Oakland woman teaches people to share stories through sewing

An Oakland woman teaches people how to stitch together their own stories of activism and belonging.

Sara Trail learned how to sew when she was four years old, and today, she teaches sewing as art and activism.

"Sewing can give a voice to those who are not typically heard," said Trail.

In 2012, she got some pushback when she made a quilt to remember Trayvon Martin, the African American teenager whose killing sparked the Black Lives Matter movement.

"That kind of made me pause, reflect, and say, 'Well if the quilting world didn't want to celebrate something that mattered to me, I can take quilting and bring it to spaces that do want to celebrate diversity and equity and social justice,'" Trail explained.

So she started the nonprofit, Social Justice Sewing Academy to empower people through quilting. Trail showed CBS News Bay Area an example, a quilt made recently by Richmond High School students.

"I started creating more spaces where sewing could be free," she said. "So we all made quilts about issues that mattered to us."

Issues from discrimination to gentrification.

Trail takes the free workshops to about 500 people a year, mostly on campuses, community centers, and jails in the Bay Area and across the nation. Participants design their own block of the quilt, then they're all stitched together.

"I'm facilitating a space where all voices can be heard," she said.

Sewing instructor Brittani Kaigler finds her an inspiration.

"We're able to create art, use our voices to promote the things that we see are going wrong in the community," Kaigler said.

Trail added a new program last year: The Social Connection, an inclusive hub for neurodivergent participants who have felt excluded and isolated from many community activities.

Dozens of people come from all over the East Bay each day to its center in Lafayette to build leadership, life, and employment skills.

"It's really just a fun space for anyone 18 and up to make friends, learn skills and most importantly, have fun," Trail said.

From cooking classes to job readiness, participants gain self-confidence and independence.

Michael Davis said, "I enjoy making new things."

Emilio Pedro added, "I learn about everything. It makes me feel happy."

The Social Connection members also take trips outside the classroom. For example, they've traveled together to Lake Tahoe, and Trail and her team are helping them plan a summer cruise to Mexico.

Tekeya Ford, who directs The Social Connection Day Program, credits Trail's leadership.

"She's a great person, a genuine person with a big heart, always looking to help others and seeing where she can help them with anything they need," Ford said.

For providing a space for activism and community through the Social Justice Sewing Academy and The Social Connection, this week's CBS News Bay Area Icon Award goes to Sara Trail.