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Odyssey Storytelling Statement on Black Lives Matter

The essence of our organization is to create community one story at a time. We hold space for people to tell their stories, share their lived experiences on stage, and more importantly, for others to simply listen. Time and time again this has created connections and strengthened our Tucson community.

It’s no secret that our country has been increasingly divisive. It felt for a moment as if the COVID-19 pandemic had given us a common pain to endure together, though even the virus has disproportionately affected communities of color. Then the painful history of unresolved issues of systemic racism reared its ugly face to once more shock the nation. Shock for those who had not understood that this was already an endemic illness. An illness that has created a power structure which has dispensed both privilege and death.

Racist violence has been killing Black people in our nation since its inception. We watched in agony as yet another Black person was murdered as a result of police brutality.

Over the past few weeks we have taken time to listen and observe in hopes of understanding how we can best support this historic movement. It’s time for real change. We cannot sit silently with heavy hearts.

Racism is not simply something that only lives in individual hearts. It’s not about a few bad apples. It’s institutionalized oppression of people of color in our country. The very least we can do as allies of our Black brothers and sisters is to listen. Now is the time to uplift and amplify the voices of those who are literally screaming for attention to this issue. So we are here as we have been since our inception to do what we do best, to hold space for your voices, your stories.

We take our place in this narrative by first affirming that BLACK LIVES MATTER.

Our podcast has already begun by highlighting stories from individual people of color storytellers. While that is a good starting point, we know we need to do more to reach out to communities of color in Tucson, especially the Black community. Our stage, our audience, and our volunteer family should reflect the entire Tucson community. We’ve been working on that and recognize we must do better.

More immediately, we are producing a special event to highlight stories of systemic racism called “Black Stories Matter”. If you are a person of color and wish to share a personal story we encourage you to contact us at stories@odysseystorytelling.com. We know that not everyone has been able to join the protests due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, so we are offering our virtual space.

Odyssey has been a shining light for many of us in this community. Please lean on us now. We are here to support you.

Our Odyssey Continues…

As you all know by now, due to the inadvisability of gathering in large groups during the COVID-19 pandemic, Odyssey Storytelling decided to cancel our April show, “Kale (And Other Reversals of Fortune).” Because Odyssey is a non-profit that relies almost entirely on ticket sales, this left us in a bit of a bind, which is why we took to Facebook to ask for donations. And you responded beautifully, prompting us to raise our goal amount not once, but twice! Thank you so, so much for your support during this time.

Even though our Facebook fundraiser has ended, you can still donate by visiting the Donate page, or click here.

Now, since you all raised your game for us, we want to raise ours for you! Our May 14^th production, “Savage,” will be a pre-recorded storytelling event, curated by the superlative Jess Kapp, and will be available both on YouTube and via the Odyssey Storytelling Podcast. Storytellers include Ana Gaskin, Sergio Gonzalez, and Marty Pepper! We recognize that not everyone finds the digital world easy to navigate, so we’re going into this with the goal of making “Savage” as accessible as possible for ANYONE. The exact date that the show will become available has not yet been set, but we will be posting that information here, as well as sending out an email to those on our mailing list. So keep an eye out for more info! And remember, you can find the Odyssey Storytelling Podcast on any podcast app, or here:

http://odysseystorytelling.libsyn.com/

In addition to “Savage,” Odyssey is more committed than ever to making stories from our community available to others and providing a platform to the many voices of Tucson. We also know that, given recent events, some of you probably have some pretty good stories! With that in mind, we’re putting out an open call for story submissions for the Odyssey Storytelling Podcast! If you have the means to record a audio version of your story, do so, and send it to stories@odysseystorytelling.com. If you want to record a story but aren’t sure how, send an email anyway! We will put you in touch with our podcast producer, Miles Schneiderman, who will help you get your story out into the world! Stories are more important than ever at this moment in history, and so are our communities. Let your voice be heard, and help us use the power of storytelling to draw together and strengthen the Odyssey community as we traverse the unknown landscape of a post-COVID world.

Thank you, once again, for all your love and support. We hope you’re staying safe, staying home, and most importantly, staying the course. We will get through this, together!

Announcing the Odyssey Storytelling Dates and Themes for 2020

On Sunday, November 3, 2019, Odyssey Storytelling volunteers met for our annual theme selection pot luck. We welcomed new volunteers, chose themes, curators and producers, and ate way too much really good food.

We are so excited to announce the upcoming 2020 dates and themes. Here they are:

2020

January 9- Hindsight
Feb 6- Dirty
March 5 – Sweet Sixteen
April 2 – Kale and Other Reversals of Fortune
May – Savage
June 4- Liar, Liar
July 2 – Vagabond Dreams
August 6- Shame
Sept 3 – Invisible-A Bilingual Event
Oct 1 – Stranger Things
Nov 5 – Karma
Dec 3 – Snowflake

If you’re interested in telling a story, send your idea and a brief bio to stories@odysseystorytelling.com. And be sure to come down to Sea of Glass this Thursday, February 6, 2020 for Dirty!