11.09.2022

Ray escaped the urban slums of Richmond, VA by joining the United States Army at the age of 17. As an infantryman and paratrooper, he served around the world and was awarded The Bronze Star and Combat Infantryman’s Badge, among many other decorations for his service. After 20 years, he retired and went back to school, earning his BS in Liberal Arts, MA in Public History, and EdS/EdD in Education Leadership, researching the relationship between parental behavior and African American academic success for his dissertation. During his time as an adjunct professor at Appalachian State University, his most popular courses were “The Souls of Black Folks: An Examination of African American Social Culture” and “Storytelling: Life in the Narrative,” which explored historic and contemporary uses of storytelling and oral history in America.

Ray’s stories have appeared in Readers Digest’s Best Stories in America (2016) and American Hero’s (2017) editions. He was selected as the 2017 Serenbe France Focus Storytelling Fellow (Atlanta, GA) and his stories have been featured on NPR radio shows such as The Moth Radio Hour, Snap Judgment, and Backstory as well as the Risk podcast, among many others. As a competitive storyteller, Ray is a ten-time Moth Story Slam Champion, and winner of the 2016 National Storytelling Festival Story Slam. Sharing his stories across the US and Canada, Ray has made several appearances on Moth Mainstage, The National Storytelling Festival Exchange Place (2019) , and was part of the 2018 tour of Snap Judgment Live!

In 2018, Ray has been named as the best known story teller in the south by Bitter Southerner magazine. Glynn Washington, host and producer of Snap Judgement, calls him “a storyteller’s storyteller.” He is distinguished for his exceptional accomplishments as a performer and spoken word performer and his training and experience as an educator and motivator.

Ray is currently the producer and host of What’s Ray Saying, a podcast that utilizes history , storytelling and commentary to provide a unique perspective on the African American cultural experience.

Further Info:

• Ray's Full Bio
• Why am I on This Stage

For the past seven years, Andrea Norton has filled several key roles at the Saginaw VA Medical Center - helping homeless veterans and those with severe mental health diagnoses, serving as the first LGBTQ Veteran Care Coordinator and, now, as Women Veterans Program Manager.

But while Andrea, an Air Force veteran, sees the VA as a place that welcomes and serves all veterans, it hasn't always been this way.

When she started using VA services in Lansing in 2008, the local clinic lacked a women's health provider. At that time, a nurse practitioner from Battle Creek would travel to Lansing once a month to provide basic women's wellness exams.

Access for women veterans was terrible, she said, and needed to change. Andrea, a social worker, wanted to be part of that change. So when the Saginaw Women Veterans Program Manager position opened up in 2017, she jumped at it.

"One of the biggest reasons I wanted to work in women's health within the VA," Andrea says, "was to make it better for other women veterans." CLOSE

John J. H. "Joe" Schwarz (born November 15, 1937), is an American physician and independent politician from Michigan,who was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 2004 as a moderate Republican. He represented Michigan's 7th congressional district from January 2005 to January 2007.

Schwarz was born and raised in Battle Creek, Michigan, after his family moved there in 1935 so his father could work as a physician in the Veterans Administration Hospital. He has two older siblings, Frank and Janet. He attended Fremont Elementary School, W.K. Kellogg Junior High School, and graduated from Battle Creek Central High School. He played on the baseball, swimming and football teams at B.C. Central. In 1959, he received a B.A. in History from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he played on the 1956 reserve football team as a center.

Jennifer enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserves in 1994 and later commissioned as an officer on active duty until 2002. She was the first woman Marine assigned to an infantry company with Small Craft Company, 2nd Marine Division. Her last assignment was as the Battalion Executive Officer for Camp Johnson, North Carolina where she was serving during the attack on the United States during 9/11.

Miracle Okoro is a Nigeria-American poet, student, and child advocate who now lives in Asheville, North Carolina, with her beloved dog Taz. Miracle joined the Army in April of 2019 and is currently a mechanic in the Army Reserves.