BSA / HISTORY / LIVING ORAL TRADITION

About Black Storytellers Alliance

THE STORY
BEFORE US.
THE STORY AHEAD.

Black Storytellers Alliance is a nonprofit organization in North Minneapolis, Minnesota, dedicated to walking alongside our community in finding, connecting, and expanding the knowledge, practice, and power of the African Oral Tradition once practiced widely across the African Diaspora.

Explore Our History Our Mission

AFRICAN ORAL TRADITION • BLACK THEATRE ALLIANCE • NABS • GRIOTS • ELDERS • YOUTH • STORY • MEMORY • LEGACY • AFRICAN ORAL TRADITION •

Our History / 01

From Theatre to Story

A community tradition transformed.

In 1976, Nothando Zulu, cofounder of BSA, was part of a group of students at the University of Minnesota who started what was then known as the Black Theatre Alliance. The ensemble brought together creatives from the African and African American community across the diaspora, including Lou Bellamy, Horace Bond, Jerri Alexander, Jerry Blue, and many more.

The goal of the Black Theatre Alliance was simple and powerful: “to take theater to the community” without needing a traditional stage. Over the years, that alliance naturally evolved into a collective of storytellers.

1976

Black Theatre Alliance

Nothando Zulu joins a University of Minnesota-based ensemble of Black creatives committed to taking theatre directly into community.

1990

A Journey to NABS

Nothando and Vusumuzi Zulu travel to South Carolina for the National Association of Black Storytellers Festival and witness the power of a national Black storytelling movement.

RETURN

Black Storytellers Alliance

After returning to Minneapolis, the former Black Theatre Alliance takes on a new identity and becomes the Black Storytellers Alliance.

TODAY

30+ Years of Story

BSA continues carrying Black storytelling into schools, senior centers, corporations, community organizations, churches, prisons, libraries, weddings, family reunions, and more.

National Connection / 02

National Association of Black Storytellers

A national tradition. A Minneapolis home.

In 1990, Nothando and Vusumuzi Zulu traveled to South Carolina to attend the National Association of Black Storytellers Festival. Founded by Mother Mary Carter Smith and Linda Goss, NABS was created to expand opportunities for Black storytellers to be seen and heard while preserving the rich heritage of the African Oral Tradition.

After witnessing storytelling legends such as Jackie Torrence, Vusi and Nothando returned to Minneapolis knowing exactly what needed to happen next. Today, Black Storytellers Alliance is one of 15 national affiliates of NABS.

IN THE TRADITION...

The National Association of Black Storytellers promotes and perpetuates the Art of Black storytelling—an art form that embodies the history, heritage, and culture of African Americans.

Through oral tradition, Black storytellers educate and entertain while depicting and documenting the African American experience, passing on folklore, legends, myths, fables, and more from Africans, their descendants, and ancestors.

The Griot / 03

Keeper of Record + Memory

To keep the record is to keep the people.

The role of the storyteller—the Griot—was to keep the record, protect the history of the kingdom, and immortalize the people through story and song, as seen in traditions such as the stories of Sundiata.

Storytellers also wove morals into the fabric of their tales through unique, reflective characters. Many of these stories have survived into the present day, and many of our Master Storytellers learn these stories and continue sharing them with the community.

BSA also shares stories about historical African American figures whose lives left a profound impact on our people—individuals who are both known and unknown, world famous and community legend.

Watch + Listen / 04

The Tradition in Motion

Story is meant to be heard.

Experience the living oral tradition through the voices, presence, rhythm, and memory of Black storytellers.

Watch on YouTube →

OUR
MISSION

Purpose / 05

Protect the tradition. Develop the storytellers. Pass the story forward.

Our Mission is to preserve and maintain the art of storytelling through the positive reinforcement of the rich beauty that comes when we embody the telling of our story—“The Story.”

We seek to develop a generation of storytellers walking in who they know they are meant to be. Through BSA, audiences encounter storytellers from across the United States who have shared the power of story across the world.

Embrace the journey. Embody the journey.

Why the Work Matters / 06

Our stories tell the world who we are.

This work is important. Storytellers use this work as an opportunity to share with the world who we are, where we have been, our history, our contributions, and our legacies.

We believe these traditions must be protected and passed down from generation to generation.

Past Support / 07

Organizations That Have Supported the Work

Past funders + supporters.

Black Storytellers Alliance has received funding and support from organizations and public partners that have helped make storytelling, cultural education, community programming, and preservation work possible.

Past funding relationships are acknowledged here as part of BSA's organizational history and do not necessarily indicate current funding or sponsorship.

Carry the Story / 08

Living Oral Tradition

The story continues through us.

Meet the storytellers, participate in programs, support the work, and help ensure this tradition remains alive for the generations coming behind us.

Become a Member Connect with BSA

View legacy About page content

Welcome to the Black Storytellers Alliance (BSA) home page. We are a nonprofit organization dedicated to assisting you in finding the information that you need about the power of the oral tradition as practiced by African people in the Diaspora. Our mission is to maintain the art of storytelling as a primary source for positive instruction and reinforcement of the rich beauty embodied in the telling of “the story”! On these pages you will find a few of the many Master Storytellers across the USA and Canada who have made that mission an avocation. We’ll put the news (the story) in this place and refer you to where others may be found!

THE STORYBEFORE US.THE STORY AHEAD.