Ent-Tech Day Two Wrap-Up: Reclaiming History, Shaping Our Narratives

Acclaimed author, educator, performer, and Gullah Geechee cultural interpreter Ron Daise delivered a dynamic keynote address at the Morehouse 1526 Symposium on October 1, 2026. His powerful presence brought history, culture, and living memory into conversation, inspiring us to consider the stories we preserve and the legacies we carry forward.

A reflection on Centering 1526, Ent-Tech (Innovation and Discovery Expo), and a powerful day at Morehouse College.

On October 1, the second day of the Ent-Tech (Innovation and Discovery Expo), the Alma Film Festival joined Morehouse College for the Centering 1526 Symposium and Community Gathering. Presented by Morehouse College’s Department of Africana Studies with support from the Andrew Young Center for Global Leadership, Friends of the Congo, and the Campbell Wright HBCU Gullah Geechee Internship Program, the gathering brought scholarship, cultural memory, and community into a shared conversation about how we understand our history—and who has the power to tell it.

It was a phenomenal day of intellectual exchange. The speakers were deeply engaged, and the audience met them with sustained attention and curiosity. Morehouse students from various classes attended, bringing an intergenerational dimension to conversations that remained compelling throughout the day. Acclaimed author, educator, performer, and Gullah Geechee cultural interpreter Ron Daise delivered a dynamic keynote address, setting the tone for a gathering grounded in history, cultural identity, and the responsibility of remembrance.

The historical point of departure was 1526, when approximately 100 enslaved Africans were brought to the short-lived Spanish settlement of San Miguel de Gualdape in what is now the southeastern United States. Their arrival preceded 1619 by nearly a century. Remembering this history expands the familiar account of African presence in what became the continental United States and invites a fuller consideration of enslavement, resistance, and the struggle for self-determination.

As the day moved toward its closing community discussion and Imbongi, an unplanned parallel gave the experience particular weight. Outside the library, hundreds of students were gathering for a march in support of Nolan Wells, the young man whose death in Mississippi earlier this year prompted unanswered questions and calls for transparency and justice.

Inside, we were reflecting on histories shaped by trauma, the work of overcoming its consequences, and the importance of reclaiming our narratives. Outside, students were insisting that a young man’s life—and his family’s search for answers—remain in public view. The convergence was deeply moving. Questions of memory, integrity, justice, and whose stories receive attention were unfolding around us in real time.

For Alma Film Festival, this experience spoke directly to our mission to contribute to the global cultural conversation. Our participation was also an opportunity to build deeper relationships between scholars and the film community. Research can uncover histories that colonialism suppressed, distorted, or pushed to the margins. Cinema can bring those histories into public conversation, carrying them across languages, borders, and generations.

That relationship matters as filmmakers across the world claim greater authority over their own stories. We may be entering a new chapter in which more of the world’s history can be reflected through cinema, with communities shaping how their experiences are researched, interpreted, and portrayed. The promise is a body of work that is more accurate, more authentic, and more complete—work that makes room for the complexity of our lives, our resilience, and the futures we imagine.

Centering 1526 made that possibility feel tangible. The day created space to examine inherited narratives, ask difficult questions, and consider what we can create when scholarship, filmmaking, and community knowledge inform one another.

Dr. Samuel Livingston (right) led the effort to bring together the many elements of the 1526 Symposium across the Morehouse campus. His leadership helped create a meaningful gathering centered on history, culture, and collective reflection. Pictured alongside him is Dr. Corrie Claiborne, chair of the Campbell Wright HBCU Gullah Geechee Student Internship Program. Several students from the program also presented during the symposium.

We extend our sincere thanks to Dr. Samuel T. Livingston for bringing together such a dynamic team and welcoming Alma Film Festival into this extraordinary experience. His ongoing book project centered on 1526 offers another avenue for extending this essential work. We also thank the speakers, students, Morehouse faculty, community participants, and collaborating partners whose presence and contributions made the gathering so meaningful.

We left inspired to deepen these relationships and help bring more of these stories to the screen—with the care, integrity, and breadth they deserve.

~ Anthony R Page, Festival Director, Cultural Architect & Ecosystem Builder

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For Further Exploration of The Event, Go To:

Ron Daise to Deliver Crown Forum Keynote at Morehouse for Centering 1526 Symposium & Imbongi

Centering 1526 at Morehouse Reconsiders Where the American Story Begins

@AlmaFilmFestival

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