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Friday, Feb. 7, marked the official day of StoryCorps being in Selma, after a month of hearing, recording and documenting the stories of those right here at home.

Story Corps’ is a national nonprofit catered to connecting people all across the country through a shared passion or connection for storytelling. In fact, it is an oral history organization that documents stories of the United States, telling the stories that are important to people while telling the “first-hand accounts” of what life is like in America, according to a previous statement to The Selma Times Journal by Ian Murakami, who is the site manager for the Story Corps’ tour.

During their time in Selma, the non-profit organization featured its latest and newest initiative called “Brightness in Black” that is geared towards stories within the Black community, addressing issues that may be underrepresented or maybe misrepresented in mainstream media while simultaneously providing depth and complexity to how the black narrative has been told.

However, during the StoryCorps listening event portion that was held last week, it catered to Selma and its residents where a multitude of people of all nationalities within the city took part of the initiative.

Last week, Murakami exclusively told STJ that his time in Selma was great despite his uncertainty in the beginning when he and his team were brand new to the city and wondered just how things would turn out with the recordings.

“I think when we came in, we really didn’t know how many people were going to engage with us,” Murakami said. But, I think because of the work that our team did, the marketing, word of mouth and getting the trust of the community, we finished really strong. So, I’m just grateful. I think Selma has really grown on us and We’re going to miss it now that we are in Huntsville and I think there’s a lot of getting used to here but we will always remember Selma.”

Murakami said there were three things he felt led to their pivotal success with the StoryCorps initiative In Selma, the first one was building the trust of the community.

“I think building the trust of the community in Selma was really important,” Murakami said. “I think maybe that was the first thing that made us very successful. I think we always knew that, in different stops, but I think especially in Selma, given how small it is and how far it is from other parts of Alabama, including being that the nearest city is an hour away, it was vital.”

Murakami also spoke on the second pivotal key that made them successful in Selma and that was how he learned that it was okay not to fill every slot.

“I think there is sometimes, some pressure when we come in where we want to make sure as many people can record as possible, but we had to understand that it’s okay if we don’t fill up everything. Selma is a small community and it was going to take some time for us to build up that trust. So, the fact that we weren’t maxing out every single day was okay, as long as we were spending our time intentionally.”

Speaking of spending time intentionally, Murakami also said during his time in Selma as the manager of the mobile tour working alongside the other members of the organization, each day they called people, emailed people, edited tape during their not so busy hours to prepare for the listening event and they also made room for community engagement as well.

“We were going to events within the community, trying as much as we can to use the spare time that we had from those appointments that weren’t getting filled and I think I also learned different ways to use the time that we had when we weren’t getting interviews. Sometimes building that trust and getting in the community is as important, if not more.”

The third thing Murakami said that led to the team’s pivotal success in Selma is that he also had to measure his own expectations of what the mobile organization could do in this community compared to other cities and at the end of the tour, he said that they had 67 recordings so far from the Selma Stop.

“Right now, we are at 67 recordings which is amazing,” Murakami said. “Considering the fact that I think in New Orleans, its 21 times larger than Selma and there we had 83 recordings and so the fact that we received this many was a huge deal.”

Murakami said without the hard work of the team and “being boots on the ground” within the community, he said he is not sure if they would have even hit 20 or 30 recordings, let alone 67.

“We called so many people and had so many face to face conversations and I just think that makes a difference.” Our Selma experience just reminds me of the power of on the ground outreach, personal relationship building including the power of building trust.”

Murakami said his biggest lesson of the whole Selma experience narrowed down to him using the time that he had intentionally and he said once they did that, that’s when the real opportunities of success started opening up.

“What would I tell people about Selma,” said Murakami. “I think this place grows on you over time. I think everybody knows everybody and it’s important to focus on those relationships and also take advantage of the willingness that people have to connect. In a bigger city, you are a lot more anonymous, people don’t usually tend to stop by, talk or chat or invite you to places. So, I’m like say yes to any opportunity that comes by because when we did, we got invited to dinner, a movie screening including invited to tour Gospel Tabernacle Church of God in Christ. When we just said yes to more things, that’s when the door started to open up.”

Murakami said he would tell people interested in Selma and what Selma has to offer as a community to say yes to whatever you can, to trust that relationships will build over time and he said if you come with the right intentions, like a willingness to hear people’s stories and listen, people will love to share their own experiences, even if it’s not in front of the mike.

“I just want to tell everyone in the Selma community, “Thank you” so much for your trust, for your willingness to share your perspectives and stories with us. It’s really left a lasting impact on each one of us, me, Amy, Joan and Sam. We are just grateful that we got the opportunity to tell your story. Like I told Faith in the beginning, we were in Selma for a reason and I think even we felt that. So, I’m just really grateful.”

The Selma StoryCorps’ team consisted of Ian Murkami, who is from Honolulu in Hawaii, Amy Nadel is from New Jersey, Joan Cordova Rodriguez is from Georgia and Sam Berkrot, and he is from Connecticut.

Those who are interested in hearing their recordings from the Selma Story Corps experience, can visit recordings@archive.storycorps.org within the next month and search Selma, Alabama and insert the dates of Jan. 9 through Feb. 7. Those approved for their recording to be possibly aired on Alabama Public Radio, can check the APR website for more.