The story telling tradition is firmly rooted in Southern culture in both the African American and white Appalachian communities. Building on this tradition, the SRDI Parables to Policy project is a new way to prominently position the voices of rural people in the policy deliberations that influence their lives.
Parables are stories with a message.
Policy parables are community stories that ring true for a large number of similar communities. The policy parables are the fruits of a collaboration between SRDI and partnering community-based organizations across the rural South. We believe these parables serve three functions. First, they are a declaration of self-discovery on the part of the community. Secondly, the parables can stimulate peer learning and discovery by others across the South.