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Black History Saturday School CommuniVersity

Free Monthly Black History Classes for Children and Adults

AARLCC is hosting the best and brightest experts on Black history to our community to promote intergenerational learning in a family-friendly environment.

The African American Research Library and Cultural Center continues its award-winning Black History Saturday School with its CommuniVersity Series. AARLCC is hosting the best and brightest experts on Black history to our community to promote intergenerational learning in a family-friendly environment.

Open to participants ages 13 and up. Registration is required. Space is limited.

CommuniVersity Story Time will be available for participants ages 5 to 12.

• Session 1: Saturday, October 4, 2025
  • “Liberation Through Literacy: Black Education, Resistance, and the Freedom to Read" with Dr. Tameka Hobbs. This intergenerational education program explores the enduring legacy of Black educational resistance and the transformative power of literacy. From the clandestine lessons of Mary Peake and the ciphering traditions on plantations, to the intellectual leadership of Frederick Douglass, Dorothy Porter Wesley, and Carter G. Woodson, participants will trace the arc of Black learning as a form of liberation. Dr. Hobbs is a historian and the Regional Manager of Broward County's African American Research Library and Cultural Center. 

• Session 2: Saturday, November 15, 2025
  • "Diop's Radical Reimagining of African Cultural Identity and Its Blueprint for a Stable Economy" with Derek Davis.

    This workshop integrates Diop's insights on African cultural identity, rooted in Black Egyptian civilization, with the African Mode of Production. It reveals how Africa pioneered universal knowledge (e.g., in science and philosophy) and developed unique, collective societal structures. This distinct societal blueprint, often mislabeled as "Asian," demonstrates Africa's unique economic and political evolution, offering a powerful counter-narrative to Eurocentric historical frameworks and a model for stable, collective governance. This radical re-imagining fosters self-knowledge, challenges historical distortions, and empowers a collective vision for future progress. Derek T. Davis is a writer, history buff, lecturer, and community activist who is a promoter and advocate of African American culture and history in South Florida. Before his retirement, he managed several top-notch African American facilities in South Florida. Including the Black Archives History and Research Foundation of South Florida, exhibits and programs at the African American Research Library and Cultural Center, and the Old Dillard Museum. He continues to be a consultant and organizer of local community projects.

• Session 3: Saturday, December 6, 2025
  • "The History and Future of Generational Wealth" with Dwayne Rayner. Explore how generational wealth has been built, lost, and reimagined in America. Drawing on three decades of experience in Wall Street banking, corporate finance, venture capital, and impact investing, this presentation will highlight practical strategies for individuals, families, and communities to create lasting legacies. It blends history, financial insight, and a vision for a more inclusive future of wealth-building. Dwayne Rayner, a Fort Lauderdale native with over 30 years of experience in finance, is the Managing Director of Renaissance Capital Advisors, LLC, a business advisory and investment firm. After earning his MBA from the Wharton School of Business, he worked at leading firms including Enron, Solomon Brothers, and JP Morgan as an M&A banker, and later served as Director of Social Impact Investing at the Wayfarer Foundation, a family office funding early-stage entrepreneurs and mission-driven ventures. These roles have given him a well-rounded perspective on building wealth across sectors. In addition to his professional leadership, Dwayne has served for over 20 years as Curriculum Director and Board Member of Youth About Business, reflecting his deep commitment to preparing young people for financial and entrepreneurial leadership. Passionate about advancing financial literacy, he continues to dedicate his work to bridging finance, community, and opportunity for future generations.

• Session 4: Saturday, January 24, 2026
  • " The Jeanes Supervisors of Florida: Her-stories of Black Women Educator Organizing And Advocacy As The Next Needed Thing" with Dr. Melanie Acosta. In this Black History Saturday School lesson, teachers will engage the communiversity in the story of the Jeanes Supervisors, a cadre of Black women teachers responsible for revolutionizing education in the South in the 1900s. The Jeanes Supervisors’ motto was, “to do the next needed thing”, and community-building in the schoolhouse and community was a powerful component of their professional work. As a Communiversity, teachers and students will work together to (re)member the Jeanes Supervisors in ways that can offer a source of order and action in the current education landscape.

