More Than A Single Story

Healing Through Writing
2020-10-17 10:00 - 12:00 (America/Chicago)
Learn tools and techniques for using the journal to tap into our innate abilities to help ourselves heal and restore wellness, and to begin to believe that we are not the problem, the problem is the problem. This workshop is not intended to replace therapy or other healing work you’re doing. Rather, it is intended to enhance other methods of healing that we are engaged in. Collaborator: More Than a Single Story. Funded by Minnesota’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
The link to the live online discussion will be emailed to registrants in advance.
REGISTER HERE: https://hclib.bibliocommons.com/events/5f2c9a748c81ad450050ace7

Processing Identity With Poetry
2020-10-12 18:30 - 20:30 (America/Chicago)
Writing poetry can be a healing experience in navigating one’s identity and emotions. Explore the layers of our identities and their impact on our mental health through writing exercises with writer Diana Nguyen. Participate in discussions on how to process our emotions in written form and learn self-care techniques while exploring these feelings. Bring a notebook. Collaborator: More Than a Single Story. Funded by Minnesota’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
The link to the live online discussion will be emailed to registrants in advance.
REGISTER HERE: https://hclib.bibliocommons.com/events/5f2c99a0e737a32f00c9e187

Dealing With it – People of Color Talk About Mental Health
2020-09-13 14:00 - 16:00 (America/Chicago)
More Than a Single Story is a series of programs that takes place at different venues across the Twin Cities. Founded and curated by writer Carolyn Holbrook, the program strives to break down the stereotyping of people of color by celebrating their diverse voices and experiences.
In this More Than a Single Story discussion, writers, artists and mental health professionals of color will share their experiences with mental health challenges and deconstruct the stories that are told around those issues. Rose McGee will facilitate discussions using her Circle Within a Circle model: first, speakers will share their experiences; next, participants will have the opportunity to replace speakers to respond and continue the conversation; and lastly, all participants will have a chance to engage and deepen their understanding of mental health in Black, Indigenous and communities of color in Minnesota. Speaking: Suleiman Adan, Sherrie Fernandez-Williams, Hye-Kyong Kim, Diana Nguyen, Lola Osunkoya and Susan Mona Power. Opening poet: Diana Nguyen. Moderator: Rose McGee. Collaborator: More Than a Single Story. Funded by Minnesota’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
REIGSTER HERE: https://hclib.bibliocommons.com/events/5f319457ed8e822400c7f43c
This event is hosted by More Than a Single Story and sponsored by Hennepin County Library. Partner presenters may invite library patrons to attend via Zoom or similar platforms.

Raw Honesty: Writing Your Truth
2020-09-12 15:00 - 17:00 (America/Chicago)
Explore spoken word, written poetry, creative or free writing with guided writing prompts by writer, musician and mental health advocate Suleiman Adan. At the end of the workshop, there will be time for participants to share openly about the writing process, life and the world of mental health. Collaborator: More Than a Single Story. Funded by Minnesota’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
The link to the live online discussion will be emailed to registrants in advance.
REGISTER HERE: https://hclib.bibliocommons.com/events/5f2c98df7c571d2400f509f8

WRITING WORKSHOP: HEALING THROUGH WRITING
2020-05-09 11:00 - 13:00 (America/Chicago)
Instructor: Carolyn Holbrook
Description: When we experience trauma, we feel alone and unprotected. Whether the trauma is physical or psychological, we often feel shame, believing that what happened is our fault. In this workshop we will learn tools and techniques for using the journal to tap into our innate abilities to help ourselves heal and restore wellness, and to begin to believe that we are not the problem, the problem is the problem. This workshop is not intended to replace therapy or other healing work you’re doing. Rather, it is intended to enhance other methods of healing that we are engaged in.
Saturday May 9, 2020 – 11:00-1:00
Excelsior Library
337 Water St., Excelsior, MN 55331

CANCELLED | WRITING WORKSHOP: PROCESSING IDENTITIES WITH POETRY
2020-04-25 13:00 - 15:00 (America/Chicago)
Due to COVID-19, the library has cancelled all events through April 30th. We are hoping to reschedule this event for fall if things calm down.
Description: Writing poetry can be a healing experience in navigating one’s identities and emotions. In this workshop, we will explore the layers of our identities and how that has an impact on our mental health. We will engage in writing exercises and discussion on how to process our emotions in written form, and self care techniques while exploring these feelings. Please make sure to bring a notebook and pen, and be willing to go deeper within yourself.

