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Okay, hi, how is everybody? I want you to know that. The reason I'm smiling so is because when we before we began to do this show, the people that I have on as guests today. These sisters took me through a little thing there and it was

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funny and humorous and good and it was it was deep so it was really humorous. You know that's what we're gonna do today. We're gonna talk about storytelling from the Black experience. And I want you to meet the people that I have here with me today

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because you're gonna love this. In fact, I bet you're gonna make another request for this show. You watch you watch. Here we go. Theresa first want to want you to meet Theresa Bond the pain development coordinator forward contours. What is that? Well, Word Conjures is a

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is the northern California Association of African american storytellers that was formed after the festival and we're called Conjurers because we make a judgment on the word. Hold that hold that I don't want to talk too much right now. Don't give it away. Now, just ask a

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quick question that Diane Hewlett, who is a storyteller as the next person and then Louisa Tish, who is the Artistic Director of Word Conjures also. She's an author, a poet, an actress and all of you are just beautiful and heavy. I tell you your head got

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a lot of stuff up there and your heart has a lot of stuff to thank you for joining us stay with us. We got a show, okay, we're gonna talk about storytelling from the black experience. Teresa. We would, I kind of ask you and in a

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sort of funny way, I guess what a word conjures and you have begun to explain it and I didn't let you finish because I wanted, I've used that as a teaser seating, keep the folks looking and listening. Now what our word konya and I need a

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little interpretation. Okay. Word conjurers are verbal illusionists who utilize the tradition of african american folktales and storytelling to conjure up images of our tradition and our heritage to instill self confidence and pride so that we can make a judgment on the word that moves us forward.

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And that's basically in a nutshell what we're about. We were a group of area people who came together primarily voluntarily to put on the sixth national festival. And because of the response from the community, we have decided to form a local where we will have ongoing

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programs in the schools, in the seniors homes, in juvenile detention centers and also putting on other productions like the festival. And yes, there will be another festival. I don't know that. I know that. So let me ask you a question. What we're talking about is, let's

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talk about storytelling. What is storytelling? Well, first of all, the storyteller is a different thing from a liar right now. Are we clear on that. Okay, I want everybody to be clear on that. Okay, a storyteller is not a liar. Um, from my point of view,

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a storyteller is uh, is a historian, one who keeps the information of the people in a dramatic form, in an emotional uh, language that helps the audience to relive refill the detail and the content and the emotion of the wisdom of the people who have gone

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before us, you see. So that when I tell a story, essentially what I'm saying to you is that this human concern that is contained in this story has existed from the beginning of time about something that has happened. There is truth. Truth. Now, you can embellish

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that. Yeah, I mean, you can put all kinds of things around it, right? I add my own flavor to it. A lot of stories that I tell come from other cultures and other places and other whatever. But when I tell it my way, it comes from

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my truths and from my background and what I what I've known and seen. So therefore, anyway, you tell your story is really I mean, for instance, if there were those who were saying, I would say to you, look, that's not a good story because it's not

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the form, the shape and the way that we would do it, that does not mean then that you're not correct and telling your story the way you you have to tell. It doesn't exactly know. They can't take that away can't take that away from me. That's

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my way of telling you to tell the truth what we discovered in working with this festival and putting it on and even in working with the local is that people are so starved in this highly technically evolved society where the gross national product is mechanical technology

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and communication. People are starved for honest direct human communication and that's what we provide. So that in whatever tradition it is expressed, it's gonna reach the heart because we're not just talking about the heart, we're talking about the spirit, the mind, the total being. So people

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don't usually say that's not the way it's told. People are saying tell us more. Yeah. Right. All right now, here I am listening to you tell a story. I will a little later on. We will a little later on. But what what what happens to me?

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I do don't I begin to place myself as one of the characters perhaps in that story. Don't I see myself interacting some kind of images. That's what that's what we're about. Especially these young kids who are tv addicts who can make no images, imagination is completely

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blank. That's what we're about telling those stories. Making those characters come alive when they're making those images for themselves. That particular imagination thing is working again. You know, making their own pictures of what's happening. That is critical isn't very important. And that's why we ensure that

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we don't they get enough images that destroy they're stuff their guts there being and what you're trying to do is create images for them, but images that build up self pride. Exactly. And regular revolution because uh, the message, there's dry teaching which just bounces off of

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the head and it doesn't get anywhere. But because of the emotional impact, you know, the expression on the face, a line that's repeated a particular gesture at a particular time has an impact on the person. So that in that moment they are changed and changed subtly

