Connecting people and communities through storytelling

What is Rooted?

I founded Rooted in 2024 when I realized how important the work of storytelling really was.

In 2023 I started researching Black historic neighborhoods and couldn’t find much information online or in journals and books. When I talked to residents in those neighborhoods, they were full of stories and were happy to share. What I found was that no one, not since Zora Neale Hurston and her work at the WPA in the late 1930s, had anyone taken the time to record these storytellers. Black history is an oral history and in order to keep those stories alive, someone needs to document them.

I found that documenting stories for museums, heritage trails, and websites was creating the very sources I needed to research these neighborhoods. These stories will go on to inform family members as they research their own history, city councils and businesses on how to inclusively revitalize spaces, and students as they conduct research on any number of topics.

I’ve worn many hats in my career, from teaching composition courses to writing technical documentation and leading design teams. All of these roles entail / consist of storytelling. The difference is the stories I am telling now help others become rooted in their history. Malcolm X said, “A man without any history is like a tree without roots.” Let’s find our history. Let’s all be Rooted.