Bamboo is strong, but flexible. Bamboo will bend and not break. Bamboo is resilient.
In response to recent violence against Asian Americans, Nancy Wang and Robert Kikuchi-Yngojo decided to create an interactive community program to address discrimination and racism. This husband and wife team perform together as Eth-Noh-Tec, tandem storytellers that weave words and choreography together.
I recently attended the “Strong Like Bamboo” program at both the National Storytelling Network Conference (July 11 – 14, 2024) in Seattle, WA, and the OrcAsian Storytelling Festival (July 15 – 17, 2024) on Orcas Island, WA.
Strong Like Bamboo: Stories of Resilience for Healing in the Era of Anti-AAPI Violence
Asian American storytellers performed personal stories of discrimination and how they worked through it to find resilience and healing. Through stories, we can walk into the experiences of others and learn from the new perspective. These powerful stories brought the audience into these difficult stories with safety, artistry, and often with humor. Robert Kikuchi-Yngojo defended himself with an umbrella. Bowen Lee found home. Eleanor Clement Glass escaped Kansas….
The incredible storytelling performance was followed by a panel discussion between the storytellers and the audience. Then, the audience was invited to divide into small groups. Group members shared their own stories of discrimination or concerns around racism as an ally, witness, or victim. Finally, the audience came back together to reflect on the experience.
“This was powerful. Everyone should hear these stories,” said one participant.
Another participant reflected on the power of the small group sharing and compassionate listening. The groups were instructed to simply witness and not minimize someone else’s experience with their comments. The facilitation kept the group feeling safe.
Do you want to be “Strong Like Bamboo?”
While many are stuck in the middle of stories where hope is hard to find, this program focuses on stories of resilience and healing to show us the way that we can heal as individuals and communities. In creating the safe space to talk about difficult issues that are often charged with emotion, audience members in small group simply witness each other. Rather than focus on blame, the program creates empathy, understanding, and healing to bring communities together.
Resources
- Strong Like Bamboo – see videos from prior community events
- Eth-Noh-Tec. Founded in 1981, Eth-Noh-Tec Directors/Artists, Nancy Wang and Robert Kikuchi-Yngojo developed a unique style of storytelling that weaves music, dance, rhythmic dialogue, lively facial expressions and the spoken word to present both ancient and contemporary Asian stories to adults and children nationally and internationally.
