Stories bring people together in shared humanity. Personal stories can uplift, move and connect. In 2025, Dmae Lo Roberts embarked on a statewide storytelling experience focusing on personal stories from both artists and community members. These stories are a form of living oral history. The -Ism Storytellers Project was launched as a project of MediaRites with Dmae as the project director. Six storytelling events — in Astoria, Eugene, The Dalles and three in Portland — were held with the theme of “Courage, Grace and Grit.” Each event featured a different host who curated stories from their immediate communities.
Two of the storytellers (Victoria Alvarez-Chacon & Quesa D’Mondays/Alec Lugo) are featured in a theatrical storytelling performance on April 26 at 2 p.m. & 6 p.m. at Fuse Theatre as part of the Fertile Ground Festival of New Works. This year’s theme is “A Sense of Belonging,” and this cabaret-style performance features monologues of mixed-race, WWII Japanese-American Incarceration and transcultural identities and ASL as a second language.
Hosted by Dmae and featuring music by Joe Kye, (with theme music by Clark Salisbury) in this podcast you’ll hear……