Day of Neighborhood Storytelling

Sat., Aug., 8, noon, free, Lonnie Young Recreation Center at 1100 E. Chelten Ave., Norris Square Park at 2141 N. Howard St., and DiSilvestro Playground at 15th and Morris streets; and 4 p.m., free, Community Education Center at 3500 Lancaster Ave.; 215-438-2077, griotworks.com.

by Chelsea Calhoun

[ event ]

Joslyn Duncan Ladson wants to help city residents cope with violence, but not through family therapy or gun prevention programs — instead, through storytelling. Ladson (pictured) is the director at GriotWorks, which collaborates with schools and churches to bring communities together through song, documentary and storytelling. "I felt like it was urgent," she says. "I had been hearing a lot of stories from young people about violence. ... I wanted to find a way to bring people together in a way that was positive and didn't cost money."

On Saturday, GriotWorks presents a citywide event featuring three one-hour programs, during which storytellers will share oral traditions rooted in the days of the African Diaspora, which reflect morals, values and history of African folklore and culture. "It seems like people are running out of solutions," says Ladson. "And moral-based storytelling provides solutions and ways of looking at things." All the storytellers — including special guests Queen Nur, a storyteller and teaching artist from New Jersey, and TAHIRA, a storyteller, poet and vocalist from Delaware — plus African drummers and dancers, will converge in the afternoon for an outdoor oral folklore finale.

The way Ladson sees it, storytelling is just another form of media that can insert images into the minds of a story's listeners. "And if we create positive images," she says, "we can change some of the stereotypes in mainstream media."

Sat., Aug., 8, noon, free, Lonnie Young Recreation Center at 1100 E. Chelten Ave., Norris Square Park at 2141 N. Howard St., and DiSilvestro Playground at 15th and Morris streets; and 4 p.m., free, Community Education Center at 3500 Lancaster Ave.; 215-438-2077, griotworks.com.