Dr. Walter Greason, Dean of the honors school and chair of the Department of Education at Monmouth University talks about journalist and civil rights leader T. Thomas Fortune, community building, and tapping into the energy of the festival in order to mobilize locally and nationally.

Dr. Scot French and Mr. Gramond McPherson discuss the exhibit they curated for the Zora Neale Hurston National Museum of Fine Arts on the founding of the Association to Preserve Eatonville Community.

Dr. Grant Cornwell, president of Rollins College outlines how the aims of the Communities Conference co-sponsored by Rollins College and Zora Neale Hurston Festival factors into a holistic vision of liberal arts at Rollins College.

Lizette Valarino, the former Special Assistant to Orange County Mayors Mel Martinez and Richard Crotty, discusses the historic legacy of Latinx cultural activism in Central Florida.

Scott French discusses the importance of finding and preserving history in local communities of color. At the Zora Festival in 2017, he led several students in their research projects about real-life, local, and important community history initiatives. Dr. French and his students use digital storytelling tools to magnify the narratives of the communities they partner with.

Carlene Jackson speaks about the National Urban Housing and Economic Community Development Corporation (NUHECDC), a non-profit organization that works to implement a comprehensive approach to fighting poverty in urban areas through affordable housing, homeownership, and life skills training for those with barriers to employment.

Porsha Dossie discusses her research on uncovering the hidden history of vibrant African American communities in historic Seminole County, Florida. She used a range of digital and traditional methodologies to achieve her final project, which was an online collection of stories and artifacts.

Michelle Robinson speaks about her research projects with graduate students and community members in Hobson City -- the first self-governed black municipality in the state of Alabama.

Jose Flores discusses a research project centered on the influence and importance of Arturo Schomburg – activist, writer, historian, and philanthropist during the Harlem Renaissance – especially for Puerto Ricans in New York. Schomburg viewed Pan Africanism as an avenue to create political expression for Puerto Ricans and African Americans alike.

Holly Baker explains her ongoing effort to produce a curated online exhibit featuring folk songs and folklorists from communities of color throughout state of Florida, collected by the Federal Writers Project during The Depression Era.