Our Team
Corrie Claiborne, PhD
Director
Dr. Corrie Claiborne is an Associate Professor of English and American Literature at Morehouse College and Director of the Movement, Memory, and Justice Project. As an educator of over 24 years, she specializes in teaching and writing about the American South and the Civil Rights Movement. Her work with CWI is closely tied to the work that she does with and in Gullah Geechee communities, particularly in terms of how the stories of Gullah Geechee people help illuminate key parts of the African American story. Her essay, “‘Decorating the Decorations': Daughters of the Dust and the Aesthetics of the Quilt,” was published in 2020 by Peter Lang Press in a collection commemorating the 25th anniversary of Julie Dash’s Daughters of the Dust. She is also a writer and the executive director for a documentary on Johnnetta Betsch Cole.
Ron Daise
Advisory Board, Mentor
2025 - Present
RON DAISE (pronounced DAYS), a son of St. Helena Island, SC, is an author, Emmy-nominated performer, educator, and cultural interpreter. His productions and recordings about Gullah Geechee culture and history have documented his heritage for decades. His publications began with Reminiscences of Sea Island Heritage, in 1986. Several books and recordings have followed, including his Geechee Literature Series and his most recent historical novel, Raptors in the Ricelands, by Belle Isle Books.
From 2004-2022, DAISE served as Vice President for Creative Education at Brookgreen Gardens in Murrells Inlet, SC, where his accomplishments, in part, garnered him the 2019 SC Governor's Distinctive Achievement Award. He is known by many as “Mr. Ron” from “Gullah Gullah Island,” the Nick Jr. TV’s award-winning children’s program of the 1990s. Daise also is a former chairman and charter member of the federal Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission and currently serves on the Charles Joyner Institute for Gullah and African Diaspora Studies Advisory Board. He is featured on exhibits at the International African American Museum, Charleston, SC, and the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington, DC.
A graduate of Hampton Institute (now Hampton University) in Hampton, VA, Daise and his wife Natalie Daise reside in Georgetown, SC, and are parents of two adult children.
Michelle S. Hite, Ph.D.
Advisory Board
2025 - Present
Michelle S. Hite, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of English at Spelman College, where she directs the Ethel Waddell Githii Honors Program, co-directs prestigious international fellowships, and serves as the Campus Coordinator for the UNCF Mellon Mays Program. In addition to being a founder of the African American Honors Collective—with honors program directors at Claflin, Hampton, and Prairie View—she is also President of the Toni Morrison Society.
Dr. Hite’s research often draws on figures in popular culture to meditate on humanist, civic, and spiritual concerns. Her commitment to memory work and cultural preservation is evident in her collaborative participation in the Memory, Movement, and Justice initiative with Morehouse College. She was also selected to join the National Humanities Center's virtual institute, Podcasting for Humanities Faculty and Staff: Storytelling for a Modern Audience, which complements her leadership in launching Spotify’s NextGen Curriculum initiative.
Dedicated to demonstrating the relevance of the humanities in public life, Dr. Hite facilitates intergenerational and cross-sector dialogue—bringing together participants “from the shop floor to the c-suite” through her work with Reflection Point. As an expression of her interest in academic leadership, she was named an ACS Mellon Academic Leadership Fellow.
Erica Veal
CIG Trainer
2025 - Present
Erica Veal is a historian, heritage interpreter based in Charleston. She has been a National Association for Interpretation - Certified Interpretive Guide since 2011, a National Association for Interpretation - Certified Interpretive Trainer since 2021 and has trained over 60 new Certified Interpretive Guides.
She is a former Master Naturalist instructor with over 18 years' experience leading cultural and natural history tours across Charleston County and the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Cooridor.
Erica is an at-large board member with the National Association for Interpretation and the founder of the Black and Brown Interpreters Network.
Her expertise is in the history of Charleston, South Carolina, Gullah Geechee history and culture, Southern US history, native plants and more.
Tendaji Bailey
Associate Director
Tendaji Bailey is a Gullah Geechee native of Port Royal and St. Helena Island, SC. A 2015 graduate of Morehouse College, he is a former middle school math teacher and community organizer turned artist and founder of the Gullah Geechee Futures Project. Through the Mellon Morehouse Movement, Memory, & Justice Project, Tendaji developed the summer internship and events to educate the public about the rich history and culture of Gullah Geechee communities throughout the coastal Southeast. He serves as the Harriet Tubman Exhibition Program Manager at Historic Mitchelville Freedom Park, offering tours and workshops, and is a Certified Interpretive Guide.
