Jay Johnson has been a fixture of Virginia Organizing from nearly the beginning, having joined the State Governing Board before there was even a chapter in Hampton, where she grew up. Now retired and in her mid-80’s, she recently stepped down from the Board, but she isn’t exactly slowing down. As the co-founder of Everybody’s Got A Story, she has recently found a way to turn a budding passion for storytelling into a new way to organize.

The new endeavor began in 2022, when Jay showed up at a storytelling workshop led by Sheila Arnold. Arnold declared Jay to be a natural and encouraged her to keep honing her craft. Jay saw how storytelling could be a way to build bridges of communication across diverse, often divided communities in her area, and wanted to do something about it.

“I told Sheila I wasn’t getting any younger, and we need to do it now and not in two years,” Jay says. With seed funding from Jay’s college roommate, they hosted the first festival in Hampton that year, with Virginia Organizing as fiscal sponsor.

The event intentionally draws storytellers from diverse cultural backgrounds. One teller brings listeners into the wrenching experience of a Black family losing its access to land during Reconstruction. An Indigenous teller entrances audiences with snatches of music and song. A teller from the mountains weaves audiences into the tapestry of Appalachian folklife.

“It’s important for people to hear from folks who are different from themselves, but who have commonalities in their stories,” Jay explains.

For the first two years, Everybody’s Got A Story was an annual event. But Jay has a long-term vision for cultural change in her community, and that means expanding the festival’s reach and impact. Starting in the fall of 2024 they began hosting monthly events featuring a different storyteller each month. They have also begun holding story swaps on the third Saturday of every month, in which new and experienced tellers share their work and get feedback from their peers. In 2025 they plan to host two storytelling academies.

As an organizer, Jay is always sizing up the people she meets for a role in the work, and there is plenty of work to do. Everybody’s Got A Story prides itself on booking some of the best storytellers in the business, and showcases artists from well outside the state. To afford the best talent, she has been making connections with the business community across Hampton Roads and is looking for volunteers to help with things like fundraising, media relations, and web design.

This year’s festival will take place July 17-20, and you can visit their website to learn more and explore ways to get involved.