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In Sacred Memory
Honoring Our Storytelling Ancestors
We speak their names. We honor their stories. We carry their voices forward.
The National Association of Black Storytellers stands upon the shoulders of extraordinary storytellers, culture bearers, tradition keepers, educators, artists, and visionaries who dedicated their lives to preserving and advancing the rich oral traditions of people of African descent.
They told the stories that might otherwise have been forgotten.
They carried history from one generation to the next. They gave voice to our joys and our struggles, our humor and our heartbreak, our triumphs and our truths. Through story, they reminded us who we were, affirmed who we are, and helped us imagine who we might yet become.
Though these beloved members of our storytelling family have transitioned from this earthly life, their voices have not been silenced.
They live wherever the story is told.
They live in the rhythms we remember, the traditions we preserve, the lessons we pass to our children, and the storytellers who continue the work. Every time an ancestral story is spoken, every time a young person discovers the power of their own voice, and every time a community gathers to listen and remember, their legacy continues.
This memorial is dedicated to those storytelling ancestors whose lives, artistry, service, and spirit helped build and strengthen the Black storytelling tradition and the community we know today as the National Association of Black Storytellers.
PraiseSongs
Mama Linda Goss, Co-Founder of the National Association of Black Storytellers, has lovingly created individual PraiseSongs honoring these treasured ancestors.
Each booklet offers an opportunity to remember the person behind the name to celebrate their journey, their gifts, their contributions, and the footprints they left upon our storytelling community.
We invite you to read them.
Speak their names.
Share their stories.
Remember their contributions.
And when you tell your own stories, remember that you are continuing a tradition carried forward by generations of voices before you.
We are because they were.
We tell because they told.
We remember because their stories still live.
May our storytelling ancestors remain forever present in the stories we tell and the lives we touch.
Asé.
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Click the arrows on the right or left side of the picture to see all of our beloved Ancestors we honor with PraiseSongs.
To read their PraiseSong, click the words “Go to link" under their short bio.
Speak Their Names
