They lift your spirits, prompt you to think, make you feel grateful and inspire you to do more. They connect you to our community, shining a spotlight on what's good about our city. They're stories that are Uniquely Milwaukee.
When we're willing to share parts of ourselves with others, that’s storytelling — a connection through experience, laughter, pain and joy.
“After Dark: For the Culture” celebrates all of that and more as a storytelling series centered on the lived experiences of people of color. It's a special collaboration between HYFIN and Ex Fabula, and the next installment is coming up Nov. 19. So it seemed like the perfect time to share four stories from the series.
The first is from LIV, a self-taught visual artist and painter based in the Cream City who shares the deeply rooted inspiration behind one of her most cherished pieces and its connection to a loved one. The next comes from Navy veteran Shawn Mitchell. He was a young man on tour, proud of his heritage and connection to African culture, yet he quickly learned that liberation doesn't happen for everyone.
The third story is from Christine Reardon, who navigated the complexity of being from a diverse family of high achievers and found success in her own way despite life's prejudices and challenges. Finally, Kentrell Washington shares a short poem dedicated to Black men, fatherhood and raising your sons like a gardener tending to his flowers.
To hear more pieces like these straight from the people who tell them, come to our next After Dark: For the Culture at 7 p.m. Nov. 19. And if you want to explore your own storytelling potential, you can join Ex Fabula’s free StoryStarter workshop right before the show at 5:30 p.m.
