The Story Behind the Story
Rooted Narratives and Storytelling began, as many things do, with a question that would not leave.
During years of research and intentional practice at the intersection of narrative, policy, and Black women's leadership, Tobi White-Downing kept encountering something that data alone could not hold. The weight and wisdom of the stories Black women carried into every room, every meeting, every movement. She needed a place to gather those stories. To honor them. To make sure they were not lost.
From that need, a platform was born.
What began as a space to capture the narratives of Black women in public safety and policy as part of her doctoral work has grown into something larger, a home for writers, community members, students, historians, artists, and individuals who want to capture their truth in a structured and meaningful way. A space rooted in the belief that story is not decoration. It is foundational. It is how we lead, how we heal, how we remember, and how we build.
Rooted Narratives and Storytelling publishes books, develops guided creative tools, produces podcasts, and creates spaces where the work of storytelling is treated with the seriousness and tenderness it deserves. What began with my own work carries a larger hope. To grow into a platform that helps other writers publish and brings more voices into this work.
Every voice matters here. Especially the ones that have been told otherwise.
Rooted Narratives and Storytelling is a proud member of the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA).
Our Mission
Rooted Narratives and Storytelling publishes, trains, and convenes at the intersection of story, care, and community power. We believe that narrative is not separate from justice, healing, or leadership. It is the foundation of all three.
The Author
Tobi White-Downing is a scholar-practitioner, educator, storyteller, and systems advocate whose work lives at the intersection of narrative, care, and public policy.
She is the author of We Build Anyway: Stories and Strategies from the Frontlines of Change, a care-centered guide to leading, healing, and building at the margins. Her second work, Finding Your Story, is a guided journal for writers, storytellers, and community advocates. Rooted in Color, an adult coloring book of original digital art for moments of rest, repair, and recalibration, is available now from Rooted Narratives and Storytelling.
Tobi is currently completing her doctoral research and is working on her forthcoming 2027 book, Spectacle, Survival, and the Making of the Superwoman, a sweeping examination of Black women’s bodies, voices, and visions across policy, popular culture, and movement building, tracing the lineage from colonial exhibition to digital celebrity and from governed bodies to the architects of change.
She serves as an adjunct faculty at two universities and is privileged to work alongside grassroots leaders, advocates, and policymakers whose wisdom continually shapes her thinking and practice. She lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with her husband and two dogs. Their two children have recently and bravely left the nest.
She is also, at some point, going to record a just-for-joy album for family and friends featuring a Diana Ross–inspired photo shoot in the spirit of classic record covers. The world should expect it.
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