Two storytellers will weave seasonal tales for young and old Monday at the Chicago Cultural Center.
Tales about Africans and African-Americans ”wherever they may live”
will be shared by Shanta, a professional storyteller for five years who has made appearances in the Chicago school system and around Illinois.
Shanta will share a series of stories relating to the African-American holiday Kwanzaa, which coincides with the Christmas season. The 25-year-old tradition commemorates harvest celebrations in African history.
Storyteller Alice Rubio will tell an original Christmas story about a homeless baby in Chicago after World War II, and the people of various ethnic backgrounds who assist him over the years.
Rubio said the story was inspired by a recent experience she had with visitors from Romania, who were unaccustomed to charity from anyone other than the state.
Rubio was standing on a street corner during a Toys for Tots parade in Chicago a few years ago. The people standing on the corner next to her, also waiting for the parade to pass, were from Romania.
”Talking to them, I was hit by the tremendous amount of charity that occurs in this city during this season,” she said. ”I tried to explain to them that it was individual people, and not the government behind it. When they finally understood that, they cried.”
Out of that experience, Rubio created a story about ”how all the little things we do that are good are a reflection of what we have been taught about our humanity.
Shanta and Rubio are members of the National Association for the Preservation and Perpetuation of Storytelling.
”Stories for the Season” is presented free by the Chicago Cultural Center at 5:30 p.m. Monday, 78 E. Washington St. Call 312-346-3278.
