oral tradition

African figures rising above coastal fields, African American folklore scene.

The Flying Africans

by Elizabeth Fabowale

January 9, 2026

African American Folktales·American Folktales

Long ago, along the coastal lowlands of South Carolina and Georgia, the people of Gullah Geechee communities whispered of a power that defied the chains of slavery. They said that some among them carried a memory of home across the ocean, a memory so strong that it could lift a person from the earth and carry them to freedom. Among

A lone blues musician stands at a rural crossroads at midnight, holding a guitar under a moonlit sky, with a shadowy figure emerging from the darkness

African American Folktales·American Folktales

The Devil at the Crossroads

In the low country of the Mississippi Delta, where the earth lay flat and dark and the cicadas sang like restless spirits, there lived a young man named Eli Carter. Eli was known around the plantations and juke joints as a quiet soul with restless hands. He worked the fields

Winter farm scene with a wooden barn glowing from firelight in the distance and mist drifting across frost covered fields under moonlight.

Tales of the Barn Burning Mystery

During one long and unforgiving winter, a quiet farming community found itself

Parchment-style illustration of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox in snowy woods, American folktale.

Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox: An American Folktale that Teaches Lessons on Strength, Teamwork, and the Power of Legend

Long ago, in the rugged northern forests of America, where towering pines whispered to the wind and the snow stretched farther than

Parchment-style artwork of Davy Crockett firing into the sunrise on a frosty Tennessee hill, American folktale scene.

Davy Crockett and the Frozen Dawn: An American Folktale that Teaches Lessons on Boasting and Humor

In the early days of the American frontier, when the land stretched wild and untamed across Tennessee, there lived a man whose

A realistic painting of an American alligator resting on a muddy riverbank at dawn, surrounded by misty wetlands and tall grasses under soft golden light.

The American Alligator Legend

In the vast marshes and slow-moving rivers of the southern United States, where the air hangs heavy with mist and the reeds

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