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Collaboraction presents Family Tree Stories, a digital library of oral family narratives bringing us closer together. Family Tree Stories is a new mixed media project that illuminates how systemic oppression impacts our ancestral narratives and how interconnected our family stories actually are. Featuring 10 minute videos from various Chicago storytellers each sharing their families history. Each video is tagged for relevant narrative content and is sortable, allowing viewers to connect their own thread to that of the storytellers. Phase 2 of Family Tree Stories will include the launch of a BETA website at familytreestories.org that uses data mapping as a navigation tool. Phase 3 will include the ability for the public to submit a video of their own family tree story for inclusion in the database, eventually creating a digital library of family narratives. The 16 original Family Tree Storytellers are Dana N. Anderson, Dr. David Ansel, Dr. Finley Campbell, Tommy Carroll, Sandra Delgado, GQ, Arica Hilton, Loretta “Firekeeper” Hawkins, Jamil Khoury, Sean Patrick Leonard, Aria Mallare, Sammy Rangel, Jasmine Robinson, Jacqueline Russell, Priya Shah and Nikolaj Sorensen Sandra Delgado is a Colombian-Chicagoan theatre artist who writes plays for and about the people of Chicago, with a focus on Latinx communities. She is best known for her hit play La Havana Madrid, featured in the New York Times and CNN/CNÑ, which enjoyed sold-out runs at Steppenwolf and Goodman Theatre, and most recently in a co-production with Teatro Vista and Collaboraction. (La Havana Madrid, featured in the New York Times and CNN, received recognition as one of the best plays of 2017 by New City Chicago and Time Out Chicago, and the Time-Out Audience Award for Best New Work, as well as an Alliance of Latinx Theatre Artists (ALTA) nominee for the Maria Irene Fornes New Play Award and ALTA Award winner for Best Production.) Also a respected veteran of the stage, her acting highlights include work at Steppenwolf and The Goodman Theatre in Chicago, The Public Theatre in New York and as the titular character in La Havana Madrid. She is a founding member of Collaboraction, an ensemble member of Teatro Vista, a resident playwright at Chicago Dramatists, and serves on the Mayor’s Cultural Advisory Council. Awards include an Illinios Arts Council Fellowship in Literature, the 3Arts Award, the Joyce Award, the TCG Resident Actor Fellowship, three DCASE Individual Artist Grants and the 2017 Latina Professional of the Year Award from the Chicago Latino Network. Sandra is one of twenty Chicago women honored in Kerry James Marshall's public mural RUSH MORE on the facade of the Chicago Cultural Center. Her new play, The Boys and the Nuns, centers on the fight for LGBTQ rights in 1980s Chicago. A Quote From Sandra's story: "I often think about the stuff that gets passed on from generation to generation -- not necessarily the physical stuff, but the more ethereal details about someone." www.sandradelgado.net https://www.facebook.com/lasandradelgado https://www.instagram.com/yosoysandradelgado www.instagram.com/yosoysandradelgado Sandra Delgado's Narrative Tags Latin America Father Mother Colombia Only Child United States Bomb Violence Brother Europe Andalucia Spain Catholic Church Colonizer Mines Emerald Mines Ceramics Chicago Marriage by Proxy Earl Grey Tea Bergamot Leaves Violin Piano Princess Grace This program is partially funded by Healing Illinois and the Chicago Family Foundation. Go to www.collaboraction.org for more information.

