A VIRTUAL celebration of Black Storytelling: Jan. 22-30, 2022

Photos by Jonathan Pitts-Wiley

FESTIVAL PASSES AVAILABLE!

2023 Guest Tellers and Artists

This much anticipated and highly visible event is the flagship of RIBS programming and reaches a statewide audiences of thousands. Each January for the week of the Martin Luther King Holiday, RIBS tellers, local artists and invited national and international guests bring the best of Black Storytelling to Rhode Island and Southern New England. For a two weeks, Rhode Island will experience some of the best cultural arts programming across the state for the 25th year in a row.

Antonio Rocha

Antonio Rocha

Antonio Rocha, a native of Brazil, began his career in the performing arts in 1985. In 1988 he received a Partners of the Americas grant to come to the USA to perform and deepen his mime skills with Mime Master Tony Montanaro. Since then he has earned a Summa Cum Laude Theater BA from USM (University of Southern Maine) and studied with Master Marcel Marceau. Mr. Rocha’s unique fusion of mime and spoken word has been performed from Singapore to South Africa and many places in between including 16 countries on 6 continents. Some of the venues include The Singapore Festival of the Arts, Wolf Trap, The National Storytelling Festival, The Kennedy Center, The Smithsonian Institution, The National Geographic, The Tales of Graz in Austria, Dunya Festival in Holland as well as many other Storytelling Festivals and educational institutions around The USA.

Antonio has three very entertaining and educational award-winning DVDs, a picture book, and a few awards including the coveted Circle of Excellence Award by the National Storytelling Network.
Learn more about Antonio HERE.

READ ABOUT ANTONIO

Janice Curtis Greene

Janice Curtis Greene

OFFICIAL GRIOT FOR THE STATE OF MARYLAND
16th President, National Association of Black Storytellers
Commissioner, Maryland Commission on African American History & Culture
2022 Zora Neale Hurston Award Recipient
Artist in Residence, Reginald Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture
Read more about Janice HERE.

READ ABOUT JANICE

Amina Blackwood-Meeks

Amina Blackwood-Meeks

Amina holds a Ph.D. in Cultural Studies. Her thesis The Oral Tradition: Displacement, Adjustment, Replacement – Storytelling as a Tool for Wholistic Development is available on the website of the University of the West Indies, Mona.

Amina is an award-winning Writer, Actress, Storyteller, Founder/Artistic Director, Ntukuma, The Storytelling Foundation of Jamaica. She weaves tales from the loom of her practical knowledge of the Caribbean, her life skills as a mother, grandmother, educator, communication specialist, political scientist, social and cultural policy researcher/analyst, and farmer. Her stories cover a range of issues affecting gender, the environment, children, and the direction of human development. Ken Corsbie, Elder Statesman of Caribbean Culture describes her stories as parables for the theatre which are “An outrageous combination of education and entertainment, of glitz and thoughtfulness”.

100% Jamaican/Caribbean
From the traditional to the contemporary, from workshops to performances, Amina delivers confidently bilingual in English and Jamaican. She has traveled with her special friends Ananse, Miss Lady, and Likkle Miss Jing Bang to storytelling festivals and a host of speaking engagements across the Caribbean, Africa, Europe, and North America.

Kala Jojo

Kala Jojo

Kala Jojo is a performer, storyteller, multi instrumentalist, vocalist, and teacher. Kala brings a wealth of knowledge to his performance art which embraces stories from a multitude of world African Traditions. Kala has been featured at various storytelling festivals all across the United States and has performed in venues everywhere from universities to grade schools. Kala’s repertoire expands to the very young and the very seasoned adults. Kala Jojo's approach to stories are weaved within a delicate balance of music, laden with music and songs. "In a world where storytelling is overshadowed by social media and parents no longer tell stories or sing lullabies to the babies, do not fear, for the storyteller stands as a reminder of humanity’s truest heritage.” Kjojo

READ ABOUT KALA

Rhode Island Black Storytellers

VALERIE TUTSON

VALERIE TUTSON

Valerie Tutson has been telling stories in schools, churches, libraries, festivals and conferences since 1991. She draws her stories from around the world with an emphasis on African traditions. Her repertoire includes stories and songs she learned in her travels to South Africa, her experiences in West Africa, stories from African American history. In addition, she is gaining quite a reputation for her exciting retelling of age-old Bible stories.

