As the nation marks 250 years since its founding, we are called to ask: whose survival made this nation possible? Join artist Alisha B. Wormsley for a special activation of The Temple of Our Survival (Children of NAN: A Survival Guide)—a mobile cinematic altar and gathering space dedicated to Black femme survival, care, and reMatriation. Presented in collaboration with artist Tsedaye Makonnen and harpist Megan-Joie Coleman, this immersive event brings together ritual, sound, and collective storytelling as an act of historical reckoning and remembrance.

The program will feature a live ritual performance honoring Black femme survival, including a guided group dreaming meditation and opportunities for audience members to participate by reading their own survival stories alongside those of historical Black femmes from Maryland and beyond — centering voices that the official record of nationhood too often left out.

The event will conclude with a panel conversation on the project and the ongoing practices of Black femme survival, moderated by curator Martina Dodd, exploring what it means to commemorate 250 years through the lens of those who were never meant to survive it — and did.