the same sense of belonging as
others. A lot of the consternation
that this campus has seen
surrounding race, gender and
identity in recent months has led
many students to grapple with
their identities in ways they
never have before. “MVisible
Voices” is about taking these
experiences and these identity
conflicts and moving them to the
very center of the conversation
instead of pushing them to
the periphery. These stories
are just as much a part of the
history of this University as the
narratives that we hear more
often. Through her work, James
explores being a minority on this
campus and how as a community
we can welcome all people into
the broader conversation about
what it means to be a Wolverine,
and in a bigger sense, what it
means to be human.
James hopes to take the
podcast further than just a
bicentennial event, as it has seen
much success. She laid out a plan
for Season Two of the podcast.
She hopes to take it a step
further, explore new issues and
open it up to more minorities
who were not explored in the
first podcast. She says she’d like
to further explore the Native
American culture and identity
on the campus, as well as the
issues surrounding gender and
sexuality.
“There are continuously going
to be untold stories that we can
discover and lift up,” she said.
In addition to the podcast,
James has brought the “Value
the
Voice”
event
to
the
University campus. In junction
with the Comprehensive Studies
Program, James helped to create
a live storytelling series. It is
described as a more casual and
off-the-cuff TED Talk, with an
emphasis on culture and the
learned life lessons. The series
has had three installments thus
far (in Sept., Nov. and Jan.), with
a final one coming in March.
James describes it as a sacred
space, and spoke to the wide
spectrum of stories that were
told at the most recent of the
three events held so far.
“One girl told the story of
her mother and sister dying in a
house fire, someone else told the
story of nobody knowing they
have MS (multiple sclerosis),
another
of
her
experiences
abroad,” she explained. James
herself told the story of the first
time she saw a naked man, which
was in a West Quad Residence
Hall girl’s bathroom during
her undergraduate years, when
a man had stumbled in there
drunk and passed out naked.
“That story is real, and it’s
relatable,” she said with a laugh.
She has also been recently
exploring the way storytelling
is evolving and changing with
the times. When she began,
storytelling was all done live
and not written. In her early
storytelling career, many people
began transcribing and posting
stories;
however,
now
most
storytellers have reverted back
to the old ways of storytelling —
simple and spoken. Additionally,
James speaks on the world of
social media, and how that has
played a role in the world of
storytelling.
“It’s funny actually. I had a
student download Snapchat on
my phone because I wanted to
have my own Snapchat story
— it’s a new way of telling
stories,” she said. “Storytelling
is changing.”
James does not seem fazed
or nervous about these changes
in storytelling that come with
the times. Rather, she is excited
and motivated for where this
could potentially take her as
a storyteller. At the base of all
of the organizing she has done
to bring cultural storytelling
to this campus is her original
passion: storytelling.
James has become a well-
known
storyteller
both
in
Mich and beyond. Besides her
mother and grandmother, who
are both her biggest mentors
when it comes to storytelling,
we spoke a lot about two other
people who have really shaped
her perception of storytelling
and how it ties into culture. The
first, mythology writer Joseph
Campbell, has really shaped her
perception of the foundation of
storytelling. His work speaks on
human experiences and religion.
He also introduced James into
the idea of the “Hero’s Journey.”
The “Hero’s Journey” is the
template of a tale in which a
hero embarks on a journey,
and, after some form of crisis,
wins a victory and then returns
transformed in some way.
“I use the Hero’s Journey
as a guideline so often in my
life, especially when I’m just
speaking with students,” James
said. “I always explain it’s sort
of like the freshman/senior
narrative, and how you change
so much just in your four years
of school here.”
The
second
of
her
two
mentors is Jackie Torrence,
who is otherwise known as the
Story Lady. Torrence has told
wonderful stories of the South
for many years, with extremely
animated facial expressions —
something that James often tries
to tie into her own storytelling,
especially when speaking with
kids. These two mentors, along
with her family, have been the
people James has looked to
for guidance throughout her
storytelling journey.
