28 Years of Black Storytelling
Minneapolis, MN – The three-day Black Master Storytellers Festival returned to Minneapolis with its Grand Finale event in the downtown Minneapolis library. The Black Storytellers Alliance has brought 28 years of Black storytelling to communities across the United States. The theme of this year is “Strength of Our Youth, Wisdom of Our Elders“.
Watch the live stream of the Grand Finale on September 28, 2019.
Created and organized by esteemed elders Nothando and Vusumuzi Zulu, the festival specializes on African and African American stories and folktales.
“We’ve just got to get those stories told, we’ve got to get children to see themselves as being people who have power, ability, and capability.” – Vusumuzi Zulu, “Signifyin’ & Testifyin’” Festival Director
Voice of Culture Drum and Dance will open the Grand Finale with a performance. The event is free and open to the public.
This year’s storytellers include:
- Janice Curtis Greene – Baltimore, Maryland
- Dylan Pritchett – Richmond, Virginia
- Mama Koku – Atlanta, Georgia
- Atiba Kwabena Wilson – Harlem, New York
- Oceana James – Harlem, New York
- Toni Simmons – Fort Worth, Texas
- Oba William King – Dallas, Texas
- Auntie Beverly – Minneapolis, Minnesota
Unicorn Riot Coverage of the Black Storytellers Festival in Minneapolis
For more than three decades, the Black Storytellers Alliance has celebrated the art of storytelling through festivals in and around the Twin Cities. Held over three nights with free admission, the festival’s aim is to expose folks in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area to the power of Black storytelling by featuring master storytellers from around the country. Beginning in 2016, Unicorn Riot has covered and live streamed from the festival several times. In 2018, we heard from six of the master Black storytellers including festival director Vusumuzi Zulu, who said that storytelling is “one of the most powerful ways to transmit culture.“ View our coverage below.
Black Storytellers Festival Continues with Heavy Hearts as Matriarch Passes – 2023
Celebrating Black Joy Virtually as Black Storytellers Festival Hits 31 Years – 2021
28 Years of Black Storytelling – 2019
Sharing Black History One Story at a Time: Festival Reaches 27 Years – 2018 [YouTube Playlist]
Black Storytellers Alliance Celebrates its 25th Annual Black Master Storytelling Festival – 2016
Follow us on X (aka Twitter), Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo, Instagram, Mastodon, Threads, BlueSky and Patreon.
Please consider a tax-deductible donation to help sustain our horizontally-organized, non-profit media organization:
