Yohanse Henley shares his journey from reluctant high school student to passionate Caribbean storyteller and author, preserving cultural traditions through Anansi folk tales. His creative evolution spans oral storytelling, book publishing, illustration, and animation projects that bring Caribbean cultural values to new generations. Here’s our conversation with Yohance Henley.
Pulse of the Caribbean
Today we’ll learn more about this talented Caribbean writer who carries on cultural traditions in the art of storytelling, inspiring the next generation. And with that we say welcome to Yohance.
Yohance Henley: Hi, thank you for having me. Thank you for having me.
It is certainly a pleasure to have you on the Pulse of the Caribbean podcast. Now tell us a little bit about yourself, your Caribbean roots and how you became involved in Caribbean storytelling.
Yohance Henley: Okay, well, my name is Johansson Henley, of course, and I’m originally from St Thomas, the US Virgin Islands. I was born and raised there for pretty much my entire life. I just recently moved off the island I would say about five years ago first time ever living anywhere else. So, my roots are very deep. In terms of storytelling culture. I’ve always been immersed in the culture, but storytelling didn’t happen for me until I would say about my 12th grade year of high school.
I met with a master storyteller and a great mentor, Glenn “Kwabena” Davis, well-known musician, storyteller and historian in the Virgin Islands, and he taught me everything I know about the culture, bearing and bearing the stories and being a griot and passing on the traditional folk tales of Anansi and Ruta Kuma and all of those different stories that Elmo Roebuck and Delta Dosh used to tell. So, yeah, that’s where I really started in 12th grade and it’s kind of a funny story how it even began. I always like to tell that story because you know it sounds very noble and honorable. But in the beginning I kind of got caught into doing the right thing.
All right. So that was your senior year in high school in the US Virgin Islands and you said you got caught. How did you get caught in storytelling? Tell us about that.
Yohance Henley: Okay, so I got caught into storytelling because I was, yeah, like I said, well, my senior year I was taking a few classes and I needed to pass this one class, which is Virgin Islands History. Of course I was a class clown so I wasn’t paying attention much, I didn’t have a good grade in that class and, oddly enough, he there was a visiting historian. So, he was a visiting professor that day, or visiting teacher, and he had us telling stories. And the deal was that if you tell a story to the best of your ability, you could get, you know your grade raised, from wherever it was, you’re going to be guaranteed an a or b. So, I was like what? This is easy, this is a cakewalk. I’m about to put on a show for these people. And, he gave us all the story and one by one, we told our story. And, of course, I went up there and I was just a royal clown and everybody was laughing and everybody was smiling and stuff. And after the story tell, he come to me and he said hey, you did an amazing job. I think you should come with me and do some storytelling. You know it could be real good for the culture, it could be good for you. You know, it could be real nice.
Although I was a joke staying class, I was also a very like fresh young man. So, I was like me, I look too good to be out there doing this just for doing this. And I denied him then. I said no, thank you, I don’t think it’s something I want to do, you know. And he said okay, okay, no problem.
And then over the summer, now I was doing nothing with my summer, you know, just a college student getting ready for college. But you know, in between the time I had nothing to do and he saw at a camp that my mom was holding. She was hosting a camp and he said you’re here, you ain’t doing nothing. Come, just tell a story, come with me and tell a story. And I tell him. Once again I said no, I don’t do that storytelling. He like, you can make some money doing it. You know you could get paid $100 an hour. What job you have right now. I said, what $100 an hour? I said, man, sign me up now. Where do I sign? Because I was only, like you know, a young man. I ain’t have nothing to my name.
So, I went ahead with him and we started practicing. He carried me to the J. Antonio Jarvis headquarters, or the old school is what they would call it, the J. Antonio Jarvis school, and we started practicing and he would give me so many stories and he gave me like five to six stories and he just keep sending me in the next room and say read that and come back and tell me the story. I read it, I come back and tell the story. I read it, I come back, I tell him the story. He said that’s a little good, work on this, work on the inflection, and these words, be more performative in different areas. He just started giving me so much information like overwhelming. Then he sent me back and he sent me back and he sent me back.
I did a story. I did five stories, about six times each, so definitely over 20 times.
I told different stories and then we went out to do our first story tell at a campfire, out by the national guard, and, from then, it was like, my eyes were open. I never saw people look at me and appreciate me the way the kids did after I finished Telling a Story, and the kids, they wanted to give me high fives and hugs and I felt like a celebrity. I felt like very valued, you know, and from kids at that. So, it was a very special moment for me and, I even forgot I was supposed to get paid, because I was like when is the next storytelling? Because, like I said, I never had that feeling before. It almost felt like, you know, I was a hero in a sense, and since then, I just kept telling stories and kept telling stories and I just, you know, stay by his side and allow him to guide me through it, and that’s how I got into storytelling and I’ve been a storyteller since. I would say, 2012, 2013.
That is awesome and that is under the mentorship, as you said, of Mr Glenn “Kwabena” Davis, a local culture bearer, a Virgin Islands culture bearer icon, and that story is so telling in regards to your talent and in regards to your mentor as well, where he pushed you to continue and, like you said, you did the story over and over and over again, helping you to perfect it. Now someone could have easily walked away, but you stuck with it and you took his advice in honing your talent and your craft and, as you mentioned, when you went out for that very first storytelling, that presentation and how it was received, and where you captured the hearts of the young people with telling the story, that is truly wonderful how you got caught.
Yohance Henley: Yeah, exactly.
So you know, with that being said, tell us about the stories that you learned about, the characters, about the origin of those characters in the beginning. What do you know about those characters? What did you learn about those characters and the stories that you learned about and have shared?
Yohance Henley: Well, I learned that there’s a little bit of Anasi in all of us. If you were a kid and you had opportunities in which we all had to find a way to be curious and be mischievous and even have emotions that you necessarily didn’t know how to traverse, but you know how to express. You know that kind of way. That character lives in all of us in a small part or a small way, and a lot of times, as a child, you don’t know how much trouble or how deep that just acting on those impulsive ways can go. So, the character, Anasi, of course, is mischievous and he’s a trickster and he gets a very bad name. But at the end of the day, he teaches anyone not just kids, anyone that listens to the story a lesson, a valuable lesson, about whether it may be doing the right thing, not telling lies, not taking stuff, not being mean, not being jealous, whatever it may be. You know even simple stories or simple cultural, traditional norms we have, like when the streetlights turn off, make sure you’re home those type of rules to follow and those type of traditions and norms that we have in our culture to uphold. That’s what those stories does and that’s what those characters do in the time.
I’ve made the stories palatable to the kids of this time in terms of giving the character a bit more of a kid friendly visual and taking elements of our Caribbean roots, because the Anansi character is rooted from Africa, West Africa, the Ashanti tribe.
So, with that being said, it holds the African and the Caribbean roots, because a lot of the supporting characters, such as Turtle and Mangoose, they hold Caribbean roots where you can go to the ocean, you can go to the beach and see turtle and you can see mongoose running around on the island. So, that’s where it relates and it gives the kids or the people a more relatable book and a more relatable figure to aspire to see, to aspire to know, laugh at and to aspire to see, and to be able to create some type of analogy within their everyday life. So, the characters have evolved into what it needs to be, or what I think it needs to be, for today’s time and today’s kids, and today’s traditions, all while still holding the old traditions and way of teaching a kid right from wrong.
That is remarkable in terms of what you said that you have done holding on to the tradition but certainly updating it to continue the storytelling of Anansi, as you said, that came from Africa and intertwining Anansi with the Caribbean to get the attention of this generation. So that is something that is a part of the storytelling art and traditions in so many ways where we continue traditions but certainly at times where we update those things so that way it continues to attract and continues to carry on from generation to generation. And, with that being said, not only are you a storyteller, as we started off saying, but now you are also an author, because you have also put it on paper, in books and the world of books. It’s about literacy, it’s about adventure and it’s about, as you said, morals, values, instilling them in the people that read the stories, whether they are little children to perhaps older folks that may have that interest to see the new adventures and stories that are being told.
So, tell us about your decision to author these new stories and series for Anansi?
Yohance Henley: Yeah, of course, it started when I graduated from college. So, I’ve been storytelling throughout the period of time, from graduating high school, and I graduated from college, and started my first job. I was still telling stories, and I was approached by a gentleman named Mr. Mario Picaio, and he encouraged me to transcribe my story, and put it into a book. Now, before then I’ve never even fathomed the thought of being an author or having a book. And he was the first one to put that light bulb in my head and say, hey, you should be an author, these things should be, you know, put on paper. And I was like, okay, amazing, sounds great. So, we did it and it went well. I won the governor’s reading challenge of the virgin Islands award for it. So, it did remarkable and that launched me into becoming a self-published author. Because there was more books that I felt like I wanted to do and there was more that I wanted to do with the character and just creating a series.
