NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — The ‘Truth Be Told: Virginia’ podcast is highlighting local African American stories and neighborhoods.
The Virginia African American Cultural Center Inc., or VAACC, approved a subgrant of $152,000 in funding from a Virginia Tourism Corporation to explore historically Black neighborhoods and stories across the Commonwealth.
The initial launch focused on historically Black neighborhoods in Virginia Beach, now the storytelling has grown to cover Black stories throughout Norfolk.
“Truth Be Told, is about historically Black faces, spaces and places,” said Delegate Jackie Glass, writer of ‘Truth Be Told: Virginia.’ “It’s not just about the spaces that get to be on the National, state or local registry as historic. It’s about finding value in the fact that this is contemporary Black history, that people are history. That’s why we chosen to focus on contemporary Black history, living history, which in itself is historical.”
Glass added that she hopes people’s take away is that Black people, their neighborhood and their experiences are “not a monolith.”
“What I hope is that they see that we live on a spectrum, everything from pain to joy,” Glass said. “Everything from Dr. Dre to Coldplay and all the things in between. Our stories are that way. It is not all struggles. It is not all strife. It is not all joy. There’s something to be held in our hands about allowing Black faces, spaces and places to live as they truly are … human.”
Season two includes stories unique to the Mermaid City, including areas like DePaul Hospital, Norview, Roberts Park and several housing developments.
“I found in my own lived experience that people haven’t believed my truth’s right,” said Glass. “I hope people see is that the truth of Black faces in places is vast and that it’s worth honoring.”
Norfolk Mayor Kenneth ‘Kenny’ Alexander grew up in the Berkley neighborhood with his grandparents and father. Alexander shares his story in an episode titled ‘Norfolk: The Baby in Berkley.’
“A lot of it started with us just doing a lot of listening,” said Hannah Sobol, a writer for ‘Truth Be Told: Virginia.’ “Then as we’ve evolved, we’ve realized that finding community members who are leaders in the area who can help connect us to stories that haven’t been overcovered, that are less well-known, that are ordinary people doing extraordinary things was really at the heart of what we’re doing.”
The duo plans to share stories from Portsmouth, followed by Newport News through the grant partnership.
“To have people put the dollars and cents, hopefully it brings people to Norfolk, Newport News, Portsmouth and to Virginia Beach,” said Glass.
Sobol said there was a lot of cold calling.
“Dr. Amelia Ross-Hammond was the one who picked up the phone and said that she would support it … We wrote a grant for this and then waited for a really long time,” Sobol said. “This has been a very long time in the making. First, to get people to understand the idea and the vision, and then second, to earn the trust of people, to share their stories with us.”
The stories detail a sense of community and resilience, while captivating the audiences of all races and religions.
“Though a lot of the stories deal with resource poverty, there’s also wealth that’s beyond what I was currently experiencing in my neighborhood. As a result of doing these stories, I have extended myself to my neighbors and tried to model it in my neighborhood,” said Sobol.
The hope is to encourage others to share their own stories.
“We are losing history every single day, and the charge of ‘Truth Be Told,’ is that people see the value in an ordinary person and see themselves in that and share their story. Don’t leave this earth without your kids knowing,” said Glass. “People tend to live their stories and rather than tell them. This is a space for us to not only have that past, but to tell that tell that truth in a way that people can digest it and hopefully, fingers crossed, you feel more connected.”
Truth Be Told: Norfolk will launch at the E.L. Hamm Fine Arts building at Norfolk State University Thursday at 5:30 p.m. Learn more and register.
Continue to check WAVY.com for updates.