We created and cleared pathways to freedom & joy via art, cultural programming and Black creative expression

SaltWater Sojourn was first birthed in 2019 by Waterbearers Mariah M. and Destiny Hemphill, where they joined Toshi Reagon at NorthStar Church of the Arts in Durham, North Carolina, for the first installment of Meet Me At the Crossroads. In November 2021, we were reinvited to join Toshi Reagon alongside Ganessa James and Shirazette Tinnin for 3-day portal, Meet Me at the Crossroads II, for Gen1 of SaltWater Sojourn’s installment entitled Water is The Original Mirror. We invited attendees to participate or simply soak in a collective sonic meditation through song, poetry, and somatics.

As Gen2 of SaltWater Sojourn, we meditated on what we needed for our selves, and what we could offer to community and conjured Revival of the Seers, a restorative retreat for Black queer creatives & cultural workers distinctly held during Black August.

Meet the Creatives of the 2023 & 2022 ROS cohorts here!

We also presented our summer program & portal, High Tide, to accompany the observation of Black August, and support the creatives & cultural workers that we have connected with as a collective forming the SaltWater ecosystem.

On Generation 3 of SaltWater Sojourn, we have sunset all programming as a collective as of December 2025. This container served as an estuary for individual and collective Black radical imagining, healing, joy, growth, and art. We used old ways to alchemize on behalf of our community and for our collective liberation. This journey with Black queer creatives across Afro-Carolina served its purpose in nourishing our crafts via revolutionary artistic praxis and fostering Black creative expression via community building.

Deep gratitude to the each Gen of the collective and all those in fellowship with us during its existence.

Click the labyrinth below to meet the Waterbearers, past

Keep up with us via this website, our Instagram page!