In 1963, Elizabeth James heard the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. speak at Detroit’s Walk to Freedom. Three years old at the time, the third-generation storyteller and Detroit native still recalls the energy of the crowd and says this memory inspires her to use words to encourage others.
As program associate for the Center for Afroamerican and African Studies (CAAS), James organizes student and community outreach programs such as discussions, movie nights and storytelling events. With the South African Initiatives Office, she prepares students to study in South Africa and has traveled with the program six times. Souvenirs from students’ trips clutter her desk and an expansive collage of family members and students covers her office wall.
In addition to her outreach programs with CAAS, James tells a variety of traditional and new stories to infants, students and adults. Although her tales vary with each audience, she draws from a rich family heritage. Through research and listening to her grandmother’s stories, James has traced her roots back to a freed slave in New Orleans.
Also a descendant of Pocahontas (real name Amonute) and member of the Powhatan Indian tribe, James is writing a poem-song about the legendary woman. “I want to convey her real voice and lift others up,” James says. “There’s always another story. I want to know what’s happening behind the music veil.”
Her curiosity and passion for storytelling began at an early age. James’ mother had the first storytelling radio show in Detroit. “I would go to bed on Friday night hearing my mom’s voice on the radio,” she says.
Throughout her adolescence, James’ family supported the development of her performance and public speaking skills. She and her sister performed in home holiday pageants and she took singing and dance lessons. Her grandmother encouraged her to tell stories about what happened during her day, and in high school James was elected student government president.
Although she takes storytelling workshops to perfect her craft, James says it is most important to connect with an audience. “It’s like eating rice and beans in New Orleans,” she says. “The way you put it on the plate changes the taste every time.”
When talking to young kids in the morning, she uses a brighter voice than she would with an older audience in a more relaxed, evening setting. “You can assume an audience is one way, but if you look closely and pay attention to what they want, you can tell a better story,” she says.
James studied art history and communications at U-M as an undergraduate and received a master’s degree in journalism from U-M in 1984. She then decided to become a librarian and earned a master’s degree in library studies from Wayne State University in 1986. James started working as the CAAS librarian in 1992 and has been a program associate since 2001.
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