Collaboraction presents Family Tree Stories, a digital library of oral family narratives bringing us closer together. Family Tree Stories is a new mixed media project that illuminates how systemic oppression impacts our ancestral narratives and how interconnected our family stories actually are. Featuring 10 minute videos from various Chicago storytellers each sharing their families history. Each video is tagged for relevant narrative content and is sortable, allowing viewers to connect their own thread to that of the storytellers. Phase 2 of Family Tree Stories will include the launch of a BETA website at familytreestories.org that uses data mapping as a navigation tool. Phase 3 will include the ability for the public to submit a video of their own family tree story for inclusion in the database, eventually creating a digital library of family narratives. The 16 original Family Tree Storytellers are Dana N. Anderson, Dr. David Ansel, Dr. Finley Campbell, Tommy Carroll, Sandra Delgado, GQ, Arica Hilton, Loretta “Firekeeper” Hawkins, Jamil Khoury, Sean Patrick Leonard, Aria Mallare, Sammy Rangel, Jasmine Robinson, Jacqueline Russell, Priya Shah and Nikolaj Sorensen As Rush University Medical Center's first leader of community health equity, a role he assumed in October of 2016, David Ansell leads Rush's strategy to be a catalyst for community health and economic vitality on Chicago’s West Side. He previously was Rush’s senior vice president, system integration. Ansell joined Rush in 2005 as the Medical Center’s first chief medical officer (CMO) — a position he held until 2014 — as well as the associate dean and senior vice president for clinical affairs and the Michael E. Kelly MD Presidential Professor at Rush Medical College. While Ansell was CMO, Rush was consistently among the top-performing academic medical centers in the United States with regard to quality and safety. He also served on the inaugural system board of the Cook County Health and Hospital System and served on a number of national committees within the CMO group of the Association of Academic Medical Centers. In 2002, during his 10-year tenure as chairperson of the Department of Internal Medicine at Chicago’s Mount Sinai Hospital, Ansell co-founded the Sinai Urban Health Institute, which conducts health inequity research, develops innovative community health interventions, delivers community health worker training and consultation, and provides a broad scope of evaluation services. After joining Rush, Ansell helped establish, in 2007, the not-for-profit Metropolitan Chicago Breast Cancer Taskforce, which focuses on ameliorating the higher breast cancer mortality rate among Black women. He currently is the chair of the taskforce's board. He also contributed to the 2015 creation of the Center for Community Health Equity — a Chicago-based educational and research center jointly run by Rush University and DePaul University. Beginning in 1978, Ansell spent 17 years at Chicago’s Cook County Hospital, where he implemented one of the first breast cancer screening programs in the United States. From 1993 to 1995, he served as the hospital’s division chief of general medicine and primary care. Ansell recounted his experiences at Cook County Hospital in his critically acclaimed 2011 memoir, "County: Life, Death and Politics at Chicago’s Public Hospital." The University of Chicago Press published his second book, "The Death Gap: How Inequality Kills," in 2017. As a co-author of a study in The New England Journal of Medicine, and through his testimony before the U.S. Congress, Ansell influenced the passage of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act in 1986 — a federal law that regulates the transfer of patients from one hospital to another. He also is the author of numerous other papers and book chapters on health disparities. Quotes from Dr. Ansel's story (0:27) "Now much of the story I'm going to tell you has been lost to the winds of history, but I'm going to piece it together as it's been told to me." (8:44) "I couldn't help see the similarities between the oppression of Jews in Europe, and the oppression of Black people in the United States. And that sort of led me on my own personal journey of trying to understand what I could do and how I could do it." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_A._Ansell Narrative Tags England Mielec, Poland Krakow Jews Merchants Millers Polish Catholics Pogrom Rape Zasow, Poland Polish Army AWOL Antwerp Freedom Holland Boats Names Nazis Royal Air Force Newark NJ Tramp Freighter America New York Housewife Holocaust Assigned White Civil Rights Movement Martin Luther King Jr Doctor Cook County Hospital Chicago Racism Economic Depravation Oppression This program is partially funded by Healing Illinois and the Chicago Family Foundation. Go to www.collaboraction.org for more information.