As an emerging artist, Tendaji embraces the role of a Griot, a traditional storyteller, by singing, songwriting, and curating immersive experiences through his recent work, "SEEKING|SOARING: Gullah Resilience Songs."
Martina Dodd
Advisory Board, Mentor
2025
Martina Dodd is the Curator of Collections & Exhibitions at the Banneker-Douglass Museum, specializing in the preservation, study, and expansion of African American-centered collections. A Maryland native, she connects art and archival materials to provide nuanced interpretations of African American experiences and contributions. With expertise in African and African Diasporan arts, Dodd employs innovative object-based learning pedagogy to engage diverse audiences. She holds an M.A. in the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas from the University of East Anglia and a B.A. in Anthropology and International Studies from Johns Ho
Dayron J. Miles
Advisory Board
2025
Dayron J. Miles is the Associate Artistic Director at American Repertory Theater, working with Terrie and Bradley Bloom Artistic Director Paulus as a key thought partner to advance A.R.T.’s mission to expand the boundaries of theater and in creating and sustaining the vision for the A.R.T. His work centers audience and community in all aspects of the theater and upholds A.R.T.’s values in all artistic undertakings. Miles joined A.R.T. in November 2019 as the Senior Advisor for Civic Engagement and Strategic Partnerships to co-vision with Paulus A.R.T.’s future home Harvard’s Allston campus.
Miles was previously the Founding Director of Public Works Dallas at the Dallas Theater Center, a community engagement and participatory theater project designed to deliberately blur the line between professional artists and community members. There, he executive-produced three large-scale productions, each featuring more than 200 cast members. Prior, Miles worked in community engagement at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, GA, where he launched the “Play After Work” series.
Miles was the recipient of the 2008-2009 Kenny Leon Artistic Fellowship, which initially brought him to the Alliance. He is the recipient of several awards, including the Blake Anderson Public Service Award in 2018, and serves on various boards and committees, including as a community representative on the Boston Public Library Trustees’ Community Engagement Committee. He was a pilot cohort member of A.R.T.’s Arts and Culture Organization Management program and a member of the 2015 class of Engage Dallas. A graduate of Wright State University, Miles is originally from Toledo, OH.
Andrea Jackson Gavin
Mentor
2025
Andrea Jackson Gavin is the Program Director of the HBCU Digital Library Trust, an initiative to sustain and deepen capacity for the digitization, discovery, and preservation of African American history collections held by HBCU libraries and archives. Prior to joining Harvard Library, she served in several capacities at the Atlanta University Center (AUC) Robert W. Woodruff Library, including Director of Engagement and Scholarship, Grant Writer and administrator, and Head of Archives Research Center. Jackson Gavin was previously the Executive Director of the Black Metropolis Research Consortium based at the University of Chicago Libraries, where she strategically supported Chicagoland African American history and archives.
A staunch HBCU advocate, Jackson Gavin is an alumna of Spelman College, and New York University with a M.A. degree in US History and certification in Archival Management. She participated in the Archives Leadership Institute, the Harvard Graduate School of Education Leadership Institute for Academic Librarians, and was honored as a 2018 Fellow of the Society of Georgia Archivists. Jackson Gavin is co-author of “Funding the Future of African American Religion Archival Collections at the Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library” in the Theological Librarianship Journal, as well as the chapter, “‘Loving Blackness’ as a First-Year Composition Student Learning Outcome in the Archives” in the book, Teaching through the Archives: Text, Collaboration, and Activism.
Dr. Glen Spencer
Advisory Board, Mentor
2025 - Present
Dr. Glen Spencer serves as a mentor for the Campbell-Wright HBCU Internship Program, bringing expertise in digital learning, storytelling, and knowledge sharing. His work focuses on helping creators, educators, and organizations develop accessible micro-courses and credentialed learning opportunities that expand the reach and impact of their work.
Dr. Spencer’s research explores how storytelling, digital platforms, and emerging technologies can create new pathways for education and community engagement. Through his mentorship, he supports students in thinking critically about how digital tools and creative media can be used to preserve culture, share knowledge, and build sustainable learning experiences for diverse audiences.
Dr. Kelli Spencer
Advisory Board, Mentor
2025 - Present
Dr. Kelli Spencer serves as a mentor for the Campbell-Wright HBCU Internship Program, bringing a passion for community-centered learning, storytelling, and educational engagement. Her work focuses on helping individuals and communities transform lived experiences into meaningful learning opportunities that inspire growth, connection, and deeper understanding.