And that happened when I left the island and I felt like I wasn’t telling stories anymore, because I felt like I couldn’t tell stories to the kids abroad. I didn’t feel like they would take to my dialect, my style of performance or even understand what I was saying. So, I started learning to learn how to self-publish my book or my own book, and I figured it out. I learned and I self-published my first self-published book in 2019. And that one was Anansi and Mangoose. And then in 2020, I did a second one, Anansi and Turtle, and then now I’m doing another one, which is Anansi the litter bug, and I plan to continue to build on that and the overall goal is to create it into an animated series in which I have started slightly, but it costs so much money.
So, I took all of the profit and the proceeds and the gross income from Anansi and Mangoose and my wife thought I was so crazy because I took everything I earned from that and I pushed it into this animation, the first prototype animation, and it turned out amazing. It’s on my website, and you can see it also on YouTube. So, yeah, but since then I’ve been brainstorming and collectively building a nice little team or resources to try and get the job done and create not just an Anasi series but a series with a vast amount of different stories that are related to our culture, and not just the Virgin Islands culture but Caribbean culture, and tell stories from all facets of the Caribbean. So, it’s a work in progress.
Yes, it is a work in progress and keep going. You know you’ve mentioned your milestones with high school that was the first one, becoming the storyteller, with college graduation then becoming the author. And now, at this stage, continuing to push forward with video animation in telling the stories and bringing them to life.
Yohance Henley: Oh, and illustrating, because this was the first book I illustrated, the book you’re seeing right now behind of me. It was the first, this was my first time illustrating a book, so I’m very proud of this one, exceptionally proud of this one.
So, we’ll get to that, because I know you’re also a graphic artist as well, so we’ll get to that. But the newest book, as you mentioned, it tells the story and it weaves in environmental awareness. Tell us why you decided to engage youngsters or share that message about the environment.
Yohance Henley: I think one of the first things you learn growing up on an island is take care of the ocean. It’s a standard thing. You don’t litter on the beaches and you take care of the ocean and you make sure you take care of the sea creatures, which is taking care of the ocean. You don’t put trash all over the place and you clean up behind yourself. So, as Caribbean people, we are very clean people.
You know that’s unanimous amongst Caribbean individuals. So that’s one thing I knew that will resonate and relate to the kids of the Virgin Islands or the kids of the Caribbean. So, I know for a fact that we have something rooted that can be a staple and can be handed down, whether it’s a book. Give it to one brother, then to the next brother, then to a little sister, then to a cousin, and it’s like it’s something that can never be erased. The only way to erase the concept of keeping the ocean clean is for the ocean to disappear. The ocean won’t disappear.
In addition to being a storyteller, and an author, you’re a graphic designer and you mentioned just now that this book, this new book, you did the illustration. So, tell us about the creative, artistic side as the graphic designer and bringing those characters to life doing the illustrations. Now, because that is another part, and certainly where you didn’t give it to someone else, but you created it, the illustration. So, tell us about being a graphic designer and bringing the characters to life in the stories.
Yohance Henley: Yeah, it was by force. That’s what I can tell you. It was by force. I had an amazing illustrator for the first two books, Anansi and Mongoose and Anansi and Turtle. His name is Shaquille. He did the animations for the first two books. He did the animations for the first episode, the prototype episode or the beta episode. So, he was like mind blowing, you know the way he would grasp the concept of everything and he’s from Guyana. He fully understood the roots of Caribbean and how things should look and how things should feel and the colors and everything. It was a great relationship. However, someone that skilled will not always be that accessible to myself with somebody that doesn’t have major resources. So, eventually he got called upon by major production agencies and major entities and his value went up. We had a conversation and we decided that we’d have to part ways, but I could always still lean on him as a resource for information or knowledge you know, and advice and what’s not.
So, we still have a good relationship there. But when he left I went into a stagnant and I went into a situation where I was like, okay, I either have to do one or two things which I don’t want to do. I have to find a new illustrator who has to kind of draw very similar to what I want, or I can save myself this heartache once again and learn how to draw. And I decided to go the tougher route, which is save myself the heartache and learn how to draw. And it took me, I would say, about a year of practicing. And if it wasn’t for my daughter because I also have a daughter and if it wasn’t for my daughter at first, I was very discouraged when I started to draw. I would hate some of the drawings that I came up with and she would always tell me Daddy, you know, if you like it, you shouldn’t worry about what anybody else is saying. I think it looks great. If you think it looks great, then it looks great. And of course it’s coming from a kid.
