What is a T-Dot Griot?
By heronJonse T-Dot Griots is the name of the latest anthology representing Toronto’s Black authors, playwrights, journalists, lyricists and poets. Each are featured in this eclectic mix of expressionists who have no trouble making clear the events of their afro-Toronto experiences. What may not be very clear for some people is the name T-dot Griots. First of all T-Dot is simply slang for Toronto. It is a direvitive of the abbreviation T.O. Local Toronto rappers began referring to the city as the T-dot O-dot, and eventually kids just started saying T-Dot. The word griot is a little more complicated as it denotes the historians, storytellers, educaters and entertainers of an African community. The exact origin of the word is under debate. It may have been used by the French, Spanish or Portugeuse and would have been a combinatation of African words misprounced and misinterpreted by early colonizers. Nonetheless the name T-Dot Griots speaks of African storytellers from the Toronto area.