Collaboraction presents Family Tree Stories, a digital library of oral family narratives bringing us closer together. Family Tree Stories is a new mixed media project that illuminates how systemic oppression impacts our ancestral narratives and how interconnected our family stories actually are. Featuring 10 minute videos from various Chicago storytellers sharing their families history. Each video is tagged for relevant narrative content and is sortable, allowing viewers to connect their own thread to that of the storytellers. Phase 2 of Family Tree Stories will include the launch of a BETA website at familytreestories.org that uses data mapping as a navigation tool. Phase 3 will include the ability for the public to submit a video of their own family tree story for inclusion in the database, eventually creating a digital library of family narratives. The 16 original Family Tree Storytellers are Dana N. Anderson, Dr. David Ansel, Dr. Finley Campbell, Tommy Carroll, Sandra Delgado, GQ, Arica Hilton, Loretta “Firekeeper” Hawkins, Jamil Khoury, Sean Patrick Leonard, Aria Mallare, Sammy Rangel, Jasmine Robinson, Jacqueline Russell, Priya Shah and Nikolaj Sorensen Nikolaj Sorensen (he/him) is a production manager and scenic designer living and working in Chicago. His work is grounded in community, seeking to serve and uplift the voices of those around him in the pursuit of justice and equity. As a mixed-race artist and inveterate geek, he loves mashups and remixes in all their forms and has long been interested in the potential of the internet as a vehicle for theatrical experimentation and community-building. He holds a B.S. in Theatre from Northwestern University; has production managed for Palo Alto Players, Piven Theatre Workshop, Northwestern's Wirtz Center for the Performing Arts, and the Lyric Opera of Chicago; and is currently the Director of Production for Hearing in Color Chicago. A quote from Nikolaj's story: (9:43) "They like to say that they met in the avocado grove at Stanford. There's no grove -- it's a single tree -- but it's still, I think, kind of romantic." www.sorensets.com Twitter: @nikolajcs Instagram: @operrata Nikolaj Sorensen's Narrative Tags: Nixon Elementary Berkeley Harvard Stanford University Cambridge Johns Hopkins Notre Dame Apartheid Florist Draftsperson Journalist Engineer University of Chicago MIT Boston College Donald Trump Baltimore South Africa Chinatown Mauritius China Copenhagen Guangzhou, China Palo Alto Hawaii San Francisco CA London Australia Boston Norway Hartford CT South Bend IN Chicago Denmark Germany Massachusetts Chinese Immigrants Chess California Highway Authority Army Translator Hostel Avocado Grove Cook Sociology World War II Cows on Parade Field Museum Theatre Oregon Shakespeare Festival Asian-American This program is partially funded by Healing Illinois and the Chicago Family Foundation. Go to www.collaboraction.org for more information.

Collaboraction presents Family Tree Stories, a digital library of oral family narratives bringing us closer together. Family Tree Stories is a new mixed media project that illuminates how systemic oppression impacts our ancestral narratives and how interconnected our family stories actually are. Featuring 10 minute videos from various Chicago storytellers each sharing their families history. Each video is tagged for relevant narrative content and is sortable, allowing viewers to connect their own thread to that of the storytellers. Phase 2 of Family Tree Stories will include the launch of a BETA website at familytreestories.org that uses data mapping as a navigation tool. Phase 3 will include the ability for the public to submit a video of their own family tree story for inclusion in the database, eventually creating a digital library of family narratives. The 16 original Family Tree Storytellers are Dana N. Anderson, Dr. David Ansel, Dr. Finley Campbell, Tommy Carroll, Sandra Delgado, GQ, Arica Hilton, Loretta “Firekeeper” Hawkins, Jamil Khoury, Sean Patrick Leonard, Aria Mallare, Sammy Rangel, Jasmine Robinson, Jacqueline Russell, Priya Shah and Nikolaj Sorensen GQ has been acting, writing, and directing for over 20 years. He is the founder and co-creative director of Q Brothers Productions, LLC. G produces electronic music and deejays under the name Javid Music Party. www.qbrothersofficial.com www.soundcloud.com/javidmusicparty www.instagram.com/javidmusicparty Quotes from GQ (2:37) "I think I made that up because I picture him as, like, this great hero. Because he is a great hero -- to me." (9:01) "You know, I often think of what it was like in the 60s when my father, who was, you know, a Muslim born in India raised in Pakistan living in Chicago, and becoming part of my mother's family -- my mother's German family in Chicago." Narrative Tags Mother Chicago Father Rebdorf, Germany Grandfather Munich Wagon Maker South America Grandmother Chicago Fire Wrigley Field Old Irving Park Dhoraji, India Burma Myanmar Muslim Genocide Rangoon Partition of India Sikhs Hindus Muslims Pakistan Karachi United States Nurse University of Chicago St Joseph's Hospital University of Illinois Pharmacy Military Catholic Merz Apothecary New York Los Angeles Segregation This program is partially funded by Healing Illinois and the Chicago Family Foundation. Go to www.collaboraction.org for more information.

