Djed

Growing up in rural upstate New York I knew what it meant (and felt like) to live “in a community.” Families, friends, and neighbors spiritually, emotionally, financially, and socially supported one another. Churches and schools were central to community life: they were where we met, played, and prayed. In the schools, but in the Church especially, the spoken word was central. Pastors and preachers, choirs and quartets shared emotionally charged, colorfully painted narratives that taught morals and the expected ways of behavior ....

In the intervening years I have been blessed to evolve my love of the oral arts and performance into writing and sharing poetry, lectures, workshops, reenactments, and storytelling. My membership in the Blackstorytelling League of Rochester, New York, Inc. (since the early 1990s) has given me the opportunity to learn and practice the art of storytelling “in the tradition” ie in the way of the djeli (African oral historian). The practice of “edu-tainment” has become central to all of my storytelling presentations.

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Sharing stories that engage audiences physically and intellectually seems to leave a more lasting effect. In 2005, I wrote, illustrated, and published a children’s picture book titled, “Nasty Nathan, the no-good gnat who never listened to nobody!” This story was inspired by the Aesop fable of “The Lion and the Gnat” and told the story of a gnat who bothered members of his community before finally getting stuck on a spider’s web. Later this year the sequel to my first book titled “Nice Nathan, the good gnat who never bothered nobody no more!” will be published. In this book Nathan learns his lesson and makes amends for the errors of his ways.

My mission is to challenge children (and adults) of all ages to think about their behavior and to challenge them to become the positive difference in their communities. Without a conscious commitment to community, I am convinced, civilization cannot be sustained. Let us build: one story, one poem, one kind act at a time. Harambee!

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