Toni Morrison scholar, Dr. Kokahvah Zauditu-Selassie explores a wide range of complex concepts, including African deities, ancestral ideas, spiritual archetypes, mythic tropes, and lyrical prose that appear in novels The Bluest Eye, Sula, Song of Solomon, and more.

Processional led by King Salim Ajanku, Master African drummer; Founding Co-director and Lead Facilitating Artist, Creative Strategies for Change.

Mama Koko is a retired chair of African World Studies and History at Morris Brown University and associate professor at Morgan State University. She is the recipient of fellowships from Fulbright, National Endowment for the Humanities, and National Council for Black Studies. Mama Koko is featured in the Netflix film, In Our Mothers Gardens, and is an Obatala priest in the Yoruba system and a Mama Nganga in the Kongo spiritual tradition.