In addition to all her work
here, James has told stories
around the country and will
continue to do so going forward.
She is infatuated with the idea of
storytelling for youth audiences.
When asking James about why
she is drawn to young audiences
when telling stories, she tells
of the magic in telling children
stories and watching them want
to pass them on.
“When I tell stories to young
children, I can change my
voice
to
highlight
different
characters, and they go crazy for
it,” she said. “When I’m ready
to leave, I’ll hear them talking
to one another using the voices
I just performed with, and it’s
such a positive way to give to
that generation and hope they
become hooked on storytelling
too.”
She has also gave a TED talk
in Dec. at the University of
Maryland, where she was invited
to speak. Being one who did not
much believe in storytelling that
is recorded or rehearsed, she
originally wanted to refuse the
offer. However, after speaking
with the TED team in Maryland
and realizing what an honor
it would be to speak there, she
could not turn it down. In the
TED talk, titled “What’s your
Story?,” James talks about how
to use storytelling to achieve
one’s life goals and destiny.
“I ended up really enjoying
that experience,” she said. “At
the end of it all, in any form,
storytelling is me and you, and
we’re having this moment and
sharing it with each other.”
In addition to this, she is
currently working on a story
she will be telling at Indiana
University. It is an updated
story from the Yoruba people
of Nigeria, which speaks of
the Goddess of Fresh Water.
However, she has worked to
update it to talk about the Flint
water crisis and the Native
American oil spill — constantly
joining past narratives with
the present day.
“This isn’t gone, you know?
This story has so much history,
but it’s still here with us,” she
said. “Stories are so much about
the past, but we can always
take them to the future.”
The piece will be set to a
dance,
which
incorporates
other mediums of art, such as
music and visual elements. She
will be performing the piece
with jazz artists, and the dance
ensemble is comprised entirely
of
white
performers
who
have been working to learn
traditional Yoruba movement.
“Black dancers have always
had to learn ballet — so why
shouldn’t these white dancers
have to step out of their
comfort zone and learn about
(a) different culture’s dancing
styles?” she said.
She is also looking forward
to the traditional Nigerian garb
the staff at Indiana University
has had made for her, which
includes a beautiful headpiece
and
intricate
decorations.
The
ability
of
storytelling
to take the form of an entire
performance is both exciting
and innovating, and she hopes
it
will
captivate
audiences
as much as it has already
captivated her.
James’s
storytelling
experience has been unique
and not without struggle. At
the end of the day though, she
would not change a thing. She
has grown and changed in her
years as a storyteller and hopes
to continue to inspire, teach
and grow as she continues to
tell stories. As a storyteller,
she
is
constantly
brought
back to her roots — the ones
that began to grow from her
kitchen with her grandmother,
telling
stories
about
their
family’s culture and heritage.
From there she has been able
to celebrate and commemorate
her culture through telling
stories, and hopes to inspire
many to do the same.
“At our essence, people are
good and we want to be happy,”
she said. She paused, letting
her words settle around me.
“At the center of it all, we’re
all just made for goodness. And
that’s what I hope to convey
when I tell stories.”
2B —Thursday, February 1, 2018
b-side
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
National Center for Institutional Diversity
Elizabeth James: At the corner of culture and story
Every time Elizabeth James
takes a breath to speak, you can
see a story forming in her head.
It builds until it’s right behind
her teeth, and then she opens
her mouth to create a world in
the space around you with her
words. For me, this is her office
building, up in the University’s
Haven Hall, tucked away in
the kindest room I’ve ever seen
— an entire wall covered with
warm, loving photographs and
artifacts that reflect her passion
for culture and history lining
every surface. The room has an
inviting, colorful vibe — and
there’s no better way to describe
James. Her voice is soothing and
relaxed, taking you with her into
each story and piece of advice
she has to offer. In her years
as a storyteller, a friend and a
mentor, she has touched and
affected many peers, students,
fellow staff members and more
with her narratives.