CANCELLED | TRADITIONAL HEALERS: AN INTERGENERATIONAL CONVERSATION
2020-04-23 19:00 - 21:00 (America/Chicago) | MN, United States
Due to COVID-19, the library has cancelled all events through April 30th. We are hoping to reschedule this event for fall if things calm down.
In this More Than a Single Story conversation, traditional healers from the African American, Hmong, Native American, and Somali communities will respond to questions youth representatives from each community have about their culture and customs, and the importance of continuing traditional healing practices in today’s world.
Featuring: Healers — Hmong Shaman, Chad T. Lee, African American elder Atum Azzahir, Ojibwe Healer Donna LaChappelle, and Somali poet/healer Ifrah Mansour
Young people: Pang Xiong, Terrence Shambley, Anna Cardon, and Ismail Sheikhomar

CANCELLED | DEALING WITH IT: PEOPLE OF COLOR TALK ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH
2020-04-19 14:00 - 16:00 (America/Chicago)
Due to COVID-19, we have cancelled all events through April 30th. We are hoping to reschedule this event for fall if things calm down.
In this More Than a Single Story discussion, participants will explore the complexities around mental health in communities of color. Rose McGee will implement her Circle within a Circle model to facilitate this discussion. The initial circle will include mental health professionals and writers and artists who have experienced mental health challenges in their lives or the lives of their families.
During this portion, the speakers will talk to one another as if no one is in the room, and audience members will have an opportunity to listen to a conversation they may not otherwise hear. Following the initial circle, audience members will have the opportunity to replace the speakers in the circle to respond and continue the conversation. All participants will then have a chance to respond and engage in conversation with one another to deepen their understanding of mental health in the IPOC communities and deconstruct the stories that are told around these issues.
Featuring: Suleiman Adan, Sherrie Fernandez-Williams, Hie Kyong Kim, Diana Nguyen, Lola Osunkoya, Donald Thomas
Opening poet: Diana Nguyen
Moderator: Rose McGee

CANCELLED | INTRODUCTION TO FIELD RECORDING AND INTERVIEWING TECHNIQUES
2020-04-02 18:00 - 19:45 (America/Chicago)
Due to COVID-19, the library has cancelled all events through April 30th. We are hoping to reschedule this event for fall if things calm down.
Instructors: Melissa Olson and Ryan Dawes
Description: Melissa and Ryan will walk through the interview process with students interviewing each other. We will explore how to use recording gear, including recorder settings, microphone setup and setting, as well as creative interview techniques such as scheduling, preparation, planning questions, and follow-up questioning. We’ll also briefly explore ethical issues that come up during interviews.

CANCELLED | WORKSHOP: WRITING FOR RADIO / AUDIO STORYTELLING
2020-03-16 18:00 - 19:45 (America/Chicago)
Due to COVID-19, the library has cancelled all events through April 30th. We are hoping to reschedule this event for fall if things calm down.
Instructors: Melissa Olson & Ryan Dawes
Admission: FREE
Writing a radio script is vastly different from print journalism, academic writing, or creative non-fiction. We’ll listen and read examples of radio writing and discuss how to begin to organize a script. We will talk about different types of audio storytelling, including interviews, two-ways, narrated stories, non-narrated stories, audio postcards, and audio essays.

CANCELLED | WRITING YOUR TRUTH
2020-03-16 17:30 - 19:30 (America/Chicago)
Due to COVID-19, the library has cancelled all events through April 30th. We are hoping to reschedule this event for fall if things calm down.
WRITING YOUR TRUTH
Instructor: Suleiman Adan
This workshop will be a creative yet therapeutic space that allows participants to convey their innermost feelings and thoughts unfiltered (raw). This can be done through spoken word, written poetry, creative or free writing. Participants will be given prompts to guide them. As a musician, the instructor believes that music plays a huge role in the creative process. Music will be playing in the background for inspiration. And the end of the workshop, there will be time for participants to share openly about the writing process, life, and about the world of mental health.

TRANSRACIAL ADOPTEE VOICES
2020-03-01 14:00 - 16:00 (America/Chicago) | Loft Literary Center, 1101 Washington Ave., Minneapolis, MN, 55415, United States
TRANSRACIAL ADOPTEE VOICES
In this More Than a Single Story discussion, transracial adoptees from a variety of racial identities will explore the histories of transracial and transnational adoption in their communities, the complexities of identity that are inherent in growing up transracially, and the wisdom and unique perspective these experiences give to them, and the power of story in forming their perspectives. During this discussion, the speakers will talk to one another as if no one is in the room, and participants will have an opportunity to listen to a conversation they may not hear otherwise.
This Circle Within a Circle format will be facilitated by Rose McGee. Following the conversation, audience members will have an opportunity to respond and engage in conversation with one another to deepen their understanding of transracial adoptees and deconstruct the stories that are told around adoption.
Featuring: Shannon Gibney, Jonathan Lofgren, Hei Kyong Kim, Melissa Olson, Sung Ja Shin, and Nicholas Wysocki.
Opening Readings: Shannon Gibney and Hei Kyong Kim.
Moderator: Rose McGee.
Sunday, March 1, 2020 – 2:00-4:00 PM
Loft Literary Center
1011 Washington Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN
Admission: $5 Loft members, $10 nonmembers
Pay-what-you-can tickets are available at the door 30 minutes prior to most events on a first-come, first-served basis. No one turned away for lack of funds.

