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SPEAKERS & PERFORMERS
Culture, Celebration, and Community Consciousness
His Royal Majesty Oba Adejuyigbe
Adefunmi ll
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King of the Oyotunji Village
Founded in 1970, ​ Oyotunji Yoruba African Kingdom (OYAK) is the first intentional community in North America, based on the culture of the Yoruba and Republic of Benin tribes of West Africa. Now, after over 49 years of sustaining the only Kingdom based on traditional Yoruba sociology and values. OYAK brings to South Carolina Low-country and greater global community the depth of culture, beautiful art, grandeur of customs and resilient history of the Yoruba New World.......
OYAK core mission is “Spreading Yoruba culture, feeding the community and celebrating Yoruba tradition”.
The Kingdom founder, Oba Adefunmi I, grandson of a Trans Atlantic slave that occurred in the 18th Century traced his root to Oyo Kingdom and recognized that Ife Kingdom is the cradle of the Yoruba as well as the fact that he envisioned to assimilate the Yoruba heritage, culture and tradition into America community. He found out that Yoruba in America has no community like other immigrants communities such as the Jews, Italian, Caribbean, Greeks, Spanish and other inhabitants live like back home, for this reason, he envisioned a Kingdom to be the homestead of our blacks brothers and sisters with the view to promote and spread Yoruba culture, tradition and ways of lives in North America. OYAK has since inception consistently upholds Yoruba tradition to revitalize families, communities, ocean, rivers, lake, animals and soil. Simply put, Oyotunji Yoruba African Kingdom is the custodian of Yoruba heritage, culture and tradition in North America.
Frederick Murphy
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Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor, Film Maker,
History Enthusiast
Frederick Murphy is the founder of History Before Us, LLC, a project centered on capturing, preserving, and advocating for influential history. He was raised in Clarksville, Tennessee and is a graduate of Tennessee State University. His first film, the award-winning The American South as We Know It, explores the lives of survivors of Jim Crow—the courageous individuals who didn’t make the headlines.
His second documentary, The Other Side of the Coin: Race, Generations & Reconciliation, was released on September 2, 2020. A collection of experiences and thoughts addressing the complexities of race in America, the film asks, “How do we reconcile for the sake of future generations and humanity?” Murphy's third installment Sweet Home Alabama: A Chief and his Protégé, will be released winter of 2021. Murphy has also directed educational films in collaboration with the N.C. Rice Festival, Black Indians NC, Saving Slave Houses, A1DAY1 Productions, Brunswick Arts Council and more. Frederick is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor who finds joy in helping people achieve and retain an optimum level of functioning by focusing on their holistic health. He has a master’s degree in Transformative Leadership and serves on the board of the James K. Polk historic site in Pineville, North Carolina, the Slave Dwelling Project in Charleston, South Carolina and the Tennessee African American History Research Group located in Clarksville, Tennessee.
BRUCE INGRAM
Storyteller
We, as a society, are connected to history not just in formal written
passage, but through the more personal acts of storytelling.
Storytelling is a unique way in which history is reveal to us in an
unscripted format. The story is told repeatedly and delivered from one
generation to the next with sacred regards. The stories do not become
diluted over time, richer, as previous characters are weaved into the
history of this narrative.
Its in this legacy pass down by his great-grandpa Steve who was a slave
that lived to be 114 years old which demonstrates Bruce Ingram
passion for storytelling. They tell a story told many moons ago before,
adding to histories accounts records worth preserving.
Patt Gunn
Tour Guide, Griot (storyteller)
Mama Gunn is the Dawta' of Susie Golden Gilliard, the Granddawta' of Ada Shellman Golden and the Great-Great Granddawta' of a Freed Slave, Princess Shellman from McIntosh County, Georgia. She was raised with ten siblings by phenomenal parents who instilled a philosophy that 'it's the heart not the hue - love and respect one another. She is the proud Mother of two Dawtas', Imani and Ayana Gunn and a host of 'Dawta-Friends' from across the United States. Her 'soulcraft' is 'truth-telling'. She tells Master Gullah' Geechee stories of the African American journey from slavery to freedom. She is the CEO of Underground Tours of Sav'h, LLC., and Co-Owner of the Savannah Gallery on Slavery and Healing, Inc. Additionally, She is the President of a non-profit social justice organization, The Center for Jubilee, Reconciliation and Healing, Inc. in Savannah, Georgia. In 1999, She produced a Gullah' Geechee' folk artist group, 'The Saltwata Players'. The group's musical genre are Negro Spirituals and Civil Rights freedom songs. The Players have performed at schools, universities, museums and festivals throughout the Southeast. In 2015, the group had the honor of performing at The White House and on the grounds of the Lincoln Monument.If you asked her what my 21st century philosophy is today, she would simply say,”'Always try to bring value to any circumstance - never take value away.”
Professor Dale Green
Decendent of Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass
The greatest blueprint that Morgan State University Professor Dale Glenwood Green will ever encounter was not drawn with ink and paper. Instead, the ‘plan’ was lived out before him by his grandparents. They taught him how to build a life of purpose by valuing history, preserving Black institutions, and being intentional with his existence. These beliefs were in essence inherited, as Professor Green has an ancestry intertwined with some of the most consequential individuals in American history, including his maternal line of Bishop Alexander Wayman and Frederick Douglass; and his paternal line of Reverend Samuel Green and Harriet Tubman.
Professor Green is also a Partner in the fifth oldest African American architectural firm in the nation, Sulton Campbell Britt and Associates, P.C. where he works to develop new sites and preserve historical ones too. He is not only a respected leader in the building industry but also a sought after lecturer and scholar of African American heritage. Amongst his titles, he is The Professor of the Practice for Architecture and Historic Preservation at Morgan State University. As he teaches his students, he knows he is doing more than building their careers. He is answering the call of his ancestors, shaping young minds and skylines in the process.
