StoryCorps Griot Partners with WDET in Gathering Stories for Archive to be Housed at Smithsonian
Detroit, MI – (May 11, 2007) – StoryCorps Griot, a year-long initiative to gather and preserve the life stories of African American families across the country, today began a six-week stay in Detroit’s Campus Martius Park.
Dr. Lonnie G. Bunch, founding director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) welcomed StoryCorps Griot to Detriot along with Cardinal Mbiyi Chui, a real-life Griot affiliated with the Association of Black Storytellers and the Shrine of the Black Madonna. Cardinal Chui recorded the first interview in the city with Donald Vest, Chairman Emeritus of the Arts League of Michigan.
StoryCorps Griot is the largest oral history project of its kind since 2,300 former slaves were interviewed in the mid-1930s as part of the WPA’s Federal Writers Project. StoryCorps Griot is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) in association with NMAAHC. It is the first major national collaboration for the museum which is expected to open in under a decade as the 19th museum of the Smithsonian Institution. In Detroit, Griot will partner with public radio station WDET.
A “Griot” is part of a West African tradition of storytelling; a highly respected member of the community who acts as a living repository of births, deaths, marriages and significant events. Griots are responsible not only for transmitting oral history through the generations, but also for ensuring that people find meaning in their own lives.
“StoryCorps Griot will give families across the country the opportunity to explore, share, and celebrate the African American experience. I applaud the Griot project for giving African Americans in Detroit and across the country the chance to tell our own stories and to ensure that our children, grandchildren, and others can hear them and learn from our experience for years to come,” said Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (D-MI). “We all have a story to tell. I hope that this project will encourage Americans of all races to talk about our shared struggles, sacrifice, and successes. We must communicate with one another and work together to achieve our full potential, strengthen America’s families, and build a united America.”
“I am honored to bring StoryCorps back to Detroit through the Griot Initiative,” said Dave Isay, StoryCorps founder. “StoryCorps Griot will provide African American families who have lived here for generations with the tools to honor loved ones, preserve their stories for generations to come, and educate the nation about the contributions of African Americans to the history of this city and nation.”
"WDET is thrilled to be sponsoring this seminal oral history initiative in Detroit,” Allen Mazurek, Assistant General Manager, WDET said. “Detroit has such a rich history in African American culture. As the birthplace of Motown, Detroit is known around the world for its contribution to and celebration of African American musical phenomenons. But we are so much more. StoryCorps Griot will provide important insights into African-American life as experienced in Detroit that the world needs to know. We have Griots all over Detroit. I’m so excited to broadcast their voices across the country."
At the Griot StoryBooth, participants record their stories in pairs – oftentimes friends or loved ones – where one person interviews the other. A trained facilitator guides the participants through the interview process and handles the technical aspects of the recording. At the end of a forty-minute session, the participants are presented with a CD of their interview. This unprecedented effort to capture the recordings of African Americans will help ensure that their voices, experiences and life stories will be preserved and presented with dignity. The stories will be archived for future generations at the American Folklife Center (AFC) at the Library of Congress and at the NMAAHC. Griot segments will air on the NPR news program “News and Notes,” the daily national one-hour series, hosted by journalist Farai Chideya. Locally, segments from StoryCorps Griot will be broadcast on the WDET.
“The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is pleased to support StoryCorps Griot on this historic tour that will honor the untold personal stories of African Americans in our country,” said Patricia de Stacy Harrison, CPB President and CEO. “We are proud to be a part of this important initiative as it seeks to not only find and record, but also celebrate the contributions of African Americans in our history. The Griot Initiative represents the essence of public broadcasting: high-quality, groundbreaking public service that informs, enlightens and inspires our populace.”
“Recording the rich and compelling stories of African Americans across this country is in perfect alignment with a key commitment of this museum which is to encourage all Americans to remember, to reflect and to celebrate our shared humanity,” said Lonnie G. Bunch, founding director of NMAAHC. “Through this unprecedented relationship we will ensure that the history of 20th century Black America will be preserved, understood and made accessible for years to come.”
