This Active Life: My Contribution

Telling Stories

What’s in a story? Just ask South Carolina member Mozell Robinson. She’s been sharing African-American folk tales and lessons with children and adults around her state for years.

All the world’s a stage, a stage set for storytelling, says South Carolina member Mozell Robinson. Whether it’s a kindergarten classroom, a senior citizen center, a college campus, or a historic plantation, each site is home for Robinson’s mixture of traditional African-American folktales and personal stories.

"Every one of my stories conveys a message to the audience and a lesson about African-American culture," says Robinson, who retired in 1994 after 38 years of teaching. "I try to get my audience intimately involved with my characters through the use of props and costumes and a variety of voices for my characters."

Robinson didn’t set out to become a storyteller. In fact, she came upon her new profession by chance, first trying out her acting wings. "I was reading the Chester County newspaper and read about a Cicily Tyson movie being filmed in town. The movie was in need of African-American actresses, and I took some photos down to the set, not really knowing what to expect," recalls Robinson.

The film company cast Robinson as a stand-in for Tyson, and Robinson became hooked on performing. When curators for Historic Brattonsville, a 720-acre living village and Revolutionary War site, began looking for a storyteller to relate the experiences of plantation slaves, Robinson saw a chance not only to perform, but to educate.

"The curator asked me to be an African interpreter, and at first I was nervous," says Robinson. "But once I realized the importance of telling the story of the slaves, I knew it was a role I couldn’t pass up. I said yes, and the project was so rewarding. I got tremendous feedback from the curators and the tourists. They felt my presentations were very moving."

Robinson was so convincing that the Brattonsville curator also recommended her to the film crew of The Patriot, the Mel Gibson movie that was shot on location in Brattonsville.

Once Robinson began storytelling, she decided it was important to take her skills and her stories on the road. Today, Robinson is in great demand. She has written and performed her stories for senior citizen centers, college students, all-mothers’ gatherings, and middle

school students. The last group is especially fond of Robinson.

"I think there’s been a resurgence in storytelling because everyone is trying to get to the heart of their own history," Robinson notes. "When you listen to my tales, you develop a personal connection with history. That’s because I spend a great deal of time researching my stories. I want people to come away from my session with lessons they’ll take to heart."

"Every one of my stories conveys a message to the audience and a lesson about African-American culture."