Wilmington hosted the third annual Wilmington Black Storytelling Residency this week, drawing eleven storytellers from seven states.
The week-long immersive learning experience offered participants the chance to engage with various storytelling forms from dance to drumming - taught by a group of experts.
TAHIRA, a local storyteller and musician who founded the event, leads the residency along with six other teachers with expertise in various disciplines.
She emphasized the importance of highlighting and telling Black stories, especially in light of modern attempts by lawmakers to “erase history.”
“The storyteller is the keeper of truth, the keeper of the culture, the transmitter of truth,” TAHIRA said. “And so to have storytellers learning about that truth, about that history so they can go out into the community is imperative in this time where our history is trying to be erased.”
TAHIRA also explained that the experience benefits both participants and instructors, herself included.
“I’m still learning too,” TAHIRA said. “Every time I go, even with Dr. [Caroliese Frink] Reed and Emily Hooper Lansana, these are, you know, dear friends of mine, but I’m in there taking notes like I’m one of the students, right? And I’ve heard it all before but every time, I would hear it a different way.”
The residency concludes Saturday with a public performance of Black storytellers, based around this year’s theme “Rooted in Resilience: Celebrating Black Narratives.”
That performance starts at 6:30pm at the Urban Artist Exchange Amphitheater on Wilmington’s East Side.
Delaware Public Media's arts coverage is made possible, in part, by support from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency dedicated to nurturing and supporting the arts in Delaware, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.