So, first acceptance or first digesting it. You’re just like well, you’re just a kid, you don’t know what you’re saying, and then, like it’s almost like every time after I finish draw something, I’m looking at it and you know, I’m looking at it for a long time and she just comes by and she’s like, oh wow, that looks so pretty. I like the colors here, I like the colors there, and I’m just yeah, I’m just like totally ripping the design and the stuff apart and she’s just loving every little thing about it.
So she’s accepting my flaws when I’m denying, you know mine, and that’s when I kind of started to just lean on it, on the advice and the encouragement that my daughter was giving to me. If you like it, it’s going to be great. And then eventually I started to find my confidence. And then, once I started to find my confidence, then my illustration started to look really good and I started to begin to get really proud of it. And then I started drawing very actively.
So the inspiration wow came from your daughter.
Yohance Henley
Yes, Amazing.
Amazing, amazing Encouragement from your baby, your princess.
Yohance Henley: So you got to listen to your kids, man, they have the answers.
That is. That is wonderful. That came from your daughter, that she encouraged you and she inspired you. Daddy, it’s okay, it’s good.
Yohance Henley: So that’s a funny thing because all my friends they always say that story in itself is a testament to the parenting between me and my wife, that my daughter can speak like that and say something that wouldn’t just think the worst of anything. So, I was like I don’t know, I think that’s just her, that’s just her spirit, that’s just who she is. She has a beautiful spirit. She thinks well of everybody and she always wants you know, to be kind and be nice and that kind of stuff. So shout out to my daughter.
Before we started this conversation, you also have a son as well and he’s into his own thing. So, tell us about that, and sharing your works with your children, and many other children, sharing these stories with your children as well.
Yohance Henley: Oh, my daughter, she loves the stories, but most of all she loves this one story. She loves when I tell it. It’s Brunansi and Brugoat, because it’s about two friends that get in a little scuffle. And then Anansi tried to cook, brew goat and try to make some you know mutton out of it.
Yeah, yeah, exactly some curry goat. And she loved that story because of the climax of it and the song as well,. That’s one of the main reasons why I want to really lean towards animation, because the songs are so like mesmerizing. But yeah, they love the stories. I would say my daughter is always complaining and asking don’t you have any other stories? Don’t you do anything other than Anansi? I guess she’s tired of hearing about Anansi, so she wants to see what else I have in store. But I always tell her, like you know, Anansi is my favorite character to talk about and to write about. But overall she loves the stories. She always talks to me about the stories and the music and the songs and where they come from and where do Anansi live. And then the little one of course barely could talk.
He’d be rambling on and on, but he’d be so happy once he gets to sit down because I tell the stories in the backyard. So, once we get to sit down and he’s just so excited about the moment.
So, what makes you most, most proud as you, as you just sit and reflect on the beginnings and where you are right now, with the storytelling, with the art? What makes you most proud as you think about continuing the storytelling, with the art. What makes you most proud as you think about continuing this tradition of storytelling, about authoring and the new series and sharing it with children of the new generation, as well as your own children?
Yohance Henley: My support system, my family, and my fans as well, because I had no idea.
I think I have some pretty dedicated fans. But I didn’t realize until I see like I can take a number of years and then put out a book and I kind of have a core group of people who are like, yeah, a new book has dropped and they’re there to support me. So, between my family and my support group I have some really good people in my corner. My wife, definitely. She kind of pushed me to jumpstart this. Like being the illustrator, you know, I have to give a lot of appreciation and gratitude to my wife, especially after the crazy thing I did when I launched the first book and then I put all of the money in the animations. Even then she was like if you think this is a good idea, then go for it. I know once you’re driven I can’t really like stop you. The most I can do is warn you. But go for it, and it turned out to be a blessing. So definitely my wife. And then I have a business partner of mine, KJ Hall for KJ Design, and he is like every time. When is the next book? When? When is the next book coming?
