In Black America; The Association of Black Storytellers

. I'm John Hanson. Join me this week on in Black America. We focus on the association of Black storytellers. Most storytellers, whether they've been telling them all of their lives, or whether they just decide once they know about the association, gee, I'd like to become a formal storyteller. Miss Marion Barnes of the Association of Black Storytellers this week on in Black America. This is In Black America. Reflections of the Black Experience in American Society.

But encourage our listeners to support the association of Black storytellers as a means of supporting the Black oral tradition, which we want to see increase and not die. It is increasing. The association has been beneficial in doing that. But you who are listening to me can help us to do a better job of that by supporting the institution, by participating in the activities. And you do that by getting in touch with the Association of Black Storytellers. Miss Marion Barnes, a Ministry of Assistant for the Association of Black Storytellers. Founded in November of 1981 by famed storytellers, Mary Carter Smith, Baltimore, and Linda

Goss of Philadelphia. The Association of Black Storytellers is a national organization committed to perpetuating the art of storytelling and to keep the African oral tradition alive. I'm John Hanson, and this week our focus is on the Association of Black Storytellers with Marion E. Barnes in Black America. Most storytellers, whether they've been telling them all of their lives or whether they just decide once they know about the Association and gee, I'd like to become a formal storyteller. When I've talked to them without exception, they have been people who had stories told to them as a part of their growing up years. They also were continuing to either tell stories or hear stories in the family setting, which is why I said the oral tradition among African-blooded people in America has never died. We've kept it up. It's been even almost formal in the pulpit because almost invariably an African American preacher is a storyteller and an excellent one. But also outside of that setting, the

family, the mother-tell stories, the father-tell stories, and we tell stories to one another so that when even new storytellers come or would-be storytellers come, they have a history of storytelling in the family. In a second year of existence, the Association of Black Storytellers as a national organization have spearheaded a fascinating society of storytellers. Around the world, all very much like each other in carrying on the traditional African storytelling, but each unique and very different from all others in the methods and stories used. The objectives of the Association are to train and develop the skills of people interested in the art of storytelling, be a unifying force in the field of black storytelling, establish and maintain a network of individuals and groups to keep the African oral tradition alive, establish a storytelling information and resource center, and organize and conduct workshops, conferences, and national festivals. I recently spoke with Mary Ann E. Barnes, a Ministry of Assistant for the Association

of Black Storytellers. In the organization, actually, is international. We had people who attended from the islands, nearby islands, Caribbean islands. We had people from Canada. We had people from Africa. And we're looking forward to people from countries all over the world, eventually. And telling these stories, and you refer to it in your last answer, black history, both African and American history, but is there also inclusion of a family history, particularly your family, when you started telling stories, was there a history of your family or just a general history or a total history of black Americans and Africa and Africans? Unknown, as you can see by this information, I gave you as the heritage storyteller. And that's because I am dedicated to the preservation of the culture of the African, the African and the African in America. I do that at every

given opportunity. When I first became a professional storyteller, I would sometimes get a request for stories that I had not really included in my repertoire. I can remember being asked to tell by youngsters who always asked this, tell me a ghost story. I didn't know a ghost story. So I had to end up telling them a ghost story, which was a true incident that actually happened to me. And when we talked at the festival in Philadelphia, to an audience that was there to hear stories about family heritage, I told stories from my family heritage that go back into the area of captivity of the African in this country. And those stories have been passed down in my family. And I can share them with audiences. They learn because it's just a capsule of similar kinds of situations that obviously spread out through the whole

slave society. So yes, to answer your question in a word, yes, I do tell stories from my family. I also tell stories from the history of the African in this country. How does one become a storyteller? Well, in many ways, most of the storytellers that I know who are black storytellers became storytellers through first listening. In my own case, I went to small church where we entertained one another. And the adults would tell stories. That's where I met the black poets. That's where I heard stories and learned them just from hearing them so often. And eventually in school, when the teacher didn't know what to do with the youngsters, they were really acting out. I would tell them stories. That got to be my job. I was first the official storyteller for the classroom. This was maybe fourth, fifth grade, and so on. And it branched out from there into telling stories more formally.

