I like African folktales. There’s lots
of action. They talk about good things, and the story ends with
a lesson," says 8-year-old Alicia Mitchell-Mangual, who
attends Tracy Cook’s storytelling workshops at the Weeksville
Society in Bedford-Stuyvesant, every weekend.
Cook doesn’t limit herself to just African folktales, however.
The Fort Greene resident’s repertoire is culled from all over
the African Diaspora – the Caribbean, Latin America and North
America. All of these areas have deep roots in the storytelling
tradition of West Africa, and Cook’s role as storyteller, or
griot, also originated in the same region.
At the workshops, Cook stands barefoot because "the spirit
of creativity rises from the ground." Her arms wave gracefully,
and her melodious voice resonates with tales like the "Mermaid
Story" from Madagascar, "The Chicken Hawk and the Buzzard"
from Puerto Rico and "Little 8-John" from South Africa.
Some of Cook’s stories are cautionary tales. In the "Mermaid
Story," a man loses his wife and children because he fails
to keep her secret. In "Little 8-John" a mean-spirited
boy who brings misfortune on his family is reduced to a smear
on the table, which his mother wipes away.
Sometimes the stories show how the wily triumph over the unsuspecting.
In "The Chicken Hawk and the Buzzard," despite the
superior hunting ability of the chicken hawk, he becomes a meal
for the buzzard, which boasts, "I survive on the misfortune
of others."
Cook also sings songs like "Vulani Ringi Ring," a South
African song sung in the Xhosa language, which is on Ladysmith
Black Mombazo’s CD "Gift of the Tortoise" (Wea/Warner
Brothers, 1994) and "I Love to Laugh," which appears
on Sweet Honey in the Rock’s CD "Still the Same Me"
(Uni/Rounder, 2000). Cook often accompanies herself, or has the
children accompany her on the shekere, a West African instrument
made from a hollowed-out gourd covered with beads; the mbira
bira, a kind of rattle made of discs on a rod; and the balafon,
a wooden xylophone-type instrument.
Part of Cook’s workshops include teaching the children how to
tell their own story, which will be performed at Weeksville’s
annual Family Day on Aug. 11.
Cook, whose work is funded with a grant from the Brooklyn Arts
Council, says she chose Weeksville as the setting for her workshops
because of the site’s great historical and emotional significance
to African Americans.
About Weeksville
Weeksville was an early settlement of freed slaves in what is
now Bedford-Stuyvesant. It was founded in 1838, 11 years after
the abolition of slavery in New York State, and named after James
Weeks, an African-American settler from Virginia who purchased
the land from the Lefferts family estate.
Weeksville grew before, during and after the Civil War. In 1847,
Susan Smith McKinney-Steward, the first black physician in New
York State and the third in the nation, was born in Weeksville.
Moses P. Cobb, who joined the police force in 1892, becoming
the first black policeman in the City of Brooklyn’s 9th Ward,
owned a home in Weeksville.
Weeksville was once the site of the Brooklyn Howard Colored Orphanage
Asylum, the Zion Home for Aged Relief and the African Civilization
Society. Weeksville even had its own newspaper, the Freedman’s
Torchlight. During the violent Civil War draft riots of 1863,
the community served as a refuge for hundreds of African-Americans
who fled Manhattan.
During the rapid growth of Brooklyn, following the completion
of the Brooklyn Bridge in 1883, Weeksville’s African-American
identity became more multicultural. Then in the late 1960s, Weeksville
was rediscovered by a group of students in a Pratt Neighborhood
College workshop led by James Hurley, president of the Long Island
Historical Society.
Children, teachers, parents and residents went to City Hall and
testified before the Landmarks Preservation Commission that Weeksville
should receive landmark status, and in 1970, Weeksville was designated
a city historic district and also listed in the National Register
of Historic Places.
The four small wooden cottages along an old colonial lane, formerly
Hunterfly Road, between Buffalo and Rochester avenues, are all
that remains of a once vibrant community. The old homes, 1698-1708
Bergen St., are being restored and developed as the Weeksville
African-American Museum. They are maintained, owned and operated
by the Society for the Preservation of Weeksville and Bedford-Stuyvesant
History, established in 1971 with Hurley as president.
Abike Jotayo, resident storyteller and site interpreter at Weeksville,
was a member of the original dig.
"The infectious nature of history is something I never want
to get rid of," says Jotayo. She hopes that one day the
houses at Weeksville will be "completely renovated and furnished,
with an ongoing endowment to encourage research and preservation."
The 21st Annual Weeksville Family Festival
takes place Aug. 11, from 11 am to 6 pm, in front of 1698 Bergen
St., between Rochester and Buffalo avenues. Events include a
horseback riding workshop, performances by The Spirit Ensemble,
Abike Jotayo, Tracy Cook and The Rappin’ Fireman as well as a
Larry Brown bead workshop. For more information on storytelling
or the family festival, call (718) 756-5250. Rain date is Aug.
18.
