Explorers Club Event
“The Return of Flag 136” was 2026 Explorers Club presentation by fellow and founder of the History, Arts, & Science Action Network, Justin Fornal. The event showcased the return of his long-running Explorers Club Flag expeditions and highlights their cultural, historical, and scientific impact.
About the Event
Held at the Explorers Club Headquarters, the event features Justin Fornal’s reflections on three major expeditions completed since 2020, each taking him into some of the world’s most remote and challenging environments.
The evening includes a screening of the documentary Learning from the Yibir and concludes with the unveiling of his most ambitious project to date: a solar-powered crossing of Africa’s Sahel region focused on cultural preservation.
Expedition Highlights
Project Harmony Expedition
Recovered, catalogued, and relocated more than 150 African American tombstones from the Columbian Harmony Cemetery in Virginia that had been thrown into the Potamic River, restoring lost histories and reconnecting these memorials with descendants and communities.
The Great Arctic Swim
A Rolex and Explorers Club Flag Expedition to swim from Canada to Greenland, working alongside Inughuit communities and satellite technology experts to document the effects of climate change in the High Arctic.
Yibir: Finding Somalia’s Lost People
A research and storytelling expedition through the Horn of Africa focused on Somalia's marginalized Yibir communities, working to preserve cultural traditions, amplify their histories, and help reclaim their narratives.
