The Moth - Popping Up: Tonja Murphy

Episode Date: September 29, 2023

On this episode, we take a look at one of the coolest projects the Moth has done - the traveling Pop Up Porch. And we hear a story that came out the Pop Up Porch. We also interview Rita Brent - who hosted one of our events and shares her experiences. If you’d like to experience some of the magic of the Pop Up Porch you should come visit us at the Pop Up Porch when it comes to your city. We’ll be in Ann Arbor from September 27th to October 1st, Detroit from October 4th to October 8th, and in Dallas from October 11th to October 15th. For more information, visit to themoth.org Also, The Moth's spinoff podcast Grown is up for a Signal award. If you haven't listened to Grown before, check it out, it's filled with stories all about growing up, and if you have listened, we'd love for you to vote for it for the Signal Awards. Just go to vote.signalaward.com and vote for Grown in the categories of Best Co-Host Team and Best Emerging Podcast. Hosted by: Aldi Kaza Storyteller: Tonja Murphy’s students always tell her the truth, so she has to be careful about what outfits she wears.

Welcome to the Moth Podcast. I'm Aldi Kaza, director of production at the Moth and your host for this episode. About a year ago, the Moth launched something pretty special. It was a project that was inspired by our beginnings, stories shared late into the night on a front porch among friends. We custom built a tiny home with a small porch of its own and took it on the road through six different cities. Tulsa, Dallas, Jackson, New Orleans, Birmingham, and Atlanta. Over those many miles on the road, more than 5,000 people joined us to listen to stories from our archive and work with our team on their own story ideas. From city to city, the entire tour was a beautiful way to learn about each of these communities. We met school teachers and students, civil servants and clergy, musicians and poets, even a guy with a pet rooster. The pop-up porch is a testament

to the power of storytelling as a way to bring people from different walks of life together. It was a privilege to create a space where members of the community felt comfortable and eager to share their stories with us, particularly for folks who thought they didn't have a story we're sharing, but left with something to tell friends, neighbors, and family. I'm happy to share that we'll be back on the road this year as we travel to Ann Arbor, Detroit, and Dallas. I'll tell you more about that in a bit, and I'll talk to someone who we met along the way last year, but first let's play a story that came out of our inaugural pop-up porch

journey. We met this storyteller in Jackson, Mississippi, where Tanya Murphy won on stage at the Jackson Story Slam, which was held in partnership with Mississippi Public Broadcasting. Here's Tanya Murphy, live at the Moth. So, I work with kids, mostly middle school, mostly high school, and the one thing about them is they will always tell you the truth. I always tell you the truth. So because I know they're going to always tell me the truth, I make sure that I pick the right outfit

that I'm going to wear around them. So I picked them out from the dress of the shoes, one of these little things, earrings, whatever, because I know I am right for roasting every time I'm around them. So I do a good job picking my outfits, Amazon, Rolls-Dress for less, do a good job. I wear a lot of dresses. And so in their honesty, one walked up to me

and said one day, she said, Ms. Murphy, I said, what baby? She said, are you sanctified? Now anybody from the South, you all know it can get real churchy, real quick. And I said no, I just like dresses. She said okay. That's why I just, you know, I like dresses.

So there is a particular group that I've been working with for a few years in the after school setting. And so they all come in and they bounce around and do what they need to do. And this particular group, I'm always keen on what I wear. So there were two dresses I found on Amazon. I bought the same dress in two different colors. One was blue and one was a deep red,

with a black ribbon down the front with white dots. I was winning, so I thought. I was winning. So these kids, they come in, I'm checking them in, they're getting their snacks, we're doing everything, we need to do, and it's one little boy. I'll just call him James for the sake of this story.

James is bouncing around, and he's one that likes to hug everybody and do all of that and tell them about his day. I did good today. I was in this class today, and I did that today and all of that. So James, he runs up to me, he doesn't give me a hug, he looks at me and says, Mr. Murphy, I like your costume. And that moment, I was at a crossroads. It was either I say, you or I crushed a little boy spirit who was giving me a compliment.

Guess what I did. Thank you James. That was Tonyanya Murphy. Tanya is an author, motivational speaker, and life coach for teens. When Tanya is not serving the community, she enjoys sharing tools to empower others through books, being the queen of crockpots, and spending time with family. To see photos of some of the outfits that Tanya wears, just visit the moth.org slash extras. We set out on tour with the belief that everyone has a story to tell. We heard stories of heartbreak, survival, triumph, even the magic and drama of everyday living. Everyone that I talk to, everyone who shared their experience, I came away with the same fact. We all have a story to tell.

We're just waiting for someone willing to listen. If you'd like to experience some of this for yourself and perhaps share a story with us, you should come visit us at the pop-up porch when it arrives at your city. We'll be in Ann Arbor from September 27th to October 1st, Detroit from October 4th to October 8th, and in Dallas from October 11th to October 15th.