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forever. It registers in the body, it affects the cells you see and it's a different thing. Oh remember, seem to remember better. Yeah. When it's told to them taking a simple history lesson in your classroom instead of just saying this happened on this date and that

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date and it's dry kind of talking. If you were to relay that in a different way. Making those kids see those characters when it happened tell what they did and how they did it. And do you remember as they walked along that road, it was so

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cold, they had nothing to eat. And those kids would just be making those images come alive in their own minds. Remember they seem to remember what happened? You ask him right after the story, what happened in that story. See storytelling after a long lecture, ask him

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what happened. It strikes at the racial consciousness that's in us all. It strikes at that pool of humanity that we have within this part of our brain which we never use. And storytelling just pulls it to the front so that there is no way that you

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don't know, not just knowing mentally, but knowing in your heart, You know what they say. Something rings true. It rings. And I've seen it. I've seen it happen with students. I've seen it happen with seniors. It's phenomenal. And it is the beginning. It is the beginning

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of all of our existence. I don't care what culture you come from along with the drum was the word and we strike at that beginning that essence and that's what storytelling is important for. It's a healing kind of thing. It's a group and uniting kind of

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thing. Come on Louisa tell us a story. Mm hmm. This is from the collection of Zora Neale hurston who It was a wonderful, wonderful woman. She collected the folktales of, of southern black people at a time when when we thought that moving away from from the,

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the earthy people was was the way to freedom. Okay, so Zora went around and she found the wisdom, the true wisdom in the folk. This piece is called the word the devil made up. Okay, one day the devil looked around hell and saw that he was

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sure to help. So he figured he'd better do something until he could get reinforcements from Miami the devil put on his wings and he flew low over the earth and went up to the bottom of a cloud and they're hanging on the fringe of a cloud

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was some delinquent angels smoking cigarettes and drinking booze. The devil reached out, he put 1000 angels in his mouth. 500 under this arm. 500 under that on. Mhm. And just as he was flying low over the earth, who was out in the cotton fields. But old

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aunt nancy, hi sign. I see you've been gone and got yourself a message aimed jews is you gonna take them down to hell with you? And the devil said that's right nancy. But when he said that the angels in his mouth ran away and when he

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ran after them, the ones under this arm got away and when he ran after them, the ones under this arm got away, the devil said damn! So he flew low over the earth and again he went up under a cloud and they're on the fringe of

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a cloud with some real delinquent angels who were the devil said that, mm hmm. And just as he was flying low over the earth who's out in the cotton field and nancy, Okay, Hey sign, I see you then gone. Got yourself another mess of angels is

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you gonna take them down to hell with you? And the devil rolled his eyes and he shook his head and he said mm hmm. And that's the word, the devil made of you know that's all these little kids. When mama asked you a question you say,

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I don't know nothing. You know what Louisa. I've decided you'll never hear me say, mm mm mm mm. No, I take a break. We'll be right back. Mm hmm, mm hmm. You couldn't take great, could you? You stayed here

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because the show is so good. Huh? Yeah. Let me ask what to laugh behind stories. For instance, with the story with the two to ingest that to embrace. That is another thing, isn't it? Because it's what these stories do is not only create new images for

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us, but they make us feel good, don't they? Yes. Very good. Very, very well said yes, yes, yes. And we need our Children to feel good. That's right. It's a way of teaching to but also a way of entertainment and to keep those kids making images

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were having fun. Learning while having fun. That's it. I think learning is boring and it's something they don't want to do. And it's a drag. One of the things I noticed when I was looking at some of the still photographs from the festival as I was

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then these are still photographs and I was looking particularly at the Children and just in their movement. It was, it reminded me of when we were coming up and we'd be in school and you have to do dissertations in front of the class. And for some

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of the Children it was very difficult to stand still and recite because it's not in our tradition. It's in our tradition to move. It's in our tradition to be expressive. And with the storytelling, what it does, it validates our existence as a people in our history.

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I'm very academic on this subject because it it really makes us feel good about who we are and laughter and enjoyment. That is a part of our life. That is what kept us going through the most adverse situations. And that's important. That's important that our Children

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know that. I think they don't know that today or they wouldn't be. I think you're right or any of that. We are people that are going to exist. We have existed and we are going to go on and live quality lives because that is the essence

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of our nature. And the storytelling helps Some of these stories were told to slaves, told old stories, you know, with a lot of meeting behind them and a lot of kids don't know that about those bread rabbit stories or the juba juba as dr Beverly Robinson

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pointed out the festival, juba juba dad, a lot of, a lot of storytelling took place uh during slavery. Even as I grew up. Um a lot of storytelling took place after things had been done that day and that evening either around the supper table, we call