Because the organization more or less made up of persons who experienced storytelling at a younger age or remember their parents and grandparents, uncles and aunt telling them stories and being fascinated more so than newcomers liking the particular style of a particular storyteller. Well, here again, because the oral tradition remains within our African community in America. Our black storytellers being accepted in our literary societies. And I would assume that storytelling would have some relationship with literature. Well, when you say literary societies, what kinds of societies are there? Well, formal literary societies are literary councils, organizations recognizing black storytellers. Okay, probably the president of our association in the Goss or the chairman of the board who

is Mary Carter Smith could answer that question better than not because they would be the ones that were readily having interactions at that level. I can tell you that these ladies are sought nationally and even internationally by the storytelling community that is aware that they are involved with storytelling. There are white storytelling societies that of course really are anxious to have the participation of the black storytellers. However, their forums are sometimes not able to serve the needs of the black storyteller. And so that's where the association of black storytellers comes in. You're here in Austin, Texas, the reason being you're traveling around the country trying to promote the national. Well, yes and no. Actually, what we as black stories are doing at this point, we really want to

contact black storytellers wherever they are and ask them to get in touch with us so that we can know where you are. The agency also acts as an agency. Sometimes people will call and say, I would like to have a black storyteller who is near me or whom can you send to me. Excuse me. I am nursing the world's worst cold. And so because we do exist and if you are a storyteller listening to me and are not on our roles, then we need to know where you are. So we could say, I'm dressed in a number they could call. Yes, they should write and I'll give this out again because they may not have had paper in pencil to the association of black storytellers, which is located in Philadelphia. The headquarters is in Philadelphia. So you would say ABS post office box 27456 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19118. So that's association of black storytellers post office box 27456 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19118. And if you

send your correspondence to there, it doesn't have to be addressed to my name. My name is Marion Barnes, but it will get to us anyway so that we can give you the information on how you can become listed in our directory that we're putting together. And this first directory that's coming out is also going to be an anthology, which allows storytellers, many of whom write their own work to become published authors. In this particular one, we're asking for a short story, something say about 160 words or less. And then the way we do that and you have a page in front of you is to give the storyteller in the directory a double spread. It will have the storytellers picture and under that picture information about the type storyteller. This is where that person can be located and what your fees are or if you want to eliminate that, you can't just whatever you want to do to describe your storytelling.

And then if facing that particular page with your picture and your description, there is a page where you can include a short story. I have elected at least so far not to do an original story just because I was a bit lazy and I was getting the book together. So I've got a fable from India, which is a favorite story just because it depicts life so accurately, especially life in a minority situation. So I used the Blue Jackal and Linda has similarly used a fable from Africa, but you can also use your own original story and become a published author because the book is going to be copyrighted as an anthology. So storytellers who write to us and want to participate can participate in that way or they can participate just by sending in a paragraph by themselves and we will have paragraphical listings of storytellers in the back of the book. The book is also going to be a resource for other books that storytellers can use or need to know about where we'll have a bibliography and we look forward to having

a resource section where people who service storytellers can let your services be described. These include zoos, I've contacted the zoo at Philadelphia and I would like to hear from zoos all over this world really because we have to study animals. I do a story called the Blue Jackal which I just mentioned and in that I like to howl like a jackal. Well I don't know how a jackal house. So I had to go to the Philadelphia zoo and find out. Now with this cold my house sounds more like a rooster but I know how a jackal house. So this is how a zoo services but we have museums that service and we have bookstores and there are many people that can respond to this appeal as a service producer for storytellers. So the book will showcase producers of services, books that service, storytellers who are active and you know as well as everything that relates to them where they can be found and so on. When you research a particular issue or topic

what catches your eye in a particular story either the stories that you use from other authors and stories that you make up yourself. Is that a special ingredient you look for? Yes for me what did I tell you? I'm the heritage storyteller and I'm that for a reason. I'm looking for things that relate to me and that relate to my people. Now this story the Blue Jackal is actually the story of a jackal in India. How does that relate? What appeal to me about that story? Basically the story deals with a jackal who fell into a vat of dye and found himself completely blue. When he was able to get away he decided that he would become the king of the forest and he called all the other jackals together and told them that the goddess of the forest had anointed him sovereign and look at his blue color which proved that. The other jackals believed him and accepted him as their king

and he used that acceptance to extend his rule over weaker animals in the forest and then eventually over stronger animals in the forest and he was really the king of the entire forest of both strong and weak animals. He then decided that he was not a jackal. He became ashamed of being a jackal and he took all of the jackals out of high office and replaced them with higher animals like lions and cheetahs and tigers and he told these that I'm not really a jackal. He said, I am a sovereign animal sacred appointed by the goddess and they accepted him and the normal jackals were resentful. Who is this guy? We've made him king and all of a sudden now he's he's put us out of office and said that he's not a jackal and put us down. What can we do about this? And when old old jackals sit all right don't worry about it. I will show you how to expose this jackal. We can expose him because he's accepted by the lions and others just because they believe he

