Christianity was Africanized in storytelling. In slave lore crossing Jordan symbolized a Christian arriving at God's side; at the same time in underground railroad terms it was a way to openly talk of gaining one's freedom.
When the African storytelling tradition made its way north and west it became urbanized. African tales and animal worlds grew to include street corner hustle and 'gettin' ova'. And in all of this, God, nature and the world were / have been Africanized, transformed into an African understanding of things.
Aunt Blonie symbolizes all those things. It was she who brought African storytelling to life for so many of us. Thus, my rendering of African storytelling in America must include Aunt Blonie.
In my remembrance tales of God creating butterflies, the constant struggle between the farmer and the recalcitrant mule, the chills of the voyage of the underground railroad, the comings-and-goings of preacherman and his congregation, the life reflective journey to the sea of the dung betle, experiencing freedom for the first time, voodoo and the human-like interactions in the animal kingdom all symbolize hundreds of years of African American forklore.
'Aunt Blonie's Stories' (18'x24', Color Pencil on Paper) is included in the Africans In America Series