Storytelling shapes how we understand who we are, where we’ve been, and what’s possible next. That idea takes center stage in an evening of readings and conversation with Cianon Jones and Rachelle Chase, focused on the power of narrative at moments of personal and national reflection.

Playwright Jones will read from Barberman, an evolving stage play that reveals Alexander Clark through the eyes of his family and examines identity, memory, and the stories we inherit, resist, and reshape. Chase will share from The Time I Was Susan Clark, her forthcoming book for young readers that explores imagination, voice, and the porous boundary between individual lives and the history they inhabit. Together, their work invites audiences to consider storytelling as both an intimate act and a public force.

The program is framed by two anniversaries: the 200th birthday of Alexander Clark, Muscatine’s pioneering civil rights leader, and the approaching 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. In this context, Jones and Chase will discuss how narrative functions as an act of awareness, witness, and reflection on national ideals and personal truths.

The event is free and open to the public and takes place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026, in the Student Center at Muscatine Community College, 152 Colorado Street. Sponsored by MCC’s Alexander Clark Lecture Series with support from the Alexander Clark Foundation. A light reception will follow.