A-nanci
Lorenia Stallworth
aka "Spiderlady"
Storyteller

Lorenia wrote the following story for the Camille character in our movie. She mesmerizes both children and adults with her storytelling.

Zinzee

I want to tell you a story about a young lady, born in the United States, any city you choose. She walked around with her family wondering where she came from; all of her life and so did everyone else.

You see she was darker than everyone. She couldn’t understand why she had this wiry, kinky, wild head of hair. She could not understand why her feet were so big and her nose was so broad, but she lived her life this way. Always being different than those around her.

She grew up and went to Africa her first year of college. She met a young lady who agreed to take her back into the bush, and when she got there she walked up to this tiny village, and this toothless, old man wearing dirty garments ran up to her ands he said, “Oh!! Zinzee!!” She looked at her friend and said, “What is he talking about?”

“You Zinzee!!” She said to her friend,” tell this man that is not my name!”
“Yeah!” the old man insisted that her name was Zinzee. So she decided to listen to what he had to say. She sat down in the dirt off the side of the road in this little village to listen to the toothless, old man talk through her interpreter.

“When Nyame, the sky god was building the heavens, and the earth, he got a bit lonely. So he called down one of his star angels from heaven, told her to leave her wings there, and come walk on the firmament with him. Well, after he brought her down to what we call earth, Nyame became tired, so he lay down and took a nap. While he was napping this angel walked around the firmament.

Everywhere she touched her feet, she made riverbeds. Well with all this walking about she became tired and decided she wanted to sit down. So, she gathered up all the dirt, and packed it down, and made a nice seat for her to sit on. We call them mountains.

As she was sitting there she noticed that her had was messed up. So she decided to comb it, and as she did, every hair that fell to the ground became grass that grew. And every hair that fell to the ground became flowers that bloom. Oh but she was a big, strong, tall woman. Her head was in the clouds!

And everywhere she went she looked not only on heaven, but also on earth. Well to make a long, long, long story short,” the old man told her she promised that when Nyame sent her back to heaven, she would return one day. Her name was Zinzee!

She had hair like you..wild! She had big lips like you, and when she kissed the earth she made indentations everywhere!! And when she walked with big feet like you she made all those riverbeds!! And she said she would come back one day.” The old man looked at her and he nodded and he smiled and he said, “Ha! You Zinzee!!”

Well, the young lady came back from Africa and when she stepped from the plane we were waiting there for her. And we shouted and waved and called her by name. We noticed she walked different, she came up to us and she said, “No, uh, uh. That’s not my name any more. You see I have been to Africa and I have found me.” We said, “Well what’s you name now?” She said, “I am Zinzee.”

To contact Lorenia for storytelling call 719/

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