is a sovereign appointee because of his blue color. But any fool who deserts his own kind in order to be accepted by strangers will in the end be killed by the strangers. That's what the old jackal says. Then he gets all these other jackals to come and surround the kingly layer at night. And when there are hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of jackals outside that layer they begin to howl. Now inside the king who is a blue jackal was surrounded by all of his lions and cheetahs who don't believe he's a jackal. Begins to be really troubled and frightened because that howling out there is appealing to him and he's struggling to keep from howling also and exposing himself as a mere jackal. And he eventually asked these cheetahs and so forth to get rid of them outside but they don't do that. They want to see what's going to happen. And what happens is that in spite of himself after these jackals outside continue to howl he begins to howl and his companions

recognize him for what he was, a jackal who had been painted blue and set himself over them as their king. And they fall upon him and tear him limb from limb and they eat all the flesh from his bones. And all that's left of him is a pile of a scattered pile of bloody bones. And then the night is filled with the sound of this last jackal who finally leaves the grizzly scene. And that's where I told you I'd make that howl for you now. But I think I'd sound more like a rooster than a jackal. Now can you tell me why I would like that story if I'm the heritage storyteller for the African American people in this country? It's quite obvious. We see this every day of our lives. Do we not? So all right, this is what I look for in a story. I look for anything that relates to me as an individual in the black experience here in this country or that relates to us as a total community. I'm also, I could have called myself the teaching storyteller, but the climate is such that that

would have turned many people off. Nobody wants to learn anything. It's something for entertainment or whatever. I try to teach as I tell stories. And this is a part of our tradition. Most African American storytellers are also teachers. And they're using storytelling as a form of teaching which came from us on the ships that left Africa. This is a part of our culture to teach through telling stories. And it works splendidly. I can't tell you how well it works. Over the years, black Americans have become sophisticated and a good number of them are trying to shed the African connection, if you please. Are young blacks realizing the importance of being a storyteller, of having your tradition continue in the centuries to come? I would answer that by saying a few. But I think that young, the young African American in this country

is a victim of mass media images that portray the African American... If we got it, if you are on TV, it will be cool. It will be something that they may look for to do right. If black storytellers had a half hour every week. Perhaps, yes. But I think our youngsters see themselves in images that have been given to them by mass media and these images were created by people who really don't understand the black experience. I met a youngster and I work as a counselor in the schools very often really being abusive when African American male to an African American female. And he was being tremendously abusive to this young girl and I stopped him and her. And I said, I don't like to see that. I said, you are the man in her life and you should be a person to whom she can look for protection. He said, well, that's my sister. As if that made it

all right. Now, I understood immediately that he had been watching J.J. and Thelma on television and he understood that this is the way one treats one sister if one is a black man. And this is the problem that we face today in this country. Our images are being projected in negative ways and our young people and old people are accepting them. I think that we always have some who eventually learned more at age 50 that I should have learned at age five than most people are fortunate enough to do. And so that's always going to be but we as a community need to step in and do our teaching and we need to have access to microphones and to televisions and we need to take control of the images that we are giving our young people. You mentioned the National Festival. Are the any festivals coming up here in 1986? 1986 the festival is scheduled to be in Chicago. There are no at this time no specifics beyond that unfortunately. I do wish that we had them

but we've already planned festivals and subsequent years for 87 Kentucky and for the year after that in Trinidad. If you're not a storyteller how can you become involved with the organization? All right you can become involved in the organization and we have a beautiful person who comes to mine as an example of that. She's a sorrow of mine. I belong to Zeta Phi Beta sorority. And one of my sorrows is not a storyteller does not want to become a storyteller but soror opponents that's her name and I'd love to give her credit for it. Works along with us as a contact for media people. She is the goat between. She's the person who helps us to put out mailings when we have to mail things all over the country and they're just a million in one ways where she functions and then she likes to be in the community of storytelling when this is going on. So this is an example of how somebody who does not want to be a storyteller

