At the second annual Story Slam, participants will share a story that revolves around the theme of justice.

The event will be held in the snyamncut Great Room Lounge from 3 to 5 p.m. on April 17 and participants will have a chance to win an EWU bookstore gift card.

Stories will include negative experiences and social injustices that participants have faced and positive experiences to promote social justice initiatives.

“We want to hear communities and hear what justice means to them,” Multicultural Center student program coordinator Nancy Vargas said.

The purpose of a story slam is to provide a space for individuals to tell their story revolving around a theme to bring awareness and connect communities of color and marginalized communities according to Vargas.

Vargas said that as an organization, the Multicultural Center wanted to ensure that it’s meeting its core values of promoting social justice and inclusivity which led to choosing the theme of justice for this year’s story slam.

EWU junior Sonya Nunez is one of the participants for the story slam. She told The Easterner she doesn’t know what her story is going to be yet.

Nunez decided to participate in the story slam because she likes to stay up to date with the events that are planned at the Multicultural Center and Vargas was the one that encouraged Nunez to participate.

Another participant is EWU junior Bianca Mejia who participated in last year’s story slam and said that she had a great experience.

“Everybody who was there was welcoming, the audience was engaging during my story,” Mejia said. “Everybody, including each student who participated, was accepting of the stories being told.”

Mejia said that she doesn’t know exactly what story she will be presenting but the content will include her family, because she is grateful for her family and what they have done for her.

Participating in the story slam means a lot to Mejia because it provides a safe space and an opportunity for her to share her story and gain some confidence by coming out of her shell.

Vargas hopes students and members attending will perceive the event as a learning opportunity to gain an understanding and awareness that each person has their own story and experience revolving around the theme of justice.

On the participant side, Vargas hopes that participants gain the feeling of being heard and bringing awareness to the issues that they’re experiencing.

“I think often times, our daily lives, we tend to feel like we are not being heard or like our issues are being brushed under the rug,” Vargas said. “So this is just an opportunity for the community who decides to share to kind of have platform to share on and make sure that different people from administration, the EWU community, students and everywhere, that awareness is brought to the issues that students decide to present.”