NABS on the Road: Felecia Outsey - Knoxville, TN

Documenting 2024 Black Appalachian Storyteller Fellows

A Ten-Post Series by Ilene Evans – post 6 Editor: Karen Abdul-Malik- Travel day 4

Felecia Outsey  – A Word about Queen Nur and Ilene On the road…

After seeing Beverly Fields Burnett, we drove from Asheville, North Carolina to Knoxville, Tennessee. We witnessed the damage to the roads along Interstate Highway 26 along the way. What was once a four-lane highway was now a jam packed two-lane. The traffic was creeping along, hugging the edge of the mountainside. Half of the road was simply gone. Wow! Was all I could say. There were big construction jobs all along the narrow strip of road. They emphasized the severity of the storms this past year. Local residents and travelers have to navigate and adapt to life with the rerouting and reconstruction. It will be a long time before things get back to “normal”. We did manage to make it for our appointed time, but it was closed

Sista Felecity Luv LIVE!

“Without love there is no unity, without love the violence will not cease, without love there is no long suffering and without love there is no peace.” Felecity tells the stories of loss, bitter and raw, from the violence around us that threatens our children and families every day. True stories that strike at the heart and trouble the mind.

Felecity as Mamie Till, a tribute to Mamie and Emmett Till at the Beck Center April 18, 2025.

From African Diaspora written by Dynamic Ray

Felecia Outsey of Knoxville, Tennessee by way of Birmingham, Alabama is also known as Sistah Felicity Luv. Felecia is mother of five amazing and talented young people, she, herself is an energetic dynamo. We met Felicia at the Beck Cultural Exchange Center, a home base for African Americans in Knoxville, who love their history and are proud to share it. The Beck Cultural Exchange Center is a gallery and performance space for the community featuring yearlong programming and permanent exhibits. We saw how well-respected Felecia has become to this community. Friends and neighbors look forward to her storytelling and expressive arts.

Felecia has given voice to many African American women who have led the charge for full citizenship, justice, and respect. The story that Felecia and Dynamic Ray had prepared for us was called Pain Passion Purpose: Mother and son tribute to Mamie and Emmett. Felecia crafted stories to tell the tragic murder of Emmet Till in 1955 with the help of 16-year-old, Dynamic Ray, her oldest son. Felecia portrays Mamie and Dynamic Ray portrays the young Emmet Till. Together they pay tribute to his mother, Mamie, and their part in the Civil Rights movement. Felecia fully embodies Mamie Till’s commitment to make a change for her people in respecting their humanity. New to the stage was her younger son, ten-year-old Semaj Walker, who started off the presentation with a heartfelt recitation called Move in Love.  Felecia’s message is, “know matter how complicated things may seem, love is still the answer to heal the wounds, and move forward.” Love is at the center, the side, the left and the right, the above and below of all her work. 

Semaj Walker and Dynamic Ray

Handcrafted by Felicia Outsey

Felicia Outsey as Mamie Till

Throughout our interviews with Black Appalachian Storytellers one of the strongest themes we hear about and see is that of family. This was evident with each of this year’s fellows. Strong family ties of blood kin and beyond have given each of our tellers a special sense of purpose, identity, and strength. That puts Felicia’s work in sharp relief. Those who have been helped by her ability to tell their stories to heal their wounds, to comfort their spirit, to quicken their soul again. We heard an elder comment that without her stories the numbness of grief, the anger, the sense of helplessness in the community would be overwhelming. Felecia knows that our foes win on multiple levels – our foes, they would see us fail and falter, but with stories that bind the soul life can go on. Felecia tells these stories and helps others tell theirs. With her young ones still at home she is keenly aware of the need they have to tell their stories and has been creating opportunities for youth, young mothers facing violence and loss from violence to find solace, companionship, camaraderie and above all healing. 

Felicia knows first-hand the pain of losing young people to violence. Sistah Felecity Luv’s heartfelt mission is to let others know that they are not alone in their suffering, sacrifice, and grief. The violence can stop, but only through the application of love. 

Dynamic Ray deserves a shout out for his spoken word compositions and his vocal work with his mother in sharing some of Mama Linda Goss’s poetic affirmations. They shared excerpts from Song for My Mother and Prayer for My Father by Mama Linda Goss. As a duet, they layered vocals and tandem telling to give this poem a rich and powerful meaning. The poem calls all people as mothers and fathers to see their oneness and our collective heritage.