but still enjoys storytelling can function. There are other people who just say I want to support the black oral tradition. I don't want to see it die. I want to help to keep it alive. Here is my membership and they write in and support it that way and that's a much needed support. Your financial support and for that we also keep these people informed of what's happening. There's a newsletter that we mail out to them. There are workshops that we give storytelling is a profession like any other. If you would be good at it you must study. You must keep a breast of trends and so we make this possible for storytellers and we'll be doing more of it as we grow stronger and larger. Speaking of trends a lot of stories have gotten out about blacks being shiftless and lazy. Do you all try to knock down some of the myth that the majority media has focused attention upon over the years? I think it's inevitable whether you do it consciously

or unconsciously that you attack these myths because if you portray the African-American as he and she really are then you have automatically attacked the myth. If anyone uses his or her eyes you can see that we are among the hardest working people that ever drew breath on this earth. Get very little pay for it in terms of financial remuneration. Get virtually no historical recognition for it and yet when you turn back the pages of history you see that we actually built this country. We were the ones that made it possible for the United States to become an economic power was on the backs of enslaved Africans which is what we our ancestors were in this country worked like no other people have worked and we still are at this. If I may use myself as an example I have more jobs than I can count and and don't make enough money to live as I would like

to be able to live. You see I don't think I'm atypical. I am typical. I'm a typical African-American women in women in order to give my daughter the things I wanted her to have the education I wanted her to have because I've never been about material things. I think this is an error on our parts but I wanted her to be well educated both self-educated which is a must you cannot go through these schools that were built for other people and come out and aware African-American you can come out a counterfeit something else and I didn't want that so I wanted her to be exposed within her community and also out of it I wanted her to have all of it. I had to go to work I stood on corners and sold umbrellas and I also was teaching in the school system I have done days work I've done it all and when I did it all I met my sisters and brothers right out there doing it all with me standing on cold corners and whatnot we do things in Philadelphia it was the African brothers

who got together and made it possible for vendors to make a living on the street today it's very difficult for for the African brothers to continue to do it because other people are capitalizing on it but the city comes in and makes it very difficult to continue to make an earn a living. I believe sincerely that there is a payoff that we don't know about in keeping welfare going and keeping African blooded people believing that they as a group are shift list that a handful of give me and a mouthful of much obliged if I may say so is the way to live that keeps something balanced in this system that I'm not prepared to even analyze thoroughly or whatnot but I know it's not true I know that there are people who would rather work than be on welfare and yet many times they end up on welfare so yes just in telling stories about black people as black people really live

we attack the myths one of the criteria is for setting up a local organization people listening to this program across the country and wanting to set up a association of black storytellers in their particular okay what what you would do this is going to give me a chance to say the mailing address again it is a national organization and the headquarters are located in or headquarters is located I got called on that once years ago and I still do it in Philadelphia and you would write to the president Linda Goss in Philadelphia at the address that I gave before and we'll give again the association of black storytellers post office box 27456 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19118 right to the president at that address and we will take it from there I am in the Austin area right now and I'm hoping to be able to help to establish a chapter of the association

in this area and I've met what I call a national treasure Mrs. Simon's aid assignment we made Harris Spoon's Williams who was a storyteller in the Philadelphia area he also played spoons like they were an instrument and we made him a national treasure only shortly before he died but he did get to know that people got together and I don't even know how that's done but approached the federal government and somehow or other there are some few people who can be made a national treasure he was one and I've met and talked with Mrs. Simon who at this stage in her life has written seven books and is still working on something else and just as busy and active and alert and outgoing and serviceable she has been a service to not only Austin but really to the whole African American community and this to the whole larger society in the country and I think it's important for us to make such people national treasures while they know it

not wait until they are going on and then do all these things that she could have enjoyed and no longer could so every time I get a chance to plug that I do any final comments before we run off time about the National Association of Black Storytellers. The address again is post office box 27456 Philadelphia 19118 and I did talk to them about our directory we want you in the directory we like you in the anthology so do get in touch with us. Marion E. Barnes, a Ministry of Assistant for the Association of Black Storytellers. If you have a comment or like to purchase a cassette capitalist program write us. The address is in Black America, Longhorn Radio Network, UT Austin, Austin, Texas, 78712. For in Black America's technical producers Cliff Hargrove and David Alvarez I'm John Hanson. Join us next week. You've been listening to In Black America, Reflections of the Black Experience in American Society.

In Black America is produced and distributed by the Center for Telecommunication Services at UT Austin and does not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Texas at Austin or this station. This is the Longhorn Radio Network.