Storytellers are Riveting, Healing, and Catching on!
Each month it gets harder to find a seat, but the word keeps spreading and the people keep coming… it’s a healthy addiction and the best way to spend a Friday in Detroit ever.
Satori Shakoor never disappoints. In honor of Father’s Day, June’s event, Fathers and Figures gave us all a unique understanding of the affect of a fathers love on six very different men, and ultimately what that affect looks like into the future of their lives.
Men in our lives can show or tell us so many facets of their personalities and traits, simply by the turn of a joke or the turn of their head. The richness of their character and courage can only be truly known by the family and true friends that they cherish and trust. But then we can pass those stories on in ways that resonate and heal within the hearts of strangers when told authentically, dynamically, and with a healing and raw perspective that only The Secret Society of Twisted Storytellers can bring.
As always, there was a special performance before the storytellers share, and this time we were treated by an endearing and joyful performance by the renown Detroit-Windsor Dance Academy. Owned and operated by Debra Jean White-Hunt and her husband Bruce, the choreography featured several of her dancers of various age along with their fathers, with Debra’s own father of 93 years stealing the show as her partner.
All men in this evenings performance, Qasim Abbas first shared the travels of his family through the political and cultural upheaval of being moved to from one country to the next, the breaking of several cultural and personal traditions while maintaining his souls integrity.
Rabbi Yisrael Pinson, gave us the multiplicity of their journeys, one who breaks tradition, and the other who embraces it and shares a unique statement that allows us all to embrace its meaning. Find out that statement here:
https://www.youtube.com/watchfeature=player_embedded&v=5pVzHCXuwgU.
As always, there is a cash bar and several amazing booths and vendors sharing their wares and their stories. Authors, T-shirts, cupcakes, and jewelry are all there to dazzle and tempt you to walk around the circular rotunda graced by Hubert Massey’s Ring of Geneology: http://thewright.org/explore/exhibitions/51-ring-of-genealogy
Afterward, “The Meltones” Butch & Jay Hollowell sang a beautiful rendition of Cat Steven’s “Cats In The Cradle”.
Comedian and writer, Mark Sweetman and his adopted son Ben Sweetmen gave a stunning performance of their story in a tandem address that allowed the audience insight into what a bi-racial family can look like and how children of abuse can persevere within and atmosphere of open honesty, love, and respect when the family shows the children as well as the birth parents.
Rep. Phil Cavanagh shared the upbringing of a Mayors son, coping with his fathers death, and the affects of alcoholism in his young life, and the ultimate turn around of his life through the majesty of becoming a father.
The incomparable Dwight Stackhouse finishes the evening of with his famous resonant voice and expert command of the spoken word. His sensual twists and drawing of the words bring his story of his fathers mysterious ways and his brothers marvelous presence creates a tail one wants never to have end.
The next event is themed as Family Ties and will be held on Friday, July 18, 2014 at 8:00 pm at the Charles H. Wright Museum, 315 E. Warren Avenue, Detroit, MI 48202. Tickets are $20.00.
Join by purchasing tickets now: http://www.secretstorytellers.com/Events.html
Reporting: Cathleen Francois
