Emmanuel Ayisi doesn't describe himself as a quilter, at least not yet. He joined the African American Quilt Circle (AAQC) of Durham in 2025 after coming across a community raffle quilt by the group at Durham's Bimbé Cultural Arts Festival. He fell in love with the deep African culture embedded in the quilt, and his curiosity led to the discovery of a talented group of sartorial griots who make up AAQC. His mission is to witness and help preserve African culture and history.