It all began one evening in January 2022 when the idea for Natural Born Tellers came to be. By day, arts administrator, Debra Baptiste served the general storytelling community as Executive Director of Storytelling Toronto. After hours, she often grappled with how storytelling could benefit and meet the needs her own Afro-Canadian community. This was the impetus for the very first co-produced event later that year. Under the umbrella of Storytelling Toronto and along with partners, the Toronto Public Library, the Black Business Professional Association, Diversified Youth Initiative, TD Bank and the City of Toronto, NBT ran the ‘Stories of Little Jamaica’ program on Eglinton West in Toronto. It was a community outreach initiative that used the art form of oral storytelling to foster community participation, awareness, and a source of pride for the residents of Toronto’s ‘Little Jamaica’. Storytelling circles, incentives, and presentations drew out the natural storytellers from the community.

We created a celebration of oral storytelling and featured the work of the late, famed Jamaican storyteller ‘Miss Lou’, Trinidadian-Canadian storytelling icon Dr. Rita Cox (for which North America’s largest collection of African and Caribbean literature is named), Kesha Christie (Talkin’ Tales), and the UK’s Master Storyteller, Jan Blake. A series of storytelling circles were held at the Maria A. Shchuka Library. The project was supported by a youth intern from Diversified Youth Initiative and light snacks and refreshments were provided by local businesses.