A
woman
of
many
incredible experiences, James
currently holds the position
of outreach coordinator with
the
University’s
Department
of Afroamerican and African
Studies. In 2014, James became
a Harold R. Johnson’s Diversity
Service Award recipient, as
well as the Office of Student
Affairs’s Advisor of the Year. She
has additionally been awarded
the Cornerstone Award from
the Black Celebratory among
countless other honors for her
dedication to DAAS and the
student community. In addition
to scheduling and coordinating
events
and
publicizing
on
campus, James holds a rather
crucial and important position
in the hearts of alumni, staff
and students alike — many
would call her the University’s
own resident storyteller. When
asked to simply describe what
this position and her work at
the
University
surrounding
storytelling entails, she took a
moment to form her words —
something she does often before
she speaks — which lends to her
acumen and astute voice.
“Storytelling is … ” She pauses,
thinking
of
something,
her
grandmother perhaps, or a story
previously told. “It is the healing
yet gentle way to open the door
to talk about experiences.”
In
what
could
best
be
described as growing from her
roots, James began her journey
of telling stories when she was a
young girl and her grandmother
would tell stories around the
dinner table and in her living
room. This sparked her love for
the art of storytelling and put her
on the road to becoming a well-
known storyteller herself. As
an observant young girl, James
was infatuated with the idea
of stories, and especially loved
the ways in which they could
transcend
different
cultures,
teach lessons and bridge gaps
between those with different
backgrounds.
“My grandmother was an
informal storyteller, she told
stories as life lessons to heal
people. You know, people didn’t
talk about issues back then like
they do now. So this was a way
they could handle their grief,”
she said.
From
then
on,
she
was
hooked. As she grew up, her
mother also took on storytelling,
going on to have her stories
recorded and broadcasted on
WDET-FM radio station. James
went on to study History of
Art and Communications, then
received a master’s degree in
Journalism and Library Science.
Despite varied interests, she
always knew her path would
trail back to storytelling at the
end of the day. The stories and
moments of her childhood were
passed down from the hands
of James’s grandmother to her
mother, and have now landed
in her palms. She has taken this
foundation, shaped and molded
and built it into something much
greater than she ever imagined.
“To me, after I realized
what storytelling meant to me
and could mean to others, I
began to explore myself and my
background
through
stories.
Now I use them to convey deeper
emotions
and
metaphors,”
she said. “I often think of
writing a book with all of my
grandmother’s stories in it. I just
feel that in the future, I’d like to
put those stories to paper.”
What
James
means
by
exploring
her
background
through stories is exploring
the
intersection
between
culture and storytelling and
what that means to her, the
Mich. community and society
as a whole. Her work consists
of the importance of cultural
storytelling and figuring out
what this means to audiences,
society and herself.
“The heartbeat of culture is
storytelling. It captures all of our
souls. We’re all storytellers,” she
said. This is the mantra behind
the
community
of
cultural
storytellers she has created here
at the University.
What
began
with
an
informal conversation with the
director of the National Center
for
Institutional
Diversity
has become one of the most
important and fulfilling projects
on
which
James
has
ever
worked. For the bicentennial
event at the University, James
really wanted to explore and tell
stories that aren’t being told on
this campus. Whether it comes
from students, alumni or staff,
James had a sudden itch to lift
up the voices of people who feel
marginalized on this campus
and celebrate them for their
individuality.
“I saw a need to make the
narrative of U of M richer and
fuller because there are so many
other stories than the ones that
we hear on this campus every
day,” she said.