She graduated from Brown University with a Master’s Degree in Theatre Arts and a degree in a self-designed Major-Storytelling as A Communications Art

READ ABOUT VALERIE

V. RAFFINI

V. RAFFINI

V. Raffini, a self-made artist, actress, and teacher from the South Side of Providence has long been committed to the community, teaching Black History, and theatre, telling stories and nurturing the spiritual and creative abilities of youth.

READ ABOUT V. RAFFINI

ROCHEL COLEMAN

ROCHEL COLEMAN

Rochel Garner Coleman, actor, singer, storyteller, has been performing since he was 9 years old. He travels nationally and internationally sharing stories of Black historical legends such as Nat Love and Cool Papa Bell in shows developed using the research to performance method.

READ ABOUT ROCHEL

LEN CABRAL

LEN CABRAL

Len Cabral is an internationally acclaimed storyteller who has been enchanting audiences with his storytelling performances at schools, libraries, museums and festivals since 1976. A great grandson of a Cape Verdean whaler whose grandparents immigrated to America from the islands off the coast of West Africa, Len’s strong Cape Verdean ancestry comes alive in his exuberant retelling of African, Cape Verdean, and Caribbean folktales as well as original stories and tales from around the world.

Read more about Len or book a performance HERE.

READ ABOUT LEN

MARLON CAREY

MARLON CAREY

Marlon Carey is a multitalented artist who is always looking for ways to help build community and inspire people to make positive changes to the world. As a storyteller, he weaves an intricate tapestry with words, using a variety of methods with respect to the Storyteller traditions of old. He is a full-time father of three remarkable children and three cats.

READ ABOUT MARLON

Sylvia Ann Soares

Sylvia Ann Soares

Ms. Soares has worked for many different theater companies in New York, L.A. and Rhode Island including the New York Public Theater, the Negro Ensemble Company, L.A. Shakespeare Festival, Trinity Repertory Company and the Westerly Shakespeare Theatre. She was active in theater in New York and L.A. during the late sixties and seventies and considers herself a part of the Black Theater Movement. She returned to Providence in 1981 and worked as a live-in nurse for several years before deciding to go back to college. She gained her associates degree from C.C.R.I. in 1993 and then enrolled in Brown University’s Resumed Undergraduate Education program. She graduated from Brown in 1995 with a BA with honors in Theater Studies. Ms. Soares is an actress, poet, playwright and activist. Throughout her life, Ms. Soares has been involved in activism and what she calls “entertaining education.” She worked for the Amos House in Providence, RI, helped build a school in Nicaragua through the Providence-Niquinohomo Sister City Project, and has written several poems and plays about slavery in Rhode Island.

-Excerpt written by Gabrielle Fuentes

READ ABOUT SYLVIA

RAMONA BASS KOLOBE

Ramona Bas Kolobe

"The Watermelon Lady", is a "story wheeler." Miss Ramona brings her traditions of storytelling from her Jamaican and Native American ancestry together with her formal education to create works that open up the treasury of healing and understanding. Watermelon is a fruit of peace, friendship and sharing good times - all around the world!

READ ABOUT RAMONA

LINDA & SUMNER MCCLAIN

LINDA & SUMNER

Both Linda and Sumner McClain love to perform stories together, celebrating life. They strongly believe that through the art of storytelling, poetry, music, and movement we are awakened to the valuable stories of our past and present, creating tremendous potential for wholeness, and making the world a better place for everyone.

Read more about Linda and Sumner and book a performance HERE.

