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Storytelling
Not surprisingly, the folklore of pandas provides a less scientific explanation for their black eye patches.
What if an author colors cultural, political, and social observations with personal reflections and her own history?
Puppets weren’t a common form of entertainment in Jewish culture, but in the mid-1920s, puppetry had become hot in American theater.
According to Inuit myths, the narwhal was once a woman with long hair that she had twisted and plaited to resemble a tusk.
This personal narrative includes a slideshow of color photographs from American military camps in Texas and Italy during World War II, taken by the author's father.
The conception of these soundscapes stems from a deep love of history that I have had since childhood. The idea of recreating the sound of the past in a way that was meaningful to modern listeners provided me with a creative challenge.
When there has been a constant ringing in your ears for your entire life, you learn to appreciate noise. Outside it may be traffic, airplanes, birds, and bugs drowning out the internal buzz.
A stone carver chisels a Roman capital letter in the surface of an expansive granite wall. His face obscured from view, all that can be gleaned over the din of his tools are the words of a narrator.
The power of words in African American culture is the power to affect the heart and head, ideas and ideals, to disclose the truth, to change lives.
Folklife Magazine explores how culture shapes our lives. We publish stories about music, food, craft, language, celebrations, activism, and the individuals and communities who sustain these traditions.