“African Americans are experiencing a profound connection with their personal truths and collective pasts through StoryCorps conversations with family, friends and loved ones,” said StoryCorps Griot manager, Melvin Reeves. “For many it has been the first time in life that they could express deeply held feelings.”
Reservations for the Griot tour can be made by calling 800-850-4406 or visiting www.storycorpsgriot.net. Those interested in participating in StoryCorps Griot who do not live in Detroit can review the schedule online to see when the tour will visit a city close to them. While in Detroit, StoryCorps will also partner with several community organizations for the duration of the stay including: Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History; The Arts League of Michigan; Michigan Veterans Foundation; Coleman A. Young Post 202 Detroit—The American Legion Department of Michigan; The Luella Hannan Memorial Foundation; Akwaaba Community Center; City Year Detroit; Lewis College of Business; Detroit Renaissance Lions Club; Detroit Public Library - Main Branch; The WestSiders; The Near East Siders; Bethel A.M.E. Church; St. Stephen A.M.E. Church; Second Baptist Church of Detroit; Church of the New Covenant Baptist of Detroit; Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit.
StoryCorps Griot builds on the success of StoryCorps, created in 2003 by award-winning radio documentary producer and MacArthur Fellow Dave Isay. In addition to the stop in Detroit, Griot’s StoryBooth – a mobile recording studio – includes stops of up to six weeks in: Atlanta (completed); Newark (completed); Chicago (6/21-7/27); Oakland (8/2-9/7); Clarksdale, MS (9/13-10/20); Memphis, TN (10/25-12/1); Harlem, NY (12/6-1/05/08); Selma (1/10/08- 1/26/08) and Montgomery, AL (1/31/08-2/16/08).
About CPB
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private, nonprofit corporation created by Congress in 1967 develops educational public radio, television, and online services for the American people. The Corporation is the industry’s largest single source of funds for national public television and radio program development and production. CPB, a grant making organization, funds more than 1,000 public radio and television stations. www.cpb.org.
About NMAAHC
The National Museum of African American History & Culture was created in 2003 when President George W. Bush signed legislation establishing it as the only national museum devoted exclusively to exploring and documenting African American life, art, history and culture. It will be built in Washington, DC on the National Mall on a five-acre site adjacent to the Washington Monument. Through nationally touring exhibitions, collections and educational programs, the museum will explore several areas of history, including slavery, reconstruction, the Harlem Renaissance and the Civil Rights era. For details on its legislative mandate, visit www.nmaahc.si.edu.
About StoryCorps
StoryCorps is a Peabody award winning project of Sound Portraits Productions, the nationally acclaimed New York City non-profit founded by Dave Isay. For two decades, Sound Portraits has celebrated the lives and struggles of unheralded Americans in award-winning public radio documentaries, as well as in books, CDs, museum exhibitions, and Web sites. StoryCorps opened its first StoryBooth, a freestanding soundproof recording studio, in New York City\'s Grand Central Terminal in October 2003 and opened its second StoryBooth at the site of the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan in July 2005. Two mobile StoryBooths have been traveling the country since 2005. StoryCorps has recorded 10,000 interview sessions to date. Individuals can listen to excerpts from past StoryCorps interviews at www.storycorps.net.
About WDET
WDET 101.9FM - Detroit Public Radio is metropolitan Detroit\'s National Public Radio (NPR) station operated as a community service by Wayne State University. A heritage station in Detroit, WDET has been serving the community with quality programming since 1949. WDET carries such signature public radio programs as "Morning Edition", "All Things Considered", "Car Talk", "Fresh Air", "This American Life", and "Talk of the Nation" among others. WDET is also proud of its award-winning local news department, its local public affairs program "Detroit Today" and its American roots music programming. The station is also a sponsor of major cultural events in the Detroit area and broadcasts globally via its website at www.wdet.org
Contact: StoryCorps Griot (Debra Carey / Gillian Kocher / Jo Flattery)
Voice: (212) 685-4300
Contact: Andrea Ferguson
Voice: (917) 667-5546