And with that spark of an
idea, she got to work. She began
to reminisce about the past
while looking at the present
and the future, and she started
to think about how the climate
at the University could be
supplemented and advanced by
cultural storytelling. Out of this
brainstorming came “MVisible
Voices” — a podcast series
dedicated to telling the types of
stories this campus has stifled
and left untold. The podcast
series
is
intergenerational,
sharing stories from alumni,
students and faculty. James
explains it as having a triangular
style, split up between the three
groups. However, after exploring
different people’s stories, they
began to realize that many
had more connections than
they originally imagined. They
were able to make connections
between the current members
and creators, who have since
graduated, of specific student
groups on campus — students
from years past who have
had identical experiences to
present students and watched as
faculty related to and connected
with
students.
The
series
allows listeners to discover
the lost narratives of so many
on this campus, and it seeks
to demonstrate the struggle
for change in society and the
world. On the series’s website,
in addition to listening to the
podcast, you can learn about the
history that puts the stories in a
larger, national context.
“What’s
so
interesting
is
the intersectionality between
cultures,” James said. “There
are so many similarities between
different cultures that we can
explore through storytelling.
Just starting from the base of
it — every culture has some
sort of creation myth or story …
it defines human beings, being
curious about why we’re here,
and it builds from there.”
She moves from this to talk
about how all basic questions
have their roots in stories,
which is why storytelling is such
a universal art form: Stories are
inherently relatable. This is why
“MVisible Voices” is so relatable
and intriguing — each person
who listens can pull out different
elements of the story with which
they relate. This ties people
closer together, regardless of
their background, and proves
that, at the very simplest point,
we are all human beings who can
share some inherent experience
one way or another.
“Each
culture
has
their
mystery stories, their fiction
stories, their sun stories, their
water stories. Stories are just
human beings trying to convey
to ourselves and to others that
we will go on. That we will make
it. All stories deal with things
that are greater than ourselves,”
James said.
Right now on the website,
you can explore a piece on
the
culturally-rooted
Greek
life organizations on campus,
which
discusses
the
stifled
Latin, African American and
Asian
American
Greek
life
organizations that are talked
about so little. With just one
click, you can learn about
and listen to how students
of
historically
marginalized
identities live, learn and grow
together. With another, you can
explore campus movements at
the University. This podcast is
not just for those marginalized
voices to feel heard, but to
educate those with the privilege
to have their stories and voices
lifted up and heard every day on
this campus.
In one podcast, titled “Days
of Future Past,” former Black
Student Union President Sherise
Steele,
Business
sophomore
Kyle Trocard and James have
a
conversation
about
the
connection between technology
and
social
change
at
the
University. Steele speaks on the
way in which the Black Student
Union and other organizations
used to have to get the word out
about their meetings and events
without technology.
“We communicated with mass
meetings — but if we had to get
the word out, we had to do hand-
to-hand combat. So someone
went to every residence hall and
posted fliers, did party invites,
meeting invites and then word
of mouth. So there was no other
way other than to go to Markley;
so whoever lived on the Hill
had to take care of all the Hill
residence halls. If you worked
someplace where students ate
— maybe you worked at the
League or the Union and put
the fliers there. That’s how
we’d have to get the word out
about protesting,” said Steele,
who was also a first-generation
graduate from the University.
In this podcast, she is put into
conversation with Trocard, who
is currently involved with the
Black Student Union.
“I feel like we know our
place when it comes to handling
things,
and
people
have
accused us of playing politics.
But sometimes you have to
do things in the way that the
University will be willing to
listen to you and so you know
... speaking the language that
they understand so that when
you need something done, you
can get it done. We find it hard
to protest constantly — we can
make a phone call, we can talk
to the administration. When the
time comes to protest though,
we’re there,” Trocard said about
the way the Black Student Union
operates today.
The University is a hotbed
for
narrative
negotiations
and struggles as people come
together
from
all
different
experiences and backgrounds
to share in this creative learning
environment. Not everyone gets
to experience this University as
a welcoming environment with
ELI RALLO
Daily Arts Writer
Stories are just
human beings
trying to convey
to ourselves and
to others that we
will go on
Stories are so
much about
the past, but we
can always take
them to the
future
The series
allows listeners
to discover the
lost narratives of
so many on this
campus