Meet the Architects
On February 28, 2026, Black Genius Fest: Architects of the Dream descends on Durham’s Black Wall Street to celebrate 100 years of Black History Month. Meet the architects bringing their genius to Parrish Street.
Majesty Royale-Jackson
“Black Genius is the collective knowledge we possess in the memory of ourselves.”
Touch & Believe
Interactive sound installation, movement
Mirlesna Azor-Sterlin
“Black Genius is the creativity, resilience, intellectual depth, and innovation that Black people express every day.”
Haiti in a Jar: Epis Making Experience 101
Hands-on cooking, Haitian culture
Alana Smith, Damon Walker, and Charryse Fredrick
“Black Genius is the inherent brilliance, creativity, and wisdom that lives within Black children, families, and communities—long before it is measured, named, or validated by institutions.”
Forest of Wonders
Outdoor sensory game, family adventure
Kala “Maestra” Hinnant
“Black Genius is where our youth experiences the fullness of self-actualization and access the tools to have this at an arm’s reach.”
Therapy Session
Hip-Hop, dance, fashion
Angel S. Brown
“[Black Genius] is unapologetically dignified, wrapped in community, and rooted in love.”
Scented Storytime with Bright Black
Multisensory storytelling, scent
La’Brea Pringle
“Black Genius is the combination of imagination, resilience, cultural knowledge, and intellectual power that shows up in Black communities across generations.”
The District of Black Genius: Designing the Schools We Deserve
Time travel, sensory stations
Andre Sansbury Jr.
“Black Genius is the everyday brilliance found in how we survive, dream, create, and build together.”
Pull Up Poet: The Story Circle Stage
Interactive poetry, storytelling circle
Crystal Ingram
“[Black Genius] is the ability of Black people to explore freely and safely”.
Social Justice Through Storytelling
Collaborative canvas, recording station
Khalisa Rae Thompson
“Black Genius, to me, is collective, embodied, and deeply human.”
Carolina Gold: Black Southern Griots Rooted
Poetry, community story
Roni Carrington
“Black Genius is the ability to remember, imagine, create, and survive with joy, strategy, and spirit, even in the face of oppression.”
Diaspora Scouts
Artmaking, collective map
Assata Nataki Goff
“Black Genius is innate, ancestral, magical, and deeply healing.”
I Am An Ancestor Too: I Am Because We Are
Mirror mosaic portraits, herbalism
Tarish Pipkins (Jeghetto)
“Black Genius to me means our people collectively writing our own history while simultaneously planning our future.”
An Alternate Reality Without Oppression
Puppets, alternate-timeline museum
Kimberly Williams Moore
“Black Genius means validation and confirmation of the resilience that propelled us from our original arrival on American shores to the present.”
Pulling Threads: Weaving Family and Community
Quilting, intergenerational storytelling
Atigré Xia
“Black Genius to me is the innate sense of wisdom that I hold as a Black Being.”
Black Wisdome
Interactive sculpture, self-expression
Victoria Alles
“Black Genius is to make irrelevant the influence of others’ egocentricity and achieve all for which we were made.”
Become A Legend
Gamified storytelling, roleplay
Kristen Hopkins-Vincent
“Black Genius is the everyday brilliance of Black people rooted in emotional wisdom, cultural memory, and self-determination, not just achievement. “
Black SEL Hub
social-emotional liberation, affirmation
Register for Black Genius Fest at www.blackgeniusfest.com.