Project by poet laureate tells local stories
Emanuelee Bean, also known as “Outspoken Bean,” has devoted his two years as Houston’s poet laureate to expressing his appreciation for the city, its culture through poetry and now a new storytelling project that highlights the city’s untold history.
His culminating project, called “Space City Story Tape,” celebrates Houstonians and their unique experiences. The compilation of stories and poems set to original music will be officially released at 7 p.m. Monday at The Assembly HTX on 2015 Berry St. in south Houston.
“I wanted to do audio storytelling but in a different way,” Bean said. “The idea came from me, but I didn’t want it to be a podcast, per se. But I knew I wanted to have something people could jam and listen to.”
The 16-track project is a musical experience, setting residents telling their stories to an audio track created by Houston-based musical producer, Russell Guess.
“When I approach a project with a poet like Bean, or a singer, or a score, the first thing I assess is what does this need and what do I have in my arsenal to be able to provide that,” Guess said.
The project became an extension of the free storytelling workshops Bean organized, called “Vibe N Right” sessions.
At every session, people would come and tell their own stories set to original music by Guess.
“As a poet laureate, a part of the project was to have workshops that were done through the Houston Public Library,” Bean said. “The plan was that while I’m doing the workshop, Russell was making original music on the spot And a lot of these tracks from the project came from that.”
One of the tracks, called “Space Ward” is narrated by Dr. Aziza Glass, veterinarian and Houston native whose family is a less-known contributor to Houstonian history.
“I have a very rich and proud history from Houston,” Glass said on the track. “My grandparents actually had the first Blackowned bakery in Houston, Texas, and it was actually located in Third Ward.”
The tone of the track was the sense of togetherness, legacy and the importance of learning your roots.
“One of the things that’s happened recently is I’ve been able to kind of go down memory lane with my parents to really discover the history, and my mom’s history in particular, and her roots that permeate through the Third Ward Houston area.”
Her grandparents moved to Houston from Navasto in 1938.
“They were people that were essentially sharecroppers who came to Houston and were able to purchase land and build a business,” she said.
They opened Willie’s Bakery in 1952 and ran it until it closed in 1985.
The family is planning to renovate the building where the bakery was and has found its original materials that were left behind. Glass expresses how emotional it makes her to actually hold her family’s history in her hands.
“It was a very surreal moment,” she said. “I was very grateful that we hadn’t lost the property and we could continue to learn about that history.”
Glass was one of the dozens of Houston residents who responded to the request for storytellers to participate in the project.
Bean described how difficult the process was to select certain stories because of the positive response of people wanting to share.
“We put a call out for anyone who was interested, and many people came,” Bean said. “I selected ones that could fit the poems of the project, but there were a lot of great stories.”
The concept of using the phrase Space City derives from it being Houston’s nickname.
Using a play on words, Bean’s focus on the project is based on human connections, empathy and individual experiences in America’s fourth largest city.
“Houston’s called ‘Space City’ because of NASA, but I think it’s morphed into something meaning much more than that,” Bean said. “There are a lot of people here who fill these spaces and I wanted to bring out the diversity of Houston.”
The track titled “Space + Time” featured David Adickes, 96, a Houston-based artist whose life’s work in the city spans 80 years.
On the track, Adickes spoke about devoting his life and his art in Houston since he moved there in 1951.
He watched it evolve from a small city with oyster shell roads to one of the largest cities in the country.
“That was Houston, two blocks west of Kirby, Richmond ended,” Adickes said. “Kirby wasn’t even paved, Kirby was an oyster shell road at that time in ’51.”
Throughout his 80 years as an artist, Adickes is responsible for creating a 36-foot steel and concrete statue of a string trio called the Virtuoso, the 67-foot tall Sam Houston statue called “A Tribute to Courage,” and the giant statues of the Beatles at 8th Wonder Brewery, to name a few.
“I’ve been doing this now for 82 years and I don’t even know how I’m doing this,” Adickes said.
Bean and Guess both emphasized that the “Space City Story Tape” was intended to “showcase Houston audibly” to listeners and represent the togetherness of a community who is full of pride for their culture and the city they love.
“To the people that hear it, if you’re a native, I hope you learn something new and give you experience you feel better about your city,” Guess said. “If you’re not from Houston, I hope it encourages you to learn more about the history of this city and be happy to be here.”