SOL Collective performers share power of music through personal stories

It’s incredible what one song can do.

Phil Collins’ “Against All Odds” can bring back the memory of a first kiss.

Usher’s “DJ Got Us Fallin’ in Love” can serve as a reminder of a college friendship.

Jon Batiste's "Freedom" can conjure a feeling of hope for the future.

Those are some of the songs and anecdotes shared Saturday during SOL Collective’s packed storytelling event, “Last Night a DJ Saved My Life,” at the Promontory in Hyde Park. Eight women speakers told personal tales about the effect music has had on their lives. The attentive audience laughed, nodded and mumbled words of affirmation from their tables adorned with disco balls and roses.

And, yes, the Indeep song referenced in the show’s title was played to kick things off.

Since 2020, the SOL Collective has been amplifying the voices and experiences of women of color through such themed events. And the hope is that their stories resonate with others, regardless of gender or background, according to co-founder Shelley Davis.

“We all have this amazing collection of experiences, and there's all these lessons that are worth sharing with somebody else for pure entertainment purposes because it's fun,” said Davis, 54, of Bronzeville, who works in the nonprofit sector. “But also because it helps us think about ourselves in a new way.”

There were plenty of impactful messages at the Saturday event, which featured some recognizable faces, including former American Library Association executive director Tracie Hall and former Chicago school board candidate Karin Norington-Reaves.

Noted educator and storyteller Ada Cheng, who referenced Phil Collins, shared a powerful story about the highs and lows of falling in love. Project manager Keelah Moore, who mentioned Usher, recounted a fun experience about a friend teaching her to dance “full of joy.” And Shelley Davis, who cited Jon Batiste, relayed a moving narrative about having her positive outlook dashed following the results of the presidential election.

“I was pumped,” said Davis, recalling her mood after volunteering at the Democratic National Convention last summer. “That energy, that excitement, that electricity carried me all the way through the fall and election night. I asked Google and AI to give me the best playlist with freedom as the theme.”

Once the election results rolled in, the music stopped, Davis told the audience, holding their attention even as she spoke in a hushed tone. “For the first time in my life, I didn't have a soundtrack,” she said. “And I don't know how to get it back.”

Davis said she was inspired to take storytelling classes after she was moved to tears by an NPR story in 2017. But she grew discouraged upon noticing that she was often the only Black student.

“I would workshop my stories with my classmates and they would work on their empathy, but there are just some things that didn't connect,” she said.

She decided to form the SOL Collective, bringing on award-winning storytelling veteran Emily Hooper Lansana as artistic director.

“I think Chicago is a really special storytelling town because you could go to a storytelling event almost every night of the week,” said Hooper Lansana, 58, of Bronzeville. “But SOL is a unique space. We need, as women of color, spaces where our stories are highlighted. What I'm trying to do is to give voice to stories that are often untold.”

Hooper Lansana selected music as the theme of the Saturday show, where she also served as host and storyteller.

“I believe that, especially for us as Black people, throughout our history we have returned to music as a source of encouragement and liberation,” she said. “And we have returned to moving our bodies as a way for us to get free.”

Though the room was full of tables and chairs, Hooper Lansana and the other storytellers danced in the aisles during DJ Ca$h Era’s pre-show set.

“You might think we should be talking about something else,” Hooper Lansana told the audience before introducing the first speaker. “But, in moments of crisis, our music, our artistry and our healing have always been what we needed to make ourselves whole so that we could fight the fight.”