SAWUBONA
The Art of Storytelling
01
✦
Story
Black storytelling, oral history, folktale, lived experience, spoken word, and the creative voice.
BSA / MPLS / LIVING ARCHIVE / 001
Black Storytellers Alliance
STORY IS
MEMORY
IN MOTION.
Preserving, practicing, and passing forward African and African American oral tradition through story, education, festival, community, and intergenerational connection.
AFRICAN ORAL TRADITION / BLACK MEMORY / COMMUNITY TRANSMISSION
STORY • MEMORY • CULTURE • COMMUNITY • ANCESTORS • YOUTH • RHYTHM • HISTORY • STORY • MEMORY • CULTURE • COMMUNITY •
Black Storytellers Alliance Festival / 2026
2026 THEME
STORYTELLING
ROOTED IN TRADITION
Sunday, October 11, 2026 • 11:00 AM–5:00 PM
The roots remember.
The story continues.
Gather with us at WE WIN Institute in Minneapolis for a living celebration of the African Oral Tradition—where elders carry memory, artists give it voice, and young people receive the story and carry it forward.
ROOTS ELDERS
→
TRUNK TRADITION
→
BRANCHES YOUTH
Story is not simply performed. It is inherited, practiced, shared, and passed on. Click the festival flyer to enter the circle.
Enter the Festival Circle
Click flyer to sign up
The Tradition / 01
A Living Oral Tradition
The story lives
because we tell it.
Black Storytellers Alliance carries forward a tradition in which story is more than entertainment. Story holds history, teaches values, preserves identity, gathers generations, and keeps community memory alive.
Read the BSA history →02
◉
Memory
Honoring elders, ancestors, history, cultural knowledge, and the experiences carried across generations.
03
◆
Community
Creating spaces for youth, families, storytellers, artists, schools, neighborhoods, and cultural institutions.
Ancestral Knowledge / 02
Transmission
The griot is an archive that can speak.
BSA’s roots connect the African Oral Tradition with Black cultural life in Minnesota. The redesigned site treats that history as living knowledge — not material locked in the past.
Living Archive / 03
Explore the Work
Many doors.
One tradition.
The historical pages from the previous BSA website remain available and are presented through one modern visual system.
ARCHIVE / 01Black Master Storytellers FestivalFestival history, events, announcements, and community gatherings.EXPLORE →
COMMUNITY / 02MembershipJoin the alliance and support the continuation of Black storytelling.JOIN →
LAND / 03Karamu GardenGrowing food, community, stewardship, and shared knowledge.ENTER →
YOUTH / 04Schools + YouthStorytelling experiences that connect young people to culture and imagination.LEARN →
PRACTICE / 05Programs + ServicesStorytelling, workshops, cultural education, and community engagement.EXPLORE →
Community / 05
Root Yourself in the Tradition
The circle needs people who will carry the story.
Membership is more than support. It is a commitment to the living tradition—to the elders who preserved it, the storytellers who practice it, and the young people who will carry it beyond us.
From the Archive / 06
Latest stories + updates.
View all →Elementor #15065
33rd Annual Black Master Storytellers FestivalLine Up Toni SimmonsValerie TutsonGran’ Daddy JuneBugKunama MtendajiNothando ZuluDr Gcina Mhlophe Previous slide Next slide Toni Simmons
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UJAMAA (Cooperative Economics) To build and maintain our own stores, shops, & other businesses to support one another and profit from them…
Read story →Grant provided by MSAB Supports BSA’s September 2022 Festival
Grant provided by MSAB Supports BSA’s September 2022 Festival This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant…
Read story →