For more information, visit themoth.org. To really get a sense of what it was like, I decided to talk to someone who was along for the journey. Rita Brent hosted the Jackson Story Slam and she's here to talk a little bit about that experience. Rita, welcome to the podcast. Hey, all de here are you. Good, good, good to be talking to you. I remember meeting you for the first time in Jackson, Mississippi at our story slam that

we hosted there at the ECO shed. Yes. And that's a community that you're a part of in Jackson, Mississippi. What did it feel like to see members of your community in that space, in that environment? Well, that part was a little surreal because I knew a few of the storytellers, but I didn't know they had those type of experiences. So there was a young lady who talked about being a teacher. She told us a story about being a teacher.

There were some stories of survival. And so it really gives you an inside look into people's personality. It just goes so much deeper than the surface. So that part was surprising, but also refreshing, and it made me feel connected to the people in my community. Yeah, during our time, with the pop-up porch in Jackson,

both at the Mississippi State Fair and the Mississippi Museum of Art, it felt like there was such a strong sense of how storytelling was intertwined in that community. It felt like there was such a strong sense of how storytelling was intertwined in that community. It felt like a place where people would come up to the pop-up portion. They'd say, I don't think I have a story to tell. Then they'd launch into, let me tell you about that time, I fell off my tractor, that

time that my dog got lost. They came at it with such a sense of humility, but they all had great, great stories to tell. I'm curious if that was your experience, living in Jackson and how storytelling was a part of that community. Yeah, I think that is the essence of Mississippi, storytelling about very difficult topics,

whether it is racism. That's one of the people who was the storyteller that evening was Pastor Brum. And of course, his story was about meeting MegaEvers when he was 10 years old. And the fact that he remembered so many details, I mean, the entire room was just still at the sound of his voice. And so it was a reminder of the richness of Mississippi. You know, if you're looking at the news, you probably have a few thoughts about Mississippi, we're obese and politically challenging and things like that. But to hear from somebody like a pastor,

Brum, who actually persevered, through a very challenging time in Mississippi, it was just, it was very special. One of the things that I really love about the pop-up porch, and one of the things that we intended to do with it was to be able to go into communities where we don't normally host events

and talk to folks about story ideas that they might have or stories that they wanna share. And frequently we'd run into folks who felt like, well, I don't really think I have anything worth sharing. What would you say to somebody that is in that position? How might you encourage them to tell a story? Well, I think if you are devoid of healing and there's something within you that you've been suppressing, telling it in story form is the way to spur that healing.

I see it as a healing mechanism. You know, at the end of many of these stories, folks are crying or you may feel joy. It may make you contemplate something in your own life that you experienced, whether you can relate to it personally or you just connect to it. So I think if you are a person who is not sure if you have a story, if it's an inkling of it, you do have one. And I think you should, you know, give it a shot because you'll be surprised how much healing could come from it. Are you excited about the next pop-up porch? We're going to Ann Arbor Detroit and Dallas,

but I'm curious if you're excited about it and excited by the idea of it and porch we're going to Ann Arbor Detroit and Dallas but I'm curious if if you're excited about it and excited by the idea of it and how we're hoping to continue to capture stories from from folks in the community. I think above anything people want to feel safe when they're telling their stories you know and I think the pop-up porch is just a great precursor for those who are like I think I have something within me, but I don't necessarily know how to shape it or form it. And the pop-up porch gives you that good preliminary practice before you go to the next phase.

So I am excited about that for people who are storytellers and they don't know it yet. So my question to you guys is, is did you offer sweet tea at the pop-up porch in the city? We should have. We should have. When we come back, we definitely will. And boy, O'Penn, you'll get a ton of stories. That was Rita Brent. Rita's a comedian, musician, and military veteran from Jackson, Mississippi. Once a public radio host and Army National Guard band member, she leaped into stand-up

comedy in 2013. She has appeared on Comedy Central, True TV, and more. Rita, the performing artist, recently released Do The Hootie Daddy and Bad Mother. We wanted to give you a heads up about something special. The Moth Spin-Off Podcast Grown is up for a signal award. If you haven't listened to Grown before, check it out. It's filled with stories all about growing up. And if you have listened, we'd love for you to vote for it for the signal awards. We'll have a link in the podcast show notes, or just go to vote.signalowward.com. That's all for this episode.

Remember that if you want more information on the pop-up porch, visit themoth.org. From all of us here at The Moth, we hope you have a story filled week. The pop-up porch was produced by Jennifer Birmingham and Aldi Kaza. Aldi Kaza is the director of production at The Moth. He has spent more than a decade designing and producing event experiences that blend performance, community, and media. He once auditioned for the Blue Man Group and now spends the majority of his time taking photos of his new puppy Olive. This episode of the Mouth podcast was produced

by Sarah Austin Gines, Sarah Jane Johnson, and me, Mark Solinger. The rest of the Mouth's leadership team includes Sarah Haberman, Jennifer Hickson, Meg Bulls, Kate Tellers, Marina Klucche, Suzanne Rust, Brandon Grant, Leanne Gully, and Aldi Kaza. All Moss stories are true, as remembered by the storytellers. For more about our podcast, information on pitching your own story, and everything else, go to our website, themoth.org. The Moth podcast is presented by PierreIRX, the public radio exchange, helping make public radio more public at pirex.org.