Gullah & Beyond: Our History Literature & Culture

This one-day event celebrates African American culture on Saturday, March 9, 2024, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Hosted by the Best Richardson African Diaspora Literature & Culture Museum and introducing their new location, this free event presents the work of several authors, performers, and scholars. The event highlights the culture and history of people who were torn from their countries in Africa and moved to other parts of the world. This free event includes discussions with several authors, a dance exhibit, a rope drumming performance, and a performance from the Gullah Geechee Ring Shouters. Several vendors will present their wares and a Jamaican food truck will sell lunch and snacks. The featured vendors include Anna Teiko, a Ghanaian who sells African clothing.

Anna Teiko, the food truck, and other vendors will be there all day, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Schedule of Events

• 10:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. — Owners Gigi Best & Skip Richardson. Welcome: Using Genealogy to Honor Our Gullah Ancestors and Discover our Past.
• 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. — Rose Francois, Author of A Generational Cry: Based on a True Story of the Haitian Revolution 
• 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. — Dr. Elizabeth Hordge-Freeman, Author and Researcher. Black Brazilian Women and Informal Adoption as Modern Slavery in Brazil.
• 12:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. — Bruce Ingram, Gullah Re-enactor, telling the tale of an escaped slave, "A Runaway Man."
• 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. — Gullah Geechee Ring Shouters: A Collective of African Americans who preserve their ancestral through lively performances.
• 2:00 p.m. - 2:15 p.m. — Gigi Best, Poet. "African Americans or Afrikans in America," an original poem
• 2:15 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. — Kentrell Martin, Children's Author of the Shelly's Adventures Series. These books feature a deaf girl and serve to teach young people the American Sign Language and about deaf culture.
• 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. — Scott Manny, local musician and drummer, "A Field Guide to Rope Drumming."
• 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. — West Augustine Youth Dance Group