52 Portraits 19: Satori Shakoor — Misty Lyn Bergeron

“It looks like I’m developing storytellers…and I am, but ultimately, that is in service of developing empathetic listeners.”

Satori Shakoor is a storyteller, artist, former Parliament-Funkadelic singer, and social entrepreneur. After losing her son and her mother within 9 months of each other and being in the depths of a powerful grief, Satori found healing in her art of storytelling on the Moth Main Stage. This ignited the idea that maybe storytelling could also heal her hometown of Detroit, and The Secret Society of Twisted Storytellers was born. The mission would be to “connect, heal, and transform’ her community. Today SSTS is a mainstay at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History and is doing just that. Satori also paints the picture of her music-filled childhood for us, shares what it means to her to stay in the integrity of her mission, and explains why she thinks listening is a revolutionary act.

“It looks like I’m developing storytellers…and I am, but ultimately, that is in service of developing empathetic listeners.” Satori Shakoor is a storyteller, artist, former Parliament-Funkadelic singer, and social entrepreneur. After losing her son and her mother within 9 months of each other and being in the depths of a powerful grief, Satori found healing in her art of storytelling on the Moth Main Stage. This ignited the idea that maybe storytelling could also heal her hometown of Detroit, and The Secret Society of Twisted Storytellers was born. The mission would be to “connect, heal, and transform’ her community. Today SSTS is a mainstay at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History and is doing just that. Satori also paints the picture of her music-filled childhood for us, shares what it means to her to stay in the integrity of her mission, and explains why she thinks listening is a revolutionary act.

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The secret Society of Twisted Storytellers