well-being of the contributors and their community is of primary importance. Will the telling of this person’s story hurt them if widely distributed?  

3. People are multidimensional

Yes, they are facing hardships, but what are their interests? Personality? What is their agency in their situation? How have they already began to overcome? To what extent are you casting them as helpless victims?  

4. Consent is more than paperwork. As the storyteller, you are responsible to make sure all the people involved understand the implications of their participation. Do they have the capacity to understand the implications of their story being widely disseminated on the internet? As their story changes positively in the future, will their past story hurt them?  

5. Do your research. Be able to share their story without oversimplifying it or sensationalizing it.   I encourage you to watch Arturo’s presentation by clicking here.  

As a visionary storyteller, be aware of lions who can’t write and poverty porn.  

David   Keep being visionary!  

P.S. You can get my new book Visionary Fundraising at Amazon for $19.99. CLICK HERE. If you are a digital reader, you can get the digital version plus extra bonuses by getting it from me. CLICK HERE FOR DIGITAL VERSION AND BONUSES.