Remember The Storm – Mother Mary Carter Smith

As if speaking to us from beyond the grave, the late Mother Mary Carter Smith (1919 – 2007), Co-founder of the National Association of Black Storytellers, advises her community in the aftermath of apparently devastating election results. Although she is discussing a local election in 1993, she very well could have been talking about the 2016 presidential election. The point is, we have been through the storm before; we CAN withstand this storm. This isn’t the worst, and it won’t be the last.

A likeness of Mother Mary Carter Smith was installed in the National Great Blacks In Wax Museum in Baltimore in 1989. Mother Mary Carter Smith was proclaimed Baltimore’s Official Griot in 1983 and Maryland’s Official Griot in 1991.

Many years ago, I attended a tribute to Mother Mary at the National Great Blacks in Wax Museum in her adopted hometown of Baltimore Maryland. There, she talked to us–a group of storytellers–about the importance of leaving a legacy. She said she wanted each one of us to receive a copy of a radio broadcast she’d hosted on Morgan University Radio.

Mother Mary Carter Smith hosted “Black Is” on Maryland Public Radio, “The Children’s Hour” in Washington, D.C. and “Griot for the Young and Young at Heart” for over 20 years on Morgan University Radio, WEAA-FM.

As promised, a digital copy of the broadcast was delivered to me.

As I listened, Mother Mary recalled the long, hard struggle by African-Americans to win the right to vote. She recalled that Black people stood in line for hours to participate in the first democratic elections in South Africa in 1994.

She reckoned that the local election results “brought home in great force that we, African Americans, are a despised people, looked down upon by many of those in power.”

Then, she recounts a speech which she wrote for the October 29th, 1993 dedication of a slave ship installation at the National Great Blacks In Wax Museum,

“Remember the Storm”. An old spiritual runs throughout.

Hard times, she said, we’ve had hard times before. The dreadful march to sea, the Middle Passage….

We’ll stand the storm and it won’t be long.

We’ll anchor by-and-by.

We’ll stand the storm and it won’t be long.

We’ll anchor by-and-by…

Some jumped overboard. Some chose to survive. To Resist. Always to resist.

We’ve had hard times before. The New World plantations.

Mother Mary goes on to tell the heart-wrenching story of Kizzy, from Alex Haley’s Roots. And sings another round of the hymn.

We’ll stand the storm and it won’t be long.

We’ll anchor by-and-by.

We’ll stand the storm and it won’t be long.

We’ll anchor by-and-by…

When I see the despair and read the fatalistic lamentations of people around the United States over the baffling results of the 2016 election, I couldn’t help but think of this recording. And, I knew I had to share it with you.

I’m realizing now, again, how much influence Mother Mary has had on me as a storyteller; in the kinds of stories I tell. I am a part of her legacy. And, I am not afraid to stand in the Storm.

In 2015, the Board of Directors of the National Association of Black Storytellers,  Inc., proclaimed (her Birthday) FEBRUARY 10^th as MOTHER MARY CARTER SMITH DAY!