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it supper. You all don't know about that. Around the supper, Around the supper table, you know, at the supper table. That's when the storytelling would begin. That's right. That's right. That's right, folks sat around talking. That's right. And what did you talk about? You talked about

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the family exactly what you did, what you do, what you want to do and what you can do your personal family history. Exactly. As well as african history and african american history. Um I came from a very large family and although I'm not a storyteller, I

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learned everything about the people. I have an administrator. Okay. But I learned my whole family history and the struggle. Like first black man in the L. S. U. Was my mother's first cousin and I learned about that struggle. So I know I have no limits. I

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know that and I want to pass that on. We all do. The one thing that brought us together is our faith in God and our faith in that what we are doing is something great and something good and something powerful. That can move not just our

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people, but all people, all people diane you tell us a story. Well, this story, it's about a woman, it was a legend in her own time and she said she used to run errands for madam who lived on the corner and she didn't want errands for

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everybody. But the reason why she went around for this lady, it's because she let her listen to all of these records and pop Armstrong records of that. West End Blues. And she just loved herself some West End blues. Yes sir. But you always wondered why Pops

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never sung any words to it. But you reckon he was he was feeling mighty, mighty bad. Then when she got to new york she went to hear him at the Lafayette Theater. Yes sir. But she said Pops he didn't swing his blues, he didn't play nothing,

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no blues like she liked. She went backstage and told him about it too. She said she wasn't but nine years old. But you know her mama mama didn't like that kind of music. I thought it was sinful and she said if she heard her listening to

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that music she would get a whipping back in those days you'd listen to him and stuff like that. Church songs, songs like that. But she said one time her mother was so hungry, they were starving. She got up And she went out, they lived on 145th

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Street Right near 7th Ave and she went out and she walked and walked and walked and walked all the way down to all these little juke joints looking for a job. Her mother, all she did was like made work, could find a job but she went

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to every joint looking for a job to finally she was so desperate, she stopped at this little log cabin club owned by a man named jerry Preston. She went in and she asked him for a drink, she don't she don't drink really, she didn't have a

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dime either but she she got the drink shorted some some gin, she built it down. Unless you went up to Preston and ask him for a job. She said she could dance. He said well let me see you dance. She tried it, he said she stunk

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but mr I can sing, I can sing, let me hear you sing. An old fellow in the corner of the room playing on a little piano. He struck up a tune and she's son and sung and the crowd stopped drinking, stop talking. I turned around and

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looked at it and then that old fella stuck up on them old body and soil tunes and jeez she said you should have seen the people in that place, they all started crying and then Preston came up and just shook his head and said kid you

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win, that's how she got her start after that she went out and bought her a sandwich, dope that down Because the pride that not have given her $18 in tips, she left the place and went out and bought a whole chicken, ran ran all the way

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up 7th Avenue because she got home and that night her and her mama ate, they ate that night and from then on they ate well they will but she said when she sings she wasn't she didn't feel like she was singing, felt like she was playing

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a horn because she always liked to improvise like less young and and louis Armstrong. You know, she'd like to take the the tune and change it to her own way of doing it because that's the way she did things. That's all she knew. That was a

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little shot short story about Billie Holiday's story. Nobody left. Yeah, get the hell out. one woman who suffered severely too much, too much. We're gonna take a break. We're doing word con juice. We're about to end the program. Um, I, you know, I'm really moved by

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what you all have done. We need all this talent with you and so many other folks. I was telling Jeff recently about all of the talent that we've come up on and and we need access for that talent to get out there. Their and their ways,

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their modern ways to do it. But we still have to do it. You know, the hard, the hard way? The hard way, don't we work hard, work hard. I hope I hope that what we'll do is some of us in 89, I got this in my

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head and in my heart might sit down and talk about the tools that can be used to get story telling and poetry and short stories and good material and information out. Let's start with the young folks again. Let's start with your Children. Okay, well, can we

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work on that with some other folks. Let's start a little Bay Area, whatever. Okay. And and start with the Children and see what we can do because we got we got the talent. I'm gonna preaching now. This this has been a great experience, Teresa

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Diane and Louisa. Let me say to you that we're gonna see you again soon. All right. And let's find ways to work and be with each other. It's critical art. And anytime, anytime any of you out there see something good like this, would you let me

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know Because we want to put this on our TV show in 1989. Also, thank you very much for coming our way. Thank you for having me. Thank you. Well, thank you. Thank you. It's always good to get together with good talent. Walk that walk and talk

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that talk and be that being struggle and struggle and love that love. We'll see you soon. Okay?