READ ABOUT LINDA & SUMNER

2023 Guest PerfoRmers

Sidy Maiga

SIDY MAIGA

Sidy Maiga is a Djembe Master from Mali, West Africa. As a teenager, he apprenticed
under some of Mali’s most renowned Master Drummers. Due to his natural talent,
Maiga began to play with two national touring companies in Mali and was being sought
out by many internationally known artists. Since moving to Rhode Island in 2006, Sidy
has been an active member of the local music scene, playing not only traditional Malian
music, but also a fusion of Malian music with Latin, Blues, and Brazilian sounds with his
band Afrimanding. In addition to these collaborations, he has played live sets alongside
House DJs on stages worldwide. His love for sharing his music and culture with the
community inspired him to begin Afrika Nyaga, a West Africa Dance and Drum Festival.
In partnership with RISCA (RI State Council for the Arts), this festival helps to bring
together both local and international musicians and dancers to perform across Rhode
Island. Maiga has received a Malian National Drumming Championship with Fakoli
Percussion Troupe (2003), the MacColl-Johnson Fellowship (2012), the RISCA Folk
Arts Fellowship (2012), and currently has his Djembe on display at the MFA in Boston
(2021). Sidy has performed on stages with many international artists, including Zakir
Houssain (2019). Sidy has released two albums, Maliden (2011) and Africa United
(2014), which features musicians from across the world, including Grammy Award
winner Oumou Sangaré. He has since recorded and released a single, Beko Ami
(2018), written for his grandmother Ami. Maiga has since pushed his craft further by
completing his degree at Berklee College of Music (2020), where he studied music
production, business, and composition. Sidy’s djembe that he had been playing for over
20 years is currently being displayed at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. During the
COVID19 pandemic, Sidy continued to share his cultural preservation work with local
school districts, organizations, and artists. For more information about Sidy Maiga and
his work visit sidymaiga.com.

READ ABOUT SIDY

W.A.R

W.A.R. / Melodie Thompson

W.A.R.
Melodie Thompson
Founded by in 2012, Worship Arts Restoration, Inc. is RI’s first federally recognized non-profit
arts organization dedicated to the restoration and support of visual and performing Christian arts
and artists, ultimately enriching our communities, spiritually, culturally and artistically. Headed
by Founding Director, Melodie Thompson, W.A.R. galvanizes our 60-strong membership in
collaborative work with other arts organizations; in ministry and charitable work; and, most
recently, in regular performance work at the newly acquired Maplestreet Performing Arts
Center &Theater (MPACT). The ultimate goal of W.A.R. is to function as a spiritual, practical
and financial support foundation for Christian Artists in the New England area and beyond, and
to be a positive, culturally-diverse force in the arts community-at-large.

READ ABOUT W.A.R.

Lydia Perez

Lydia Perez

Lydia Perez is the founder and artistic director of the Puerto Rican Institute of Arts and Advocacy, Inc. (PRIAA), found of Yoruba 2, and an award-winning and nationally recognized traditional music group from Puerto Rico. The group is known for playing genres of Puerto Rican folk music such as "bomba", and other Caribbean rhythms.

Lydia has spent the last twenty-eight years as an interpreter and cultural educator/activist in the United States as well as Puerto Rico and Cuba.

READ ABOUT LYDIA

THE SWEETIES FROM HIGHER GROUND

THE SWEETIES

Our Mission

Higher Ground International is a forward-thinking and culturally grounded social impact nonprofit organization.

We are dedicated to advocating for, empowering, and providing life-changing services to Liberians and West African immigrants, refugees, and other marginalized communities.

We seek to restore dignity, empower lives, and keep peace through work that centers and celebrates the cultural heritage and unique individuality of those we serve.

History

Higher Ground International was founded in Providence, Rhode Island in 2008 by the visionary founder & CEO, Henrietta White-Holder, a native of Liberia, to help support the vast needs of our new refugee arrivals who had experienced the traumas of civil war.

Since then, the organization’s mission has been expanded to include all vulnerable and underserved people.

READ ABOUT THE SWEETIES

Our Sponsors

VIEW EVENTS

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Music, storytelling, spoken word and more

Because there are so many ways to tell a story! And in Black Storytelling all these genres have a place. Storytelling is not just “reading books to kids.”

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