PROCLAMATION

MOTHER MARY CARTER SMITH

FEBRUARY 10, 1919 - APRIL 24, 2007

WHEREAS,	God graced the world with Mary Rogers Ward on February 10, 1919; and
WHEREAS,	Mary Rogers Ward came to be lovingly known and honored as Mother Mary Carter Smith; and
WHEREAS,	As a child, Mary received the nomenclature the “Good Reader” because of her love of books and African American history; and
WHEREAS,	Mother Mary Carter Smith impacted the lives of youth as a teacher and librarian in the Baltimore School system for 31 years with empowering lessons of African roots; and
WHEREAS,	Mother Mary Carter Smith recognized the sacred and religious nature of storytelling as an essential element of culture; and
WHEREAS,	Mother Mary Carter Smith visited African homelands and embraced the creative heritage of Africa to preserve Blackstorytelling, as an elemental force in African American life; and
WHEREAS,	Mother Mary Carter Smith co-founded Baltimore Big Sister-Little Sister in 1965 and served as the group's President for five years; and
WHEREAS,	Mother Mary Carter Smith was a founding member of the Arena Player's Theater in Maryland, the oldest African American owned and operated Theater in the United States; and
WHEREAS,	Mother Mary Carter Smith was an author and storyteller who forged pathways for the black storytelling profession; and
WHEREAS,	In 1970, on the grounds of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Mother Mary Carter Smith and Mama Linda Goss planted the seeds for a Black Storytelling Festival that took root in Baltimore, MD in 1983; and
WHEREAS,	Said Festival now known as the Annual National Black Storytelling Festival and Conference, “In the Tradition….”  is a perennial event and has been and continues to be annually held in cities across the countries; and
WHEREAS,	Under the spiritual guidance of Mother Mary Carter Smith, the planted seeds blossomed into an association known as the National Association of Black Storytellers, Inc. with Affiliate organizations across the country; and
WHEREAS,	MotherMary Carter Smith was proclaimed Baltimore's Official Griot in 1983 by then Mayor William Donald Schaefer; Maryland's Official Griot in 1991 by then Governor William Donald Schaefer; and
WHEREAS,	Mother Mary Carter Smith extended the outreach of the Griotic Tradition in America via radio and television by hosting "Black Is" on Maryland Public Radio, "The Children's Hour" in Washington, D.C. and "Griot for the Young and Young at Heart" for over 20 years on Morgan University Radio, WEAA-FM; and
WHEREAS,	Mother Mary trained young storytellers in WEAA-FM’s: Growing Griots” club -  a legacy which continues into the present century known as the Griots’ Circle of Maryland’s Growing Griots Literacy Learning Program; and
WHEREAS,	In1989, a likeness of Mother Mary Carter Smith was installed in the National Great Blacks In Wax Museum in Baltimore; and
WHEREAS,	Mother Mary Carter Smith was a founding member of the Griots Circle of Maryland in 1991; and
WHEREAS,	Queen Mother Mary Carter Smith was honored as “America's Mother Griot” by Alex Haley and the National Association of Black Storytellers, Inc.; and
WHEREAS,	Mother Mary Carter Smith is a Co-Founder of the National Association of Black Storytellers and deemed an international treasure; and
WHEREAS,	Mother Mary Carter Smith received the Life Time Achievement Award from the National Storytelling Association,
WHEREAS,	Mother Mary Carter Smith caused the Cowtail Switch to be the authoritative symbol of a Black Storyteller, "In the Tradition..."; and
WHEREAS,	Mother Mary was a woman of prayer and taught us to seek divine guidance in every situation
NOW THEREFORE, The Board of Directors of the National Association of Black Storytellers, Inc., does hereby proclaim: FEBRUARY 10 as MOTHER MARY CARTER SMITH DAYA Holiday for the National Association of Black Storytellers, Inc. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereto raised my Cowtail Switch and set my hand and caused the official seal of the National Association of Black Storytellers, Inc. on this 10th day of February, 2015 Karen Abdul-Malik President National Association of Black Storytellers, Inc.

We have come through storms to face new storms. The old chains were of iron.

The new chains have new names. We are in the midst of a storm.

How about the future?

Yet, she said, there is a way out of this storm.

1. Put down roots in your faith–the Bible, the Koran, the Torah, The African religions–to be lived and not merely recited.

2. Give an honest day’s work, whatever our work may be.

3. Reach out and help one another, regardless of our zip codes.

We have come through great storms. We can come thru this one.

We’ll stand the storm and it won’t be long. We’ll anchor by-and-by. We’ll stand the storm and it won’t be long. We’ll anchor by-and-by…

Take a Listen

(Audio Clips: “Griot for the Young and Young at Heart” Morgan University Radio, WEAA-FM, 1994.)

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Posted by:

Denise Valentine a.k.a Storymama, of Philadelphia, PA, is a Professional Storyteller, Historical Performer and Consultant. Denise also serves as the Social Media Coordinator for the National Association of Black Storytellers, Inc. @NABStalking and an affiliate member of Keepers of the Culture, Inc.

Find Denise on the web: Storymama’s Blog,  Twitter,  Facebook,  and Instagram.