ABSTRACT
The Carpetbag Theatre is a professional ensemble theatre company founded in 1969 in Knoxville, TN to artistically articulate the issues and dreams of those who have been silenced by oppression. Their work is rooted in the Black Arts Movement, which envisioned the liberation of Black people. Carpetbag’s Joe Tolbert, a self-described “Affrilachian,” writes about his personal involvement with the T.R.Y. Ensemble (Theatre Renaissance for Youth), detailing the philosophy and practice of reclaiming stories, in which adult allies work with a young ensemble to explore and reframe personal and communal narratives that have been shaped by years of systemic racism and media stereotyping. Now a program leader himself, Tolbert reaches back to the reclamation of his own story regarding police violence: As a teenager, he was forced to confront the death of a loved one at the hands of Knoxville police. In a poignantly detailed chronicle, Tolbert recounts his own journey of transforming personal pain into power and purpose; from a fear of public failure to a newfound vision and strength of purpose that grew from a successful ensemble theatre achievement.
