Mouth open story jump out: Storytelling for change

It’s Halloween again and for the Courage My Friends podcast series, this means it’s a time for stories. Returning with our annual ‘mouth open, story jump out’ episode, storytellers Kesha Christie of Talkin’ Tales, Njoki Mbũrũ recent recipient of the Community Foundations of Canada Transformational Storytelling Fellowship and Rani Sanderson, storytelling workshop facilitator with StoryCentre Canada, share in stories and conversation about the power of storytelling for community work, transformation and social change.  

Christie reflects on the power of stories:

“When we share stories openly and honestly, we hear the heart of the other person. We're able to understand each other. It's the way that we pass down our beliefs and traditions. And it's also a way for us to question the society around us. It gives us a different view.”

Reflecting on transformative storytelling, Mbũrũ says:

“If storytelling continues to be extractive and commodified, then it becomes a product. And transformative storytelling is not about producing a series that is a hit show. It's not just about a product that is sellable. Transformative storytelling is really about honoring the dignity, the consent, the self determination and the sovereignty of whoever is giving a story.”

Sanderson talks about how stories build connection:

“Stories breed stories ... Somebody tells a story and then somebody else tells a story and then somebody else tells a story … Oh, that reminds me of this. That reminds me of this thing. And suddenly you have a whole room of people talking where maybe nobody, especially younger people [who] were a bit reticent to speak about some issues, some topic, just something. And during the pandemic, a lot of that was just about being isolated and lonely.”

About today’s guests: 

Kesha Christie is an accomplished storyteller who uses African and Caribbean folktales to connect people and cultures. Her engaging performances and insightful commentary have earned her a reputation as a respected voice in the storytelling community, and she has performed at a variety of venues and events across Canada. Kesha also runs her own platforms, including the “Walk Good” podcast and “Talkin’ Tales” YouTube channel, where she shares her passion for storytelling and its ability to bring people together. She is deeply committed to preserving and promoting African and Caribbean cultural traditions, and her work continues to inspire audiences of all ages. To learn more about Kesha and her work, visit www.talkintales.ca

Rani Sanderson has a background in film studies and production, later obtaining her Masters of Environmental Studies, where she concentrated on community-engaged arts and environmental education. For the past 15 years she has been facilitating workshops, with a focus on digital storytelling. In 2015 she was invited to head up StoryCentre Canada, (building on the work of American partners) where she develops and implements digital storytelling workshops for non-profit organizations across the country.StoryCenter founded and pioneered the Digital Storytelling methodology of participatory media creation in 1992, and has since taught hundreds of workshops around the world with a variety of communities and organizations. 

Njoki Mbũrũ is a storyteller, poet, and immigrant from Kenya who is currently living on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations. Building on her completion of the LEVEL Youth Public Policy Program through the Vancouver Foundation in 2020, she has continued to advocate for policies, projects, and partnerships that uplift the leadership and voices of Indigenous and Black people and communities. Between November 2022 to August 2023, Njoki completed a storytelling fellowship with the Community Foundations of Canada; an experience which has now propelled her to deepen her exploration of the relationships between public policy, emerging technologies, and philanthropy. As a guiding framework for her relationships and imagination work, she is guided by the question: "What else is possible?" 

Transcript of this episode can be accessed at georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute.  

Image: Kesha Christie, Njoki Mbũrũ, Rani Sanderson / Used with permission.

Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased. 

Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (Podcast Announcer); Bob Luker (Tommy); Grace Taruc-Almeda, Karin Maier and Jim Cheung (Street Voices)  

Courage My Friends podcast organizing committee: Chandra Budhu, Ashley Booth, Resh Budhu. 

Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca. 

Host: Resh Budhu.