American folklorist and writer Zora Neale Hurston was an important figure of the Harlem Renaissance. Hurston’s works focused on African American culture and the rural south.  Black folklore has been a huge inspiration of my work as a performance and teaching artist.  This oral tradition has allowed me to use art to demonstrate decision making, reinforce lessons on plot/plotlines, and shared values and morals. It’s been through the stories of my community that have helped me to reach across time and space to reach the young people I have been blessed to work with.   

Through the gaze of Zora Neale Hurston, students will explore African American folktales of the South.