Last year, I was honored to receive the 2024 Black Appalachian Storytellers Award in Buffalo, NY, from the National Association of Black Storytellers – NABS This year, my fellow storytellers and I had the opportunity to perform at this year’s conference in Atlanta last week. It was a wonderful experience to reconnect with my fellow artists and to attend such an inspiring conference. This is my second year participating, and as a Black creative, this is a must-attend event. Just like last year, I left feeling energized and motivated to create and perform.
Being back in Atlanta—where I lived in the mid-1990s, and where my brother and many friends still reside—was a great experience. My wife and mother accompanied me, and we all had a fantastic time. The conference took place downtown in Centennial Park, very close to my old loft on Mitchell Street. That loft is where my alias, 227 Digitalmasterz, originated, as my apartment number was 227. I discuss this period and my reasoning in my upcoming memoir. It was one of the lowest moments of my life, but I knew that if I could survive that, I could endure anything. As a result, I changed my artist name from Timebomb to 227 Digitalmasterz.
There was a time when Atlanta brought back painful memories for me, but over the years, I’ve come to look forward to my trips there. Trust me, Atlanta in the 1990s was wild, and I was right in the midst of it all. Returning decades later, especially with such a positive organization as the National Association of Black Storytellers, feels like a full-circle moment.
