ABSTRACT
The chapter deals with the establishment of the “I am Denver” participatory storytelling project in Denver, launched in 2018 in order to change the mainstream media narrative about gentrification which is not representative of the diversity of local cultures and communities. The “I am Denver” storytelling project tackles this issue by producing and editing two main types of content: documentaries about the history and culture of local minority communities (especially Native, Black, and Latinx communities, but also LGBTQIA+ communities), and short stories relating to inhabitants’ daily lives told at “storytelling labs.” The stories are videoed and shared on social media platforms. Drawing on a socio-semiotic and discourse analysis of this media project (its design, its content), I examine the objectives and the potential effects of this one-of-a-kind approach.