Collaboraction presents Family Tree Stories, a digital library of oral family narratives bringing us closer together. Family Tree Stories is a new mixed media project that illuminates how systemic oppression impacts our ancestral narratives and how interconnected our family stories actually are. Featuring 10 minute videos from various Chicago storytellers each sharing their families history. Each video is tagged for relevant narrative content and is sortable, allowing viewers to connect their own thread to that of the storytellers. Phase 2 of Family Tree Stories will include the launch of a BETA website at familytreestories.org that uses data mapping as a navigation tool. Phase 3 will include the ability for the public to submit a video of their own family tree story for inclusion in the database, eventually creating a digital library of family narratives. The 16 original Family Tree Storytellers are Dana N. Anderson, Dr. David Ansel, Dr. Finley Campbell, Tommy Carroll, Sandra Delgado, GQ, Arica Hilton, Loretta “Firekeeper” Hawkins, Jamil Khoury, Sean Patrick Leonard, Aria Mallare, Sammy Rangel, Jasmine Robinson, Jacqueline Russell, Priya Shah and Nikolaj Sorensen Rev. Dr. Finley Campbell was born in Anderson South Carolina in 1934; migrated to Detroit MI 1942; graduated from Morehouse College 1956; PhD, Univ. of Chicago, 1969; candidate for governor, Indiana 1972; Professor at DeVry U Chicago 1987; member of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations, 1992; and since then an organizer, member, leader of the Unitarian Universalist Multiracial Unity Action Council and the Racial Justice Task Force uumuac.org Quotes from Dr. Campbell (0:28) "Focusing on how my family, in its own small way, helped to defeat White Supremacy culture in the 20th century -- and in the present time, reflected in me." (7:28) "So we were always somehow involved in the struggle -- we were all involved in the struggle -- to open up doors, open up those doors." Narrative Tags Hudson Department Store Muler Postal Service St. Paul Baptist Church Landholder Transformation Police Department Social Justice Activist White Supremacy Cherokee W. E. B. Du Bois Social Service Irish Democratic Party Detroit Preacher Messiah (?) Detroit Street Railway Class Prejudice Multiracial Unitarian Universalism Equity Growth Concubine Asheville NC Jubilee Slavery Education Cherokee Hills SC Desegregation Teacher Land Lynching Morris College Segregation Housing Boston University Oxford University Wabash College Ghetto Barrier Michigan Council of Churches Neo-Racism Sharecropper Talented Tenth Mikado (?) Noblesse Oblige Segregation Howard University Atlanta Anderson SC Benedict College County Fair Emory University Crawfordsville, IN Radio Free Europe Inclusion Diversity This program is partially funded by Healing Illinois and the Chicago Family Foundation. Go to www.collaboraction.org for more information.

Collaboraction presents Family Tree Stories, a digital library of oral family narratives bringing us closer together. Family Tree Stories is a new mixed media project that illuminates how systemic oppression impacts our ancestral narratives and how interconnected our family stories actually are. Featuring 10 minute videos from various Chicago storytellers sharing their families history. Each video is tagged for relevant narrative content and is sortable, allowing viewers to connect their own thread to that of the storytellers. Phase 2 of Family Tree Stories will include the launch of a BETA website at familytreestories.org that uses data mapping as a navigation tool. Phase 3 will include the ability for the public to submit a video of their own family tree story for inclusion in the database, eventually creating a digital library of family narratives. The 16 original Family Tree Storytellers are Dana N. Anderson, Dr. David Ansel, Dr. Finley Campbell, Tommy Carroll, Sandra Delgado, GQ, Arica Hilton, Loretta “Firekeeper” Hawkins, Jamil Khoury, Sean Patrick Leonard, Aria Mallare, Sammy Rangel, Jasmine Robinson, Jacqueline Russell, Priya Shah and Nikolaj Sorensen Sammy Rangel is the CEO and Co-Founder of Life After Hate, Inc., a non-profit organization that is committed to helping people leave the violent far-right to connect with humanity and lead compassionate lives. His autobiography, "FOURBEARS: The Myths of Forgiveness," chronicles his life from the physical and sexual abuse he endured as a child to his path of self-destruction that culminated in a 15 1/2-year prison sentence. In 2012, Sammy founded Formers Anonymous, a national self-help group based on the 12-step model for people addicted to street life and violence. In May 2015, he participated in the TEDxDanubia Conference: Balance On the Edge held in Budapest, where he spoke about the Power of Forgiveness and the importance of crafting your personal narrative. A quote from Sammy's story: (9:10) "Like most families in my situation, there isn't a depth of knowledge about where we come from, and that can leave an empty space in your life when you're thinking about your roots and your heritage. But in the face of that, because of racism, because of the way government eradicated our history, it becomes important to know as much as you can about yourself." https://www.facebook.com/sammyrangel Instagram: @sammyrangel Sammy Rangel's Narrative Tags: Lakota Family Helper Prison Mexican Texas Giant Tortoise Brother Native American Black Bear Puerto Rican Military Violence Abuse Tejanos Daughters Mescalaro Apache Substance Abuse Perch Fishing Abandonment Heritage Illinois Race Riots Chicago Racism Redemption Child Abuse Forgiveness Segregation This program is partially funded by Healing Illinois and the Chicago Family Foundation. Go to www.collaboraction.org for more information.

