Commissioner Ted Terry invites you to explore American identity with your community through a FREE Out of Hand Dinners event on Friday, November 13 at 6:30 PM. We are proud to welcome and collaborate with Carmen Halagahu, co-owner of Turtle Island Trading, the Little 5 Points Cultural District, and 7 Stages Theatre, as they prepare for the beloved fifth annual First Voices Festival which will take place just one week later (November 20 through November 27).  

During the November 13 Out of Hand Dinners event, actor CT Mayo will perform “Ancestral Reckoning,” a play written by Marcie Rendon that examines progress through a Native American perspective.

About the play:

The ancestors foretold all that would be, from the coming of the pale people to a spider web around the planet to a choice that must be made of which road to walk, the ancestral road or the paved with technology road. The ancestors carry hope forward.

About the playwright:

Marcie R. Rendon, citizen of the White Earth Nation, is the best-selling author of Where They Last Saw Her, MN Book Award winter; and author of the Cash Blackbear crime series, the most recent is Broken Fields. Rendon’s poetry, Anishinaabe Songs for the New Millennium, 2024, received the Heartland Booksellers Award in poetry; and Stitches of Tradition, a picture book, is an American Indians in Children’s Literature Picture Book Selection, and Center for the Study of Multicultural Children’s Literature Best Books, 2024, CCBC Choices, 2025. Rendon was the 2020 MN McKnight Artist of the Year and was on Oprah’s 2020 list of 31 Native American Authors to read.

About the series:

The “We Hold These Truths” series uses a one-person play to invite audiences to reflect on their American story while engaging with a diversity of American experiences. This is a true opportunity to engage with your neighbors and support local art.

Conversations around themes presented in the play will be guided by trained facilitators to make everyone feel welcome. Come with an open heart and leave inspired to take action and create a world where everyone thrives. 

The event is free, but registration is required via the link below.

We Hold These Truths Dinner: Ancestral Reckoning
Friday, November 13 from 6:30-8:00 PM
The First Existentialist Congregation of Atlanta (470 Candler Park Dr NE, Atlanta, GA 30307)

Food Allergy Warning: While we are proactively curating a menu that includes dishes that are gluten free, vegetarian, and vegan, we cannot guarantee that the food offered at this event will adhere to your individual food allergies or preferences.