Storytelling with Mama Edie

Come and experience an interactive storytelling and percussion performance from Mama Edie in celebration of Black History Month. The performance will honor the importance of plants and other vegetation as related to the agricultural genius of George Washington Carver. Mama Edie will weave in stories about Ananse, the Spider from Ghana, as the kente fabric, also created by the people of Ghana, consists of patterns inspired by the webs that spiders weave.

This performance will take place in Horticulture Hall in front of the Moroccan fountain and is open to all. Kids and families can sit on the floor and benches to enjoy the performance. No sign up is required, however a reservation to the Conservatory is required! Conservatory reservations do tend to fill up on weekends, so get your reservation in advance here at the Visit Us page. The performance will begin at 11, but seating starts at 10:45.

Mama Edie is often called the Singing, Signing, Spanish-Speaking, Storytelling, Percussion-Playing Speech Pathologist. When she noticed more than 30 years ago how little her predominately African American and Spanish-Speaking children knew about themselves, some even feeling shame, she began writing stories, songs and plays that allowed them to see the beauty that she saw in them that they didn’t know how to see. As a storytelling speech pathologist, she wrote stories that strengthened language, listening and critical thinking skills, while also teaching them to see their own natural beauty, power and light. Interactive stories and songs from throughout the African Diaspora have been shared. Traveling the world, Mama Edie includes stories that teach of the connections between African Descended cultures and indigenous people of the America’s; of the collective history of all Americans; and why there is ample reason to be proud of being children of African descent.