Speakers Bureau: “Parallels of Southern Storytelling and Folktales from Around the World”

Diane Williams uses the art of storytelling to uncover folktales from the south, oral history from Mississippi, often paralleling these story motifs with folktales from around the world.

Williams is a neo-griot, along the lines of the story­tellers from times gone by when oral historians were crucial to maintaining black folks’ history because book publishers didn’t believe the history worth chronicling. Williams is also a quilter, an artistry befitting for a woman known for paying homage to the past. Williams uses silk yarns, beads, stones and vibrant colors to make traditional quilts with Motherland inspiration to tell stories of strength, resilience and hope.