Funda Fest 28 and the Contributions of the RI Black Storytellers (RIBS) from January 13th-25th, 2026

WHEREAS, RI Black Storytellers (RIBS) was founded in 1998, and is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote “the awareness, appreciation, and application of Black Storytelling in Rhode Island through performance, as well as through educational and cultural experiences”; and

WHEREAS, Funda Fest is “the flagship of RIBS programming”, and over the years, has reached over 120,000 people with international, national, regional, and local artists at various career stages, representing the diversity of Black storytelling; and

WHEREAS, Funda is a South African Zulu word meaning “to learn” or “to teach”. Funda Fest is a two-week celebration which includes seven statewide public performances in partnership with local organizations in each city or town, and annually reaches a statewide audience of thousands; and

WHEREAS, This year heralds the th celebration of Funda Fest, and provides a platform for Black people to shape the narrative of their own history and promote awareness, appreciation, and application of Black storytelling through an educational and cultural experience, with a place and time to learn the history, values, and traditions that have often been non-existent in mainstream literature; now, therefore be it

RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island hereby joins the thousands of Rhode Islanders in celebrating and supporting Funda Fest 28 from January th through the th, 2026. We moreover urge all Rhode Islanders to take this time to listen, experience, and learn generational Black history, values and traditions through the power of storytelling from the “keepers of the culture”; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Rhode Island Black Storytellers (RIBS).