Reconstructing Narratives & Owning Our Story (Website Launch)
2019-04-24 18:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago) | Augsburg College, 2211 Riverside Ave, Minneapolis, MN, 55454
Media is one of the most influential cultural sources of news and entertainment. Its power to sway society, intervene in discourse and serve as an arbiter of knowledge, at the level of the popular and political, is profound. In this way, media is storytelling, because storytelling is its lynchpin; it is what makes media make sense. So, where do IPOC communities take this ever-expanding definition of media to serve our own visions? And how do we advance our work as makers of media that will continue to shift terrain, power and voice?
In this More Than a Single Story program, Adaobi Okolue, Executive Director of Twin Cities Media Alliance & Publisher of Twin Cities Daily Planet, will moderate a discussion with media artists to explore these questions and reflect on what they are doing to reclaim our stories. Featuring D.A. Bullock, Chanida Phaengdara Potter, Melissa Olson, Bianca Rhodes and Xavier Tavera. Opening poet: Terrence Shambley.
PLUS an intimate preview and walkthrough of our NEW website by web designer Travon Sellers with Travon Sellers Design.
DOORS at 6:00 with door prizes to the Valerie June Concert at the Cedar Cultural Center!!
Weds. April 24, 2019 – 6:30-8:30
Augsburg University
Sateren Auditorium (inside Anderson Music Hall)
1977 S 7th 1/2 St.
Minneapolis, MN 55454
FREE
This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from Minnesota’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

Women From the Center Supporting Each Other
2018-04-26 19:00 - 21:00 UTC | East Side Freedom Library, 1105 Greenbrier St, St Paul, MN 55106, Saint Paul, MN, 55104, United States
The multicultural writing group, Women From the Center will discuss how they support each other. On the surface, it seems like a simple conversation. But when you consider that they are from 5 decades and seven racial/cultural groups (Dakota, Ojibwe, African American, 5th generation Irish American, Hmong, Vietnamese, & Jewish/Arab), there is considerable complexity and potential for conflict. Featuring: Carolyn Holbrook, Mai Neng Moua, Nora Murphy, Anh-Hoa Thi Nguyen, Marcie Rendon, Jna Shelomith, Diane Wilson.

Visions of the Future for Men of Color
2018-04-25 18:30 - 20:00 UTC | Hamline Midway Library, 1558 W Minnehaha Ave, Saint Paul, MN, 55104, United States
In this conversation, David Mura will discuss with Art Coulson, Ezekiel Joubert, Shinaah Thao, and Michael Torres about their views on how men of color see the future–both what we need for ourselves and what our communities need from us? How can we critique and discard toxic models of masculinity? How do we create a masculinity which helps both us and our communities move forward? How do we heal from our wounds and how do we help provide the next generation with new ways of seeing themselves as men? How do we create new definitions of masculinity that take into account intersectionality, especially in regards to the ways we deal with gender, orientation and an increasingly diverse population? Opening poem: Anthony Ceballos.

Finding Courage in a Time of Darkness
2018-04-18 19:00 - 21:00 UTC | Minneapolis Central Library, 300 Nicollet Mall, Saint Paul, MN, 55401, United States
In this conversation, Carolyn Holbrook will talk with Lana Barkawi, Arleta Little, Jessica Lopez Lyman, Anh-Hoa Thi Nguyen and Susan Mona Power about where and how they find strength and courage in the difficult times we are living in. Mother Theresa once said “I do not agree with the big way of doing things. To us, what matters is an individual.” These women will explore large and small ways they have find courage when they need it in their own and others writing, and ways that they give courage to others, often while struggling to maintain their own center. Opening Poem: Sagirah Shahid

Bamboozled.. Again
2018-04-08 14:00 - 16:00 UTC | Loft Literary Center, 1101 Washington Ave., Minneapolis, MN, 55415, United States
As Kevin Young points out in Bunk, his new book of essays, it’s no secret that communities of color have been plagued with hoaxes, humbugs and much fake news ever since Cristobal Colon (aka Christopher Columbus) invaded these shores, causing fearfulness which resulted in deep seated racism. In this More Than a Single Story conversation, Carolyn Holbrook will explore with Sharon Day, Kathryn Haddad, Ed Bok Lee, Alexs Pate and Tlahtoki Xochimeh the past and present ways our communities have been tricked, lied to and misaligned through literature, news, and government policies. We will discuss the effects these hoaxes have had on our communities over many generations and the writing that is coming out of the current political climate. Opening poem by Gabriella Anais Deal Marquez

Rituals and Cultural Stories That Sustain Us
2018-03-22 18:30 - 20:30 UTC | Wisdom Ways Center for Spirituality, 1890 Randolph St., Saint Paul, MN, 55105, United States
In this More Than a Single Story conversation, Carolyn Holbrook will talk with African American poet/choreographer/memoirist, Mary Moore Easter, Hmong memoirist, Mai Neng Moua, Mexican/American memoirist/playwright Vanesa Ramos and Arab/Jewish poet Jna Shelomith about how rituals and ancestral stories carry us, and how our own writing reflects those stories. Opening Poem by Isela Gomez
