Black Storytelling Week Celebration at Weeksville Heritage Center

Join us Saturday, September 13 for a day of free family arts workshops to celebrate Black Storytelling Week! A new annual holiday, Black Storytelling Week is dedicated to passing down Black family history .

Bring your grandma, your play cousins, your love, or your best friends- whether your family is adopted, biological, or chosen, this celebration is for you. Come preserve your family’s stories through a series of free arts workshops for all ages! 

Arts Workshops

• Zine-Making Workshops: Learn how to make your own zine, a cherished keepsake that tells your family’s story, from award-winning artist and Bronx native Cinthia Pimentel. 

We highly recommend making a reservation for the following art workshops: family portraits and oral history. Please read the instructions carefully and contact us with any questions at blackstorytellingweek@gmail.com:

• Family Portraits: Pose for portraits with your loved ones with acclaimed photographer and Queens native Laila Annmarie Stevens.

Make a family portrait reservation. Note that your reservation is not complete until you receive a confirmation from Calendly. We will have limited walk-up appointments available. 

• Oral History Station: Learn how to record your family’s stories during a private mini oral history session with a award-winning producer and Brooklyn native.

 Book an oral history session. Note that your reservation is not complete until you receive a confirmation from Calendly. We will have limited walk-up appointments available. 

ASL interpretation is available for those participating in the arts workshops. If you need interpretation, please register in advance and visit the Welcome Desk day-of.

Community Offerings

Rest and Restore Yoga: Revitalize yourself in the beautiful communal restorative energy of the class. Rest and Restore Yoga is for everyone of all ages, bodies & skill levels and led by Six of Sensate Wellness.

Farmers and Community Market: Shop Black-owned business vendors, and purchase low-cost, locally grown produce courtesy of Grow NYC. Greenmarket table will accept EBT/SNAP and offer HealthBucks, providing $2 back for every $2 spent on fruits and vegetables.

Schedule

12:00 PM : Doors open– Explore the Green Market and Family Portrait and Oral History stations 

12:30 PM: Zine-Making Workshop #1 begins (All ages, families with little ones encouraged)

2:00 PM: Rest and Restore Yoga with Six

3:00 PM: Zine-Making Workshop #2 begins (All ages)

5:00 PM: Black Storytelling Week Celebration wraps up!

Artist and Workshop Facilitators 

Cinthia Pimentel (Zine-Making)

Cinthia Pimentel also known as Cin is a Black Latinx Bronx-based audio producer, multidisciplinary artist, and storyteller. She is the co-host and producer of Bag Ladiez, a podcast all about baggage: yours, mine and ours. She has worked on many podcast series such as Natal, In Those Genes, and VS podcast. She created Ombie Productions, a creative production house that focuses on visuals, audio, and experiences. Ombie Productions uses elements of horror and experimental art to tell stories and explain theories that focus on Afro-futurism, science fiction, and feminism. 

Laila AnnMarie Stevens (Family Portraits)

Laila Annmarie Stevens (b. 2001) is a Black Queer photographer and visual artist from South Jamaica, Queens, now based in Brooklyn. Her work reimagines kinship structures through community and queer youth-centered storytelling. By age 20, she was a frequent contributor to The New York Times and has since published in The Nation, The Guardian US, Cultured Magazine, and more. A 2025–26 Curve Foundation Fellow and 2023–24 Magnum Foundation NYC Fellow, Stevens’ work has been exhibited internationally, most notably in the Museum of the City of New York’s New York Now: Home. In 2024, The Guardian recognized her BPWS assignment as one of its Best Photos.

About Black Storytelling Week

Started in 2023, Black Storytelling Week is a new annual holiday calling on Black families worldwide – whether adopted, biological, or chosen – to devote the second week of September each year to sharing their family history with one another. It is organized by Martina Abrahams Ilunga. To learn more and celebrate, visit blackstorytellingweek.com.

About NATAL

Launched in 2020, NATAL passes the microphone to Black women, gender expansive people, and families to share their reproductive care stories in their own words. NATAL leverages the oral tradition to inspire communities to reclaim their stories, define care on their terms, and to take direct action. More than 50+ interviews and 500k downloads later, NATAL continues to expand public conversations about Black care traditions through civic and cultural activations, including co-hosting the 2024 Simone Leigh Opening Celebration with LACMA. NATAL was created by Gabrielle Horton and co-created by Martina Abrahams Ilunga. Visit natalstories.com to listen and learn more.

If you have any questions, visit our Black Storytelling Week online or contact blackstorytellingweek@gmail.com.

This event is co-presented with NATAL and Weeksville Heritage Center. It is sponsored, in part, by the Greater New York Arts Development Fund of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, administered by Brooklyn Arts Council (BAC) and made possible with the generous assistance of New York Live Arts.