Dr. Da'mond Gadson
Psychotherapist
Dr. Da’mond Gadson is a Bilingual “Spanish and English” African American/Black Psychological Therapist with a Doctorate Degree in Behavioral Health from Arizona State University. He works with clients of all ages, backgrounds, and behavioral needs. He possesses an in-depth understanding of psychological disorders, treatment techniques, diagnosis, and interventions. This includes performing assessment and psychological testing with disciplinary teams in Primary Care, Integrated Care, and mental health settings. He provides solutions to problems by using the client’s strengths to combat challenges. He integrates the role of the mind, body, and spirit in therapy.
Ayo Ngozi
Chief Herbalist at The Creative Root
At The Creative Root, we believe that everyone should have access to creative, healing experiences and medicines that are pleasurable, sustainable and affordable.
We’re here to help our communities connect to practical herbal practices and preparations that support your wellness, your natural brilliance and radiance, and your experience of pleasure and joy.
Make yourself at home on the site, join our mailing list, check out a class, and come back often.
The Mahoganee Xperience
Musician and Visual Artist
The Mahoganee Xperience and Mr. BounceBack are a strong artistic creative couple who bring an unquantifiable synergy to a space that is quite often un-paralleled. What one lacks the other brings in strength and allows their impact to have a wider reach. They provide an uninhibited environment that promotes creativity and the freedom to express through their unique style of music, deemed, “Funky Organik Soul” in the genre of Indigenous Soul Music which is a blend of Southern Soul, funk, jazz, blues and hip-hop with African and Caribbean influences. They have birthed a modern style of Gullah Geechee music that is genre-bending, spiritual and healing with Mahoganee’s latest music project titled “Textures of a Southern Soul (a Gullah Geechee Soul) Vol. 1”. The Xperience is a Multi-Disciplinary Destination. They are founders of the non-profit Responsible ARTistry, Inc. located in the Lowcountry of South Carolina. Their focus for over 17 years has been redesigning education by creatively cultivating compassionate spaces.
Chef Alexander Mack
Vegan Chef
Chef Alexander Mack has a remarkable story that exemplifies resilience and perseverance in the face of challenges and obstacles. During a period of adversity, Alexander's perspective on food changed, inspiring him to adopt a healthier lifestyle and develop his cooking philosophy. Although he lacked the financial resources to attend culinary school, he took an alternative approach by training under master chefs to learn different techniques, learning the science behind cooking, and the art of cooking. Chef Alexander has 20+ years of cooking experience as a professional chef. His dedication and hard work paid off, as he gained experience by traveling to different cities and ultimately creating A.M. Diverse Cooking. He will be serving us his deliciousness in a 3 course fine dining exclusive experience this year and we are so excited and honored to have him!
EBONI Q
Womb Love
Eboni Q is a healing facilitator with a passion for dance and women's holistic wellness. She is an attuned Reiki Healer and a certified womb steam professional with extensive knowledge in women's reproductive health. Through her own experiences with healing womb-disease, she discovered her childhood passion for movement and dance could serve as a tool for greater awareness, profound healing, and transformation. For the past 5 years she has been supporting women in reconnecting to their sacred center through sacred movement and womb work.
T' AFO FEIMSTER
Artist
T’Afo Feimster is a native of Stony Point, NC, currently a resident of Charlotte NC. He is a graduate of North
Carolina Central University in Durham NC, and an IBM retiree. He is a self-taught visual artist, currently working as a full-time artist (T’Afo Arts LLC). He is the Founder and Executive Director of LATIBAH Collard Green Museum, a history museum, co-founder of ADEPT Artists Inc., a 501 c [3] non-profit
organization; founder and director of The Front Porch Theater Group, a theater company that performs historical re-enactments of significant events in black history, and developer and facilitator of TACT (The Art of Creative Thinking), a personal development and retention workshop.
LUANA GRAVES-SELLARS
Cultural Influencer, Filmmaker:
Harriet Tubman | From the Railroad to a Spy
A native-born New Yorker, Luana M. Graves Sellars, quickly discovered that weather wise, she was really "a mis-placed Floridian". Even though she has a degree in Journalism and Black History, she wasn’t prepared to live on Hilton Head Island, one of the most culturally rich and historic areas of the South. A passion for her Gullah Geechee roots led her to become a cultural influencer and preservationist through her writing, which is focused on educating others, as well as documenting Gullah culture, its history, and people. In 2021, she started her own company, Sankofa Communications and expanded into visual media, where she also writes, directs, and produces culturally focused video shorts and documentaries. Her passion for preserving the culture includes raising funds to protect historic Gullah land as the Founder of the nonprofit(s) Lowcountry Gullah and the Lowcountry Gullah Foundation. Luana is also a keynote speaker and community activist who is doing her part to sustain and preserve Gullah Geechee culture for future generations.
Wayne Ashford
Ashford Tea Company Savannah, Ga
For more than twenty years Wayne Ashford, founder of the original Tea’s Me Cafe Indianapolis, IN and owner of Ashford Tea Company Savannah, GA, has guided and educated tea enthusiasts and novices alike on Living Life To The Tea. His childhood dream was to own his own business. He could not have imagined back then, while sipping the sun tea his mother would make during those hot summer months, that one day tea would be the vehicle that married his goals with his passion!
Today, in addition to being one of the finest tea purveyor, Ashford Tea Co. offers several professional services. We shares our business knowledge and passion through Custom Blends, Wholesale, Bulk, Retail, and Loose Leaf Tea Sales, Cafe and Tea Bar Consulting, Tea Service Catering, and Speaking Engagements focused on The Benefits Of Tea, Living Life To The Tea, and Entrepreneurship.