MUSKEGON COUNTY, Mich. — The "Humans of Muskegon" project has returned to Muskegon County and features 15 stories of peoples' lives, shining a light on "lesser told stories" from the county.
The project turns these peoples' stories into books in the form of videos available online.
"It shares stories in a way that addresses prejudice or stigma and humanizes labels we put on each other and the world," said Sarah Rinsema-Sybenga, program director for MADL. "And gets people to understand from a human perspective what those prejudices are."
The "books" include titles such as "Being Jewish in Muskegon" and "Life Post-Incarceration."
The idea is to teach people to not judge a book by its cover.
"This project really reminds us they’re not alone," said Rinsema-Sybenga. "You know what, neither are we, and it gets us closer to where we want to be in the world."
Tonette Brown Garner is one of the "books." Her story is titled, "Staying Sane While Living Black."
"I love books and now being a book is amazing," said Brown Garner. "Telling a little of my story, and more importantly the story of my mother and some of my ancestors, and some of the things we lived through."
In addition to the videos, there are two live "human library" events where readers are able to "check out" the human books for 15 to 20 minute conversations.
Those events are on Saturday, Feb. 17 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Egelston Branch of Muskegon Area District Library (MADL) and on Wednesday, April 3 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Muskegon Community College Gerber Lounge.
RELATED VIDEO: Events coming to Hackley Public Library for Black History Month
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