“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”

Maya Angelou,
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Storytelling gives voice, meaning, and light to our collective memories and imagined futures — full of generational knowledge, love, kinship, culture, resistance, and joy.

As a child, I grew up reading and listening to Anansi stories in Jamaican patois, particularly versions by beloved Miss Lou. With origins in West African orature, Anansi is a folktale character often taking the shape of a spider, considered to be a god with knowledge of all stories. Such folklore tales were transmitted to the Caribbean by way of the transatlantic slave trade, and Jamaican versions are now some of the most well preserved in history, in part due to the large concentration of enslaved Ashanti transported to the West Indies.

Although often playing the role of a trickster, Anansi frequently triumphs by transforming his apparent weaknesses into virtues. He was often celebrated as a symbol of resistance and survival within enslaved communities. These tales enabled populations across the African diaspora to reestablish a sense of continuity from their past, and offered a medium to transform and assert community voice and identity in the present.

I continue to hold these stories dear to my heart - as deep connection to my ancestry, memory of my childhood, and an internal reminder of the power held in stories. It is from this profound love for storytelling that Anansi Creative Studio emerged, and it is with this love that I curate spaces and experiences tapping into that immense power.

Anansi Creative Studio harnesses the power of storytelling to co-create BIPOC spaces rooted in creative inquiry and practice. ACS leans into innovation, curiosity, and the power of community to amplify BIPOC narratives, cultivate developmental networks, and work towards equitable transformation of the NYC creative economy.

No matter the medium or method, we all have a story to tell.