Storytelling is an Oral Tradition. This is the primary communication means for African people. Even today in Africa, each village or community has several griots (pronounced gree-ohs) or jeli (plural) and these are storytellers. Their role in the community is to memorize the history of the community. Some learn and retain the genealogy of certain families. They encourage warriors in time of war, make public announcements, sometimes they are even interpreters for the king or the chief. They pass on the traditions...they let the people know their roles through the stories they retain. “During the slave trade when Black people came to America, we were not permitted to read and write, so the responsibility fell on the storyteller to pass on a lot of the traditions tracing the history of our people through their story telling”, Khabir acknowledged. “So the storyteller has a prominent role in the African American community.”

“I first got involved in story telling in 1989 when I became involved with Freetown Village, which is a Black Living History Museum”, remarked the storyteller known by the single name “Khabir”. Freetown Village, which was started by a Black woman by the name of F.A. Wellington, who currently has an exhibit at the Indiana State Museum. The artistic director was a storyteller by the name of Deborah Asante’. “There were a few occasions I saw Deborah doing story telling and I was really impressed”, he said when asked what got him into the art of storytelling. “It looked like it was fun and I didn’t know of any Black males that were doing it at that time locally,” he remarked. “I told her that I was interested in it and she gave me some pointers and a few leads and I kind of started from there. Freetown Village has given me some exposure and my basis for being here”.

“I began working with Freetown Village as a fictitious character named Daniel Thorton,” Khabir recalled. He depicts some of those Blacks who became socially active. Daniel Thorton himself was a self made lawyer, so he was the lead representative of Freetown Village.“The Character that I have been playing for years now is Isiah Cuffey, the founder of Freetown Village and also the Barber”, he said. Freetown Village has 10 characters in their character profile, and they sometimes get different actors to play those roles. Freetown Village is a depiction of Black history in Indiana in 1870’s.

“What I do as a storyteller is preserve and pass on some of those ancient stories that have come down from the ancestors for many generations,” Khabir remarked. “The stories generally have values and morals and that sort of thing. It’s a way of teaching in an entertaining manner.” There’s different styles of storytellers, such as poetry and singing or call and respond. This aides in the teaching and learning process. “It’s a lot of fun also”, he said pleasantly.

One example he cited of a story that has been passed down is a character we now see on T.V. as Bugs Bunny. Bugs Bunny is a contemporary rendition of Briar Rabbit. Briar Rabbit evolved during the time of slavery, but actually he comes from Africa. In Africa, there is the same trickster character called Kahlulu. This character shows you how you can use your wits to get out of sticky situations. He can give you hope and show the good and bad sides of personalities, because he could sometimes get himself into trouble by being too slick. “The trickster rabbit is a character that has been passed down for hundreds and hundreds of years”, he said.

“I was born in Indianapolis in 1948", Khabir said. Khabir went to Crispus Attucks High School, but did not take any Drama classes, although Attucks had a noted Drama Department at the time. “At that time I was not the least bit interested in the Arts and I definitely was not a History Buff”, he said. “That interest came to me later in years.” Khabir is married to a wonderful woman named Carzelia, but her siblings called her SiSi (see-see) which is Kiswahili for “we”. Together they have 5 children ranging from 3 to 12 years of age. “In the middle we have a girl named Linnovia, who has two older brothers, and two younger,” Khabir said. The boys are Matthew, Jonathan, Mandela, and Askia. The children attend IPS Key School.

When he is not storytelling and acting, Khabir is the Outreach Coordinator for the Father Resource Program at Wishard Hospital, in Indianapolis. “It is a program for young fathers 17-26 years of age," he said. "We have 4 or 5 classes a year, generally held for 5 weeks in duration, and the young men attend our program Monday through Friday 8:00 am to 2:30 pm, during that time." In the workshop they complete their GED’s, they get pre-employment training, they also learn about parenting and child development, they learn a lot about their history and their culture. Several other organizations and individuals come in and assist with their teaching,” Khabir explained. The Father Resource Program has been around for 4 years.

In his storytelling Khabir portrays several characters. One of which is Martin R. Delany who was the first Black Major in the U.S. military history. He’s also considered by some Black scholars the Father of Black Nationalism. Another character is Frederick Freeman Douglas, who is based on several Black men in Indiana that lived and worked in the CCC (Civil Conservation Corps) during The Depression. Currently Khabir plays a character named Charles Davis Freeman who recounts his experience of the Middle Passage from Africa to America. He can be seen portraying this Character at the Children’s Museum as part of the Africa Exhibit. He currently will be appearing there on March 7 from 12p-3p and for 3 Sundays beginning March 15 from 12p-3p.

For more information about Khabir, be sure to visit his website at Circle City Business and Culture Mall at http://home.indy.net/~concepts. For more information about the Mall contact Creative Concepts Services at 317-266-9310 or visit the Mall on the internet at http://home.indy.net/~concepts