Jae Nale (R), an Orlando resident, always knew she wanted a baby, and she was determined that coming out as a lesbian wouldn’t change her chances of having one. Jae was artificially inseminated in the early 1980s, which was almost unheard of among lesbians in the south. She came in with her daughter, Stacy Nale (L), a psychologist, to talk about Stacy’s often difficult experiences being raised in rural Mississippi by a lesbian mother. Stacy then told her own coming out story. Both women have worked hard to change people’s conceptions of lesbians, and, in Jae’s words, “they can only stereotype us if they don’t know who we really are.”

Later, Stacy and her fiancÈ, LeShun Stadom, took us out dancing!

And then we talked Stacy (R) and LeShun (L) into coming in for an interview of their own. LeShun talked about being raised by her loving grandparents after the death of her mother, becoming a firefighter in Orlando, and meeting Stacy, the love of her life.

Want to break a world record? No better place than with Orlando’s History Center!

On Saturday, January 26, over 1 700 yo-yo enthusiasts (and the yet-to-be initiated) gathered in downtown Orlando’s Heritage Square. Undeterred by the overcast sky, people came out en masse to support the Guiness World Record-breaking attempt at the local Orange County Regional History Center. Yo-yo-ing, a long-loved sleight of wrist activity, is just one event as part of its latest exhibit, “Kid Stuff: Great Toys from our Childhood,” running through April 13, 2008.

Oh, and here’s what a real Orlando gator looks like!

If you feel like wrasslin’ with a gator, here’s exhibit A (and don’t forget to wear a hat!):

Soo Na and Jenna finally had the chance to try some real Florida oranges… er, clementines. We saw a big tree full of orange fruit and busted into a lovely Florida backyard (with the home owners’ permission, of course), and savored the flavors of the world’s most celebrated citrus fruits.

YUM!

YUMMIER!

Zora’s Place, named after writer Zora Neale Hurston, is located in Eatonville, Florida, the nation’s oldest all-black incorporated municipality, founded in 1887 by a community of formerly enslaved Africans, who dreamed of raising their families off of plantations, in a community of their own choosing – and succeeded.

Now in its 19th year, the ZORA! Festival – or Zora Neale Hurston Festival of the Arts and Humanities – celebrates the life, work, and community contributions of writer, anthropologist, and politically engaged Hurston. Just two blocks from Zora’s Place is the Zora Neale Hurston National Museum of Fine Arts, more affectionately referred to as The Hurston. The Association to Preserve the Eatonville Community, Inc., completes the triad of organizations that, along with the hard work of dedicated staff, volunteers, and community members, gather speakers, organize art exhibitions, and create youth events for the ZORA! Festival each year.

Although some events require ticket purchase, many community events are free of charge, including a reading by poet and activist Sonia Sanchez later this month.

(The Hurston)

Writer and activist Alice Walker is credited with bringing Zora Neale Hurston back from obscurity, after writing an article, “In Search of Zora Neale Hurston”, which Ms. Magazine published in its March 1975 issue. Using Hurston’s text in her classrooms, Walker succeeded in bringing greater awareness to the important work and documentation of Southern Black people in Hurston’s clear-eyed, nuanced writing, revealing her skill as writer and trained anthropologist within and of her own community. It is little wonder, then, that Hurston is referred to as “the Genius of the South.”

(Zora Neale Hurston)

Along with an autobiography, Dust Tracks on a Road, Hurston authored numerous oral histories and loosely disguised Eatonville community-based novels, including the famous Their Eyes Were Watching God. Hurston enlarged the already influential, creative, and powerful co-creators of the Harlem Renaissance zeitgeist of Black artists, activists, and intellectuals.

Behind every community event are organizers, and N.Y. Nathiri’s energy and dedication to Eatonville show in her work as an historic preservationist, as well as life-time community member of “the town that freedom built.” And behind every organizer is a family, and so it is with N.Y. Nathiri and her vibrant mother, Ella Johnson Dinkins, who remembers a time when the streets of Eatonville were gravel, and 25 families lived there. Thank you, N.Y. Nathiri, Ella Johnson Dinkins, and the community of Eatonville, Florida, for keeping the energy of Zora Neale Hurston and the practical implementation of the promise of freedom alive.

(N.Y. Nathiri; Soo Na Pak; Ella Johnson Dinkins)

(L-R: James Ransom; Dave Isay; Cherie Johnson)

So spoke Cherie Johnson about Sunday school teacher, Miss Divine. StoryCorps alumni and special guests, cousins Cherie Johnson and James Ransom, drove from Tampa, Florida, to join Dave Isay during yesterday’s book signing at the Orlando Public Library.

(James Ransom)

It was an honor and privilege to meet Cherie Johnson and James Ransom.

Cherie Johnson and James Ransom’s memories of Miss Divine can be found in the “Home and Family” section of StoryCorps’ first book, Listening is an Act of Love: A Celebration of American Life from the StoryCorps Project.

MobileBooth East began its first stop of 2008 with opening day in Orlando, Florida. After kicking off with breakfast provided by Orlando’s very own Z-CafÈ, located inside of the Orlando Public Library, Cornerstone Society members of WMFE heard a presentation from MobileBooth Senior Coordinator Eliza Bettinger. A sincere thank you to the members of WMFE who helped make StoryCorps’ stop in Orlando, Florida, possible!

(MobileBooth East is open for stories!)

With volunteers ready to spread the word about StoryCorps, and the open sign up, facilitators Jenna Weiss-Berman and Soo Na Pak welcomed participants.

For more pictures of opening day, check out our slideshow below!

They parked the booth in front of the Orlando Public Library in downtown Orlando, where StoryCorps will be recording stories with local NPR station WMFE for the entire month of January.