The idea of 'Voice of Witness' is to let survivors and witnesses of human-rights abuses tell their story at length. It started with a course that I co-taught at U.C. Berkeley journalism school back in 2003.
Dave EggersI had grown up as a fan of Studs Terkel. In Chicago he sort of looms large and is mentioned often.
Dave EggersSuffering is only suffering if itโs done in silence, in solitude. Pain experienced in public, in view of loving millions, was no longer pain. It was communion.
Dave EggersLive long enough and you'll disappoint everyone. People think you're able to help them and usually you can't. And so it becomes a process of choosing the one or two people you try hardest not to disappoint. The person in my life I am determined not to disappoint is you.
Dave EggersMost people would trade everything they know, everyone they know- they'd trade it all to know they've been seen, and acknowledged, that they might even be remembered. We all know we die. We all know the world is too big for us to be significant. So all we have is the hope of being seen, or heard, even for a moment.
Dave Eggers