As an extension of AARLCC&rsquo\;s mission to collect\, preserve\, and provide access to resources focusing on the h istory and culture of people of African\, African American\, and Caribbean descent\, each year the AARLCC&rsquo\;s signature event (formerly known a s the South Florida Book Festival) creates opportunities for residents in the Greater Fort Lauderdale area to be exposed to literature and authors f ocused on Black history and culture representing various facets of the Afr ican diaspora. Through engagement with written text in conversation with a uthors\, the Africana Arts + \;Humanities Festival will continue to cr eate an environment that fosters and promotes understanding of a shared hu man experience. \;
\n\n(See the E ventbrite link for the full festival schedule.)
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\n< p>Featured Authors and Speakers:\n | \n | \n
Jonathan Escoffer y\, a native of South Florida\, is the author of If I Survive You \, a New York Times \;and Booklist Editor&rsquo\;s Choice\, an IndieNe xt \;Pick\, and an International Bestseller. If I Survive You was nomi nated for more than a dozen prizes and awards internationally\, including the National Book Award\, the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award\, the PEN/ Robert W. Bingham Prize\, the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence\, the Aspen Wo rds Literary Prize\, and the Story Prize\, and was a finalist for the Book er Prize\, the Dublin Literary Award\, the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction\ , the National Book Critics Circle&rsquo\;s John Leonard Prize\, the Gordo n Burn Prize\, and the Southern Book Prize.
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| Dr. Jeffreen Hayes | \nAugusta Savage | \n
Jeffreen \;Hayes\, author o f Augusta Savage: Renaissance Woman. Hayes is an art historian an d curator\, merges administrative\, curatorial \;and academic practice s into her cultural practice of supporting artists and community developme nt. As an advocate for racial inclusion\, equity\, and access\, Jeffreen&n bsp\;has developed a curatorial and leadership approach that invites commu nity participation\, particularly those in historically excluded communiti es. Her curatorial projects include SILOS (2016-18)\,  Augusta Savage: Renaissance Woman (2018-2020)\,†¯AFRICOBRA: Messages to the People (2018)\, Proc ess (2019) and AFRICOBRA: Nation Time (201 9).
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| Dr. Laura Helt on | \n\n |
Laura Helton is the author of  Scattered and Fugitive Things: How Black Collectors Created Archives and Remade History  (Columbia University Press\, 2024)\, explores the emergence of African American archives and libraries to show how historical recuperati on shaped forms of racial imagination in the early twentieth century.
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| Dr. Karida Brown | \nCharly Palmer | \n\ n |
Dr. Karida Brown and Char ly Palmer coauthored The New Brownies' Book: A Love Letter to Black Fa milies\, which reprises the groundbreaking children's book created by W. E. B. DuBois in 1920.
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