01 / EDUCATION
Storytelling & Youth
Interactive storytelling, school enrichment, and experiences that build imagination, confidence, and connection.
Explore youth experiences ↗BLACK STORYTELLERS ALLIANCE • NORTH MINNEAPOLIS
The story lives because we tell it.
Story is memory in motion.
Preserving and perpetuating Black storytelling through oral tradition, cultural education, intergenerational connection, and community.
01 — THE LIVING TRADITIONSCROLL TO EXPLORE ↓
THE VOICE✦THE DRUM✦THE MEMORY✦THE COMMUNITY✦THE FUTURE
Discover Black storytelling
Every story opens a new door.
Explore our living legacy through education, gatherings, cultural knowledge, and the voices that carry it forward.
01 / BSAOur StoryThe legacy, the people, and the purpose that built BSA.
02 / BSAProgramsStorytelling, cultural learning, and experiences for every generation.
03 / BSAFestivals + EventsGatherings that bring tradition into living community.
04 / BSAKwanzaa EducationExplore the Nguzo Saba and their meaning in everyday life.
05 / BSALiving ArchiveVoices, memories, festivals, and historical recordings.
06 / BSAMembershipStand with the storytellers and help carry the work forward.
Before it was written down, it was spoken.
The voices of yesterday.
The stories of today.
The responsibility of tomorrow.
The stories of today.
The responsibility of tomorrow.
ROOTED IN MEMORY • GROWING IN COMMUNITYOrigins & Legacy / 01
Not just a story. A living inheritance.
Black storytelling preserves experience, connects elders and youth, passes down cultural wisdom, and strengthens community identity.
Black Storytellers Alliance carries the African and African American oral tradition forward through festivals, education, fellowship, and performance in Minnesota and beyond.
Explore the BSA Legacy ↗Meet our long-standing membersTeach • Gather • Remember / 02
A tradition you can feel and share.
Our programs bring people together through telling, listening, learning, and creating.
02 / LEARNING
The Storytelling Institute
Developing storytellers and strengthening the spoken-word, cultural, and oral-tradition arts.
Explore the institute ↗03 / COMMUNITY
Karamu Garden
Connecting community, care for the land, food, and shared responsibility across generations.
Explore the garden ↗Festival Memory / 03
The festival ends. The legacy continues.
The Black Storytellers Alliance Festival is a place for elders, youth, culture bearers, and community to meet through the spoken word.
Explore past festival moments and the stories that continue beyond a single day.
Visit the Festival Archive ↗
2026 FESTIVAL • ARCHIVED PROGRAMKwanzaa Learning / 04
Seven principles. One shared future.
Explore the Nguzo Saba: principles that call us toward community, responsibility, purpose, and cultural creativity.
A Place in the Circle / 05
Be part of what comes next.
When you join, give, volunteer, or bring a storyteller into your community, you help protect a tradition that belongs to generations.
Voices and History / 06
From our story archive.
Jul 13, 2023
Elementor #15065
33rd Annual Black Master Storytellers FestivalLine Up Toni SimmonsValerie TutsonGran’ Daddy JuneBugKunama MtendajiNothando ZuluDr Gcina Mhlophe Previous slide Next slide Toni Simmons
Read story ↗Jan 8, 2023
UJAMAA
UJAMAA (Cooperative Economics) To build and maintain our own stores, shops, & other businesses to support one another and profit from them The Symbol of…
Read story ↗Jul 28, 2022
Grant provided by MSAB Supports BSA’s September 2022 Festival
Grant provided by MSAB Supports BSA’s September 2022 Festival This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota…
Read story ↗