Collaboraction presents Family Tree Stories, a digital library of oral family narratives bringing us closer together. Family Tree Stories is a new mixed media project that illuminates how systemic oppression impacts our ancestral narratives and how interconnected our family stories actually are. Featuring 10 minute videos from various Chicago storytellers sharing their families history. Each video is tagged for relevant narrative content and is sortable, allowing viewers to connect their own thread to that of the storytellers. Phase 2 of Family Tree Stories will include the launch of a BETA website at familytreestories.org that uses data mapping as a navigation tool. Phase 3 will include the ability for the public to submit a video of their own family tree story for inclusion in the database, eventually creating a digital library of family narratives. The 16 original Family Tree Storytellers are Dana N. Anderson, Dr. David Ansel, Dr. Finley Campbell, Tommy Carroll, Sandra Delgado, GQ, Arica Hilton, Loretta “Firekeeper” Hawkins, Jamil Khoury, Sean Patrick Leonard, Aria Mallare, Sammy Rangel, Jasmine Robinson, Jacqueline Russell, Priya Shah and Nikolaj Sorensen Jasmine is an Afro Latina originally from Miami and residing in Englewood by choice. She has 2 children that she raises in an inclusive environment that honors all of their shared cultures. Jasmine has a drive for community development and is a leader in the legal cannabis industry. A quote from Jasmine's story: (5:44) "...when I was twelve years old, I looked on my birth certificate, found an address, knocked on the door, and that's where I found my mirror." Instagram: @runsnugs Jasmine Robinson's Narrative Tags: Passing Allies Privilege Migration Colombia Bogota United States Home Owners Afro-Latina Power Broadcaster Matriarch Guerillas Engineer Radio Station South Florida Charleston SC Slavery Power Multi-Racial Sharecroppers California Business Man Korean War Advocates Agriculture Community Richmond Heights This program is partially funded by Healing Illinois and the Chicago Family Foundation. Go to www.collaboraction.org for more information.

Collaboraction presents Family Tree Stories, a digital library of oral family narratives bringing us closer together. Family Tree Stories is a new mixed media project that illuminates how systemic oppression impacts our ancestral narratives and how interconnected our family stories actually are. Featuring 10 minute videos from various Chicago storytellers sharing their families history. Each video is tagged for relevant narrative content and is sortable, allowing viewers to connect their own thread to that of the storytellers. Phase 2 of Family Tree Stories will include the launch of a BETA website at familytreestories.org that uses data mapping as a navigation tool. Phase 3 will include the ability for the public to submit a video of their own family tree story for inclusion in the database, eventually creating a digital library of family narratives. The 16 original Family Tree Storytellers are Dana N. Anderson, Dr. David Ansel, Dr. Finley Campbell, Tommy Carroll, Sandra Delgado, GQ, Arica Hilton, Loretta “Firekeeper” Hawkins, Jamil Khoury, Sean Patrick Leonard, Aria Mallare, Sammy Rangel, Jasmine Robinson, Jacqueline Russell, Priya Shah and Nikolaj Sorensen Aria Mallare is a writer based in the West Loop who wants to live in a world where people listen to each other. She is proud of her African-American and Filipino roots and writes to illuminate the racial and ethnic injustices facing these communities. She has been working with Collaboraction Theatre for a year and a half and has been a featured performer in The Light 2019 and 2020 at the Pentagon Theatre, Book of Peace at Kennedy-King College and Cloudgate Plaza, and Fresh Fest at Navy Pier. Her writing has also been published by Overachiever Magazine and the Write the World Review. She believes that storytelling is a superpower and hopes to continue spreading love and light through her writing. A quote from Aria's story: (11:09) "That's kind of what I think about when I think about my ancestry, is a sunrise -- rising -- going from where we are now to something better, to something brighter, to something stronger, to something more beautiful." Instagram: @arriiiaaaa.cm Aria Mallare's Narrative Tags: Heritage Mexico Arnis Opportunity U of C Law School Airport Civil War Suitcase Heirlooms Dark Skin United States Integration Teacher Chicago Sunrise Nashville Education Slavery Photographs Tagalog Photo Albums American College Family Bible Fair Skin Luzon, Philippines Chicago Filipino Black Quarantine Howard University Emancipation U of C Lab School Black Woman Passing Visa Legacy Farm Fisk University Writing This program is partially funded by Healing Illinois and the Chicago Family Foundation. Go to www.collaboraction.org for more information.