Dr. Spencer’s research explores how storytelling, reflection, and experiential learning can empower individuals to share knowledge and strengthen communities. Through her mentorship, she encourages students to think critically about the role of narrative, culture, and education in preserving history and building pathways for collective learning and community resilience.
Arun Drummond
Mentor
2026
Arun Drummond is a multidisciplinary artist whose work often blends Gullah folk art traditions with contemporary visual language. His paintings, assemblages, and cultural narratives explore memory, identity, and the lived experiences of the Black diaspora in the Lowcountry. His work appears in regional museums, galleries, and cultural institutions, and he is the Founder and Director of Drummond
Studio Gallery in Charleston, SC.
Natalie Daise
Mentor
2026
Natalie uses creative process, storytelling, and art-making to support and stimulate active problem solving, build community, make connections embrace diversity, improve business and enhance the quality of life.
Sara Makeba Daise
Mentor
2026
Sara Makeba Daise, MA (she/her) — as seen in Madame Noire and The Guardian — is a Black, queer, 5th-generation Gullah Geechee Writer, Public Historian, Griot, Gatekeeper & Dikenga Energy Worker from the South Carolina Lowcountry.
All of Sara’s offerings center and prioritize the lives, histories, safety, and liberation of Black, Africana, and Indigenous peoples. Particularly Black women, and others marginalized by gender, sexuality, disability, and class. Their insight and wellbeing are revered as the life-saving possibility models that they are. New worlds and new suns require new canons.
Julian Williams
Mentor
2026
Julian D. Williams Blacksmith & Co. LLC is a blacksmithing business specializing in historic restoration work, new residential and commercial iron works, and onsite welding services. They offer workshops and demonstrations with pricing tiers, an affordable fencing line, and custom artwork such as iron roses and bottle trees. The company is committed to workforce development through a US Department of Labor registered apprenticeship program, and they also provide merchandise including brand t-shirts and wholesale steel sales. With a strong community focus, they hold certifications as a Minority Business Enterprise and Small Business Enterprise and are a proud member of the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce.
Dr. Eric Crawford
Mentor
2026
Dr. Eric Crawford is a musicologist, author, and educator whose work centers on the preservation and study of African American musical traditions, with a particular focus on Gullah Geechee culture. He currently serves as Interim Chair of the Music Department at Claflin University and is widely recognized for his scholarship exploring the cultural significance of Gullah spirituals and sacred music traditions.
Dr. Crawford is the author of Gullah Spirituals: The Sound of Freedom and Protest in the South Carolina Sea Islands, which examines how West African musical traditions evolved into powerful expressions of identity, resistance, and social change in the South Carolina Sea Islands. He earned his Ph.D. in Musicology from The Catholic University of Americaand has previously directed academic and music programs at Coastal Carolina University and Benedict College.
Dr. Samuel Livingston
Mentor
2025 - Present
Dr. Samuel Livingston is a professor at Morehouse College whose work focuses on Africana Studies, cultural preservation, and community-engaged learning. Through his teaching and scholarship, Dr. Livingston has helped create immersive educational experiences that connect students to the histories, traditions, and contemporary realities of Gullah Geechee communities across the Southeast.
As a mentor within the Campbell-Wright HBCU Internship Program, Dr. Livingston has guided students in exploring African Diasporic culture through oral history, public humanities, environmental stewardship, and the arts. His work emphasizes the importance of preserving community knowledge, strengthening cultural memory, and creating pathways for future generations of scholars and cultural workers.
Brittney “Blue” Washington
Mentor
2026
Brittney “Blue” Washington is a visual artist whose work explores culture, identity, and storytelling through vibrant and imaginative imagery. Drawing inspiration from Gullah Geechee heritage, community narratives, and the African Diaspora, her artwork bridges history and contemporary expression. Through painting, illustration, and design, Washington creates pieces that celebrate cultural resilience while inspiring new generations to connect with their roots.
Joshua Parks
Mentor
2026
Joshua Parks is a photographer and visual storyteller dedicated to documenting people, places, and cultural traditions through compelling imagery. His work focuses on capturing authentic moments that highlight community, heritage, and lived experiences. Through portraiture, documentary photography, and event coverage, Parks uses photography as a tool for preservation, education, and storytelling.
Tyquan Morton
Mentor
2026
Tyquan Morton is a filmmaker and multimedia storyteller whose work centers on documenting culture, history, and community narratives. Through film, video production, and digital media, he creates engaging stories that amplify underrepresented voices and preserve important cultural traditions. Morton is passionate about using visual storytelling to connect audiences with the people, places, and histories that shape communities across generations.