In West Africa, most children grow up with a deep sense of oral tradition in their house. They know the word Griot from a very young age. A Griot is someone who was charged with keeping the stories of the village. Everyone would tell the Griot their stories and he or she was responsible for passing them on.

Today we live in a relative utopia. To be sure, we have a ways to go, but on the whole it is a world not even Edison or Einstein could have dreamt off. Despite the technical excellence and material comfort we have achieved, we have been unable to grasp the simple concept the Grios mastered so long ago. Nothing in life is permanent. We will all fertilize daffodils one day, and money, fame, beauty, and power do not accompany us to the grave. Only our stories do. They are the souvenirs we take from our time on Earth, and more importantly they are the memories we leave behind for those who still walk on terra firma.

In that spirit, we welcome you to the San Antonio People Project. We are a group of medical professionals, both in the making and fully flourished, that are here to tell the stories of some remarkable people. To be sure, people worth such remarks come in all shapes and sizes as you will see. One thing that is common amongst them, however, is that they are willing to fight for the things they believe in. Often, they even fight for things that other people believe in. They fully embrace the maxim: “sometimes you have to become a Lion to be the lamb you really are.” The stories we tell are of people who have endured strife and struggle to become Lions, strong and poised, that stand up for who and what they love. They persevere so they themselves and their communities can live lives of happiness, peace, and purpose.  

They say when a Griot dies, it’s like a library was burned down. In the 21st century, there are scarcely few excuses for losing those memories. We hope you will tune in and meet the silent (and sometimes not so silent) warriors that walk amongst you. Let this page be the Griot that records their footsteps before the tides wash them away.