This is donnie l. betts, producer-director of Destination Freedom Black Radio Days. Three years ago I reached out to writer composer T. Carlis Roberts to create a piece for the series Destination Freedom Black Radio Days. T said they had a piece that had been living with them for some time. STONO.

STONO is an audio-ritual exploring the eponymous 1739 slave rebellion. While typically depicted as a suppressed insurrection, this piece asks: Is there another story? To find answers, STONO calls on the voices of the beyond-human participants, including ancestors, rivers, mushrooms, guns, and the Black Virgin Mary. Combining music, text, and field recordings from the historic rebellion site, STONO offers a space to imagine a more expansive and surprising story about that fateful event. Next on Destination Freedom Black Radio Days by T. Carlis Roberts, oh make sure wherever you listen that the volume is turned up.

STONO was presented online as part of the 2022 National Queer Arts Festival.

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