Welcome, Djeli-in-Training
The Family Lore Project is a research, storytelling, family healing, and celebration journey. It builds dialogue between you, your parents, and your family near and far.
A Djeli is a trained keeper and performer of memory, music, and lore. Among the Mande peoples of West Africa, the Djeli helps families and communities know who they are, honor worthy deeds, learn from mistakes, and carry wisdom into the future. As a Djeli-in-Training, you accept those responsibilities for your own family.
“We’re not a broken people. We have broken stories.”
The creed of the AYA StoryologistThis journey is named for Araminta Ross, who became Harriet Tubman. She started with her family and grew to become one of the most powerful forces for Afrikan freedom we have ever known. Like Araminta, you begin with family.
How each challenge works
Plan on about two hours a week, in four 30-minute Skill Building Blocks. You, your family, and your support specialist can stretch a challenge to two weeks when you need to. Many students do for Challenge III.
| Skill Building Block | What you do |
|---|---|
| How-To Study | Watch the video, study the page, and check yourself. Your graded quiz is in GHL. |
| Family Research | Interview, gather, plan, and build, with your family. |
| Personal Reflection | Write in your journal, then copy it into your portfolio in GHL. |
| Demonstration | Respond to two tellings, then post your own in the Story Circle. |
Your work saves in your browser, on the device you use. Use the same device for each challenge, and copy your work into GHL at the end of every challenge so your support specialist can see it and nothing is lost.
The Story Circle
The Story Circle is rooted in the African cultural practice of call and response. One voice calls, and the community answers, so no one speaks alone and every story is received.
Here, you start by answering the call.
Before you post a telling of your own, respond to two others, from classmates or from the Ancestor Shelf, using four moves:
- Name itGive the story a temporary name.
- Take itSay one thing it taught you.
- Ask itAsk the teller one question.
- Link itConnect it to your own family or adopted line.
When people answer your telling, post an answer back to close the circle. You choose who sees each post: Family Only, Keepers, Circle, or Showcase. Get the teller’s blessing before sharing a relative’s story beyond your family. Showcase needs a parent’s sign-off.
My journey
Challenges I’ve completed
0 of 8 challenges complete
The four journeys
The Family Lore Project is four courses, two a year for two years. Each time, the dialogue deepens, and you and your family grow stronger.
AramintaYou are here. Beginning with family.
Assata ShakurCourage and the defense of our people
Asa G. HilliardWe don’t start our story with captivity
John Henrik ClarkePlacing our people in world history
Go forward
When your Return is affirmed, Journey 2 begins. Your next Journey Guide is Assata Shakur.
Courage and Defense of Our People
For families
Your Djeli-in-Training will ask to listen to your stories, look at photos and keepsakes, and give the family’s story back to you at a Return gathering. You can skip any question, and nothing leaves the family without your blessing.
Every challenge page ends with a section for you, explaining what your student is working on that week and how you can help.