You working on the next book. You have any drawings; you write the next book? So having people to back you like that and keep you, keep you motivated and keep you valuing the product that you have, especially in a niche, I would say in a niche that’s not necessarily valued because tradition isn’t the top anymore. But, it’s gonna be. It’s gonna be again and I’m gonna make sure that I can drive that vehicle and use the vehicles that are important to drive home our old teachings and our old traditions. So, yeah, I would say my family, my friends and my supporters are what continues to drive me.
Support and love. Yeah, support and love. So, with that being said, I know that you do have your book, so tell us about the, the titles of some of the stories that you do in your storytelling, the titles of your book, and also, for persons that have an interest in purchasing the books, how may they do so and where can they get in contact with you if they wanted a speaking engagement or also the storytelling as well?
Yohance Henley: So, when it comes to storytelling, there’s a lot of stories, because the stories are not just mine, the stories passed on from legendary individuals and respective individuals from our history, as I’ve said before. And then, when it comes to writing my stories. The stories that I write and I publish as a book are the ones that I created, which is Anansi and Mongoose, which is a story about Anansi tricking Mongoose to work for him for free and then eventually Mongoose realized he’s working for free and every time that Anansi is kind of cutting him out of the deal and telling him he’s not getting enough fruits. But Anansi is eating the fruits at night. So, then you know story progresses. I hope they buy the book so they learn what, what actually happens.
And then Anansi and Turtle , and then Anansi the litterbug, and then I have two more that should be coming in the future, which is Anansi and the Calabash and Anansi the Jumbie. The last two are coming and those first three have already been written and you can get them at https://books.yohancehenley.com/. That’s where they can buy the books. I don’t sell them on Amazon, because I want to keep the integrity of my books and make sure that I can communicate with my customers effectively and efficiently. So, they’re all on my site where you can learn more, get more and see more from me as well.
What is the best advice that you have gotten, or words that you live by?
Yohance Henley: I would say that negativity may spread fast, but positivity spreads slow but stays longer. So, bear in mind that sometimes things might be negative, but it won’t stay too long, and things that are rough or tough or challenging or bad, they won’t be here that long. It’s almost like you know, bad times don’t last forever and good times are a memory that you get to keep forever.
So that is wonderful. And one more thing I do understand that while you have authored, you’ve also inspired and encouraged others as well in taking the journey to become authors as well. So tell us about your inspiring and encouraging others, some of those people that you’ve encouraged and inspired to put pen to paper and be an author as well.
Yohance Henley: I’m glad you touched on that because, yes, and I love to speak about the individuals I encountered that took the step and trusted me to help them with that. And there’s a list. There’s Julio Peets from Mr. Peets Playhouse, and there’s Tohira Durand and there’s Howard Jones, there’s Howard Peters, there’s Valrica Bryson. I think that’s mainly the list. And all of them, I can say, were successful and I’m proud of that. I’m proud of them and I’m happy that I was able to be an outlet for them. I hope that I can continue to be an outlet for all of those other virgin islanders or caribbean individuals or anybody.
I don’t think it just has to be Caribbean, but I do want to, like you know, hone in on taking care of my Caribbean people. It’s been a remarkable thing to think about. I don’t even think about it that often, how many people I was able to impact and help.
So each one teach one. Each one teach one, help one, support and love. And it’s about inspiring others. Just as you were inspired, you have inspired others and help others to realize and see their dream in putting their stories or their books out there. So we say congratulations to you, Yohance Henley. What does Yohance mean?
Yohance Henley: Yohance means gift from God. It came from my mom, heavily Christian and believe in Jesus and everything. That’s where it stems from. My belief system is very strong.
That is a blessing. You are here to be a blessing, and that is a part tradition of storytelling your creative works in writing, to capture the attention of the next generation with stories that share adventure and impart lessons, to empower our young people. Literacy is important because that’s where it begins. Reading is the foundation of everything and then, of course, building upon morals and values and sharing the culture as well. Congratulations to you, Yohance and to your network.
You have done so many different things and it is about collaborations. All things are possible. So, once again, we say congratulations to you for inspiring the young, for picking up the mantle. However it came about. It came about and it was meant to be. And, certainly for helping others. So we wish you well in all of your future endeavors and your books, as you continue to share values and traditions. Thank you.
Yohance Henley: Thank you. I am Yohance Henley, storyteller, author and Caribbean illustrator, and I am the Pulse of the Caribbean.
You may also listen to the audio of this interview on our podcast page and also your favorite streaming platform. Yohance’s Interview is Episode #39 of the Pulse of the Caribbean Podcast.