• Session 5: Saturday, February 7, 2026
  • "From Sun Ra to Wakanda: A Journey Through Afrofuturism" with Dr. Sondra Washington. Join us for an exploration of Afrofuturism, a cultural, artistic, and aesthetic movement that blends elements of science fiction, fantasy, magical realism, and technology with Black history and culture. Afrofuturism is more than a genre of literature and art–it is a way of reclaiming the past, reimagining the present, and forging new, empowering visions of the future for Black people. This talk will take you on an engaging journey through the world of Afrofuturism, from its origins in the “cosmic jazz” of Sun Ra to the global phenomenon of Marvel’s Black Panther and beyond. Dr. Sondra Bickham Washington is assistant professor of American literature at Wilkes Honors College of Florida Atlantic University where she specializes in African American literature, Black girlhood studies, and digital humanities. Her work appears in Xavier Review; Palimpsest: A Journal on Women, Gender, and the Black International; and most recently as a digital humanities book titled Beyond NOLA: Exploring Zora Neale Hurston in Bogalusa, Louisiana's Magic City. Currently, she is writing a monograph highlighting problematic literary representations of Black girls and the way these depictions reflect and impact the real lives of African American female children and adolescents.

• Session 6: Saturday, March 7, 2026
  • "'Talk That Talk': Celebrating African American Vernacular Traditions" with Dr. Regis Fox. Join us as we explore African American Vernacular Traditions, some of the most unique cultural products of the African diaspora. Together, we will unpack some of the most compelling examples of the genre, including spirituals, work songs, folktales, and the blues. We will examine how these texts come to life through ritual and performance, as well as how they operate as sites of creative expression and survival. Regis M. Fox, Associate Professor of English at Florida Atlantic University, earned a Ph. D in English from the University of California, Riverside. Her primary research interests include Nineteenth-Century American Literatures, Feminist Theory, and African-American Literary and Cultural Studies. She released her first book, Resistance Reimagined: Black Women's Critical Thought as Survival (University Press of Florida) in 2017.

• Session 7: Saturday, April 11, 2026
  • "The Genesis of Carver Ranches, Florida" with Cynthia Strachan Saunders of the Bowles-Strachan House. See, hear, and read about the birth of a planned Black community in unincorporated Broward County and the Black folks who settled there in the 1940s and 1950s. Cynthia Strachan Saunders is a singer, songwriter, author and historian. In the music world, she is known as Jus” Cynthia. Presently, she is the owner and curator of the Bowles-Strachan Historical Resources Center, in the City of West Park, Florida.

• Session 8: Saturday, May 2, 2026
  • "Legal Giants of Broward County" with Carlisa Russell. Legal Giants of Broward County offers an engaging exploration into the remarkable legal and civic contributions of George W. Allen and Alcee Hastings. Participants will review how these figures shaped desegregation, fostered political representation, and strengthened institutional equity. This course encourages critical reflection on their legacies and how individual leadership intersects with broader systemic change. Carlisa Russell Ed.S is an educational specialist of 22 years who has worked to support the development and implementation of progressive learning environments, responsive leadership practices, and equitable access to educational engagement opportunities for all students.

• Session 9: Saturday, June 6, 2026
  • "What You Need to Know about the Caribbean" with Calibe Thompson of Island SPACE Caribbean Museum.

    “What You Need to Know about the Caribbean: Threads of Freedom” with Calibe Thompson of Island SPACE Caribbean Museum will trace the shared roots and routes of African-descended peoples across the Caribbean and the United States. From the transatlantic slave trade to independence movements, migration, and cultural exchange, this session explores how Caribbean history and heritage are deeply interwoven with Black American identity. Attendees will gain a richer understanding of the resilience, creativity, and global impact of the Caribbean diaspora. Calibe Thompson is the co-founder and executive director of Caribbean arts nonprofit Island SPACE Caribbean Museum. She is a Jamaican-American entrepreneur—television producer, award-winning publisher, author and speaker—leading an organization whose mission is to elevate the profile of Caribbean art, history and culture in every form throughout South Florida and the broader diaspora. 

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