Category Archives: Gullah/Geechee Health and Healing
Celebrating de Gullah/Geechee and Healing de Land & Family
March is “Gullah/Geechee Volunteer Month” and “Women’s Herstory Month.” Those that are interested in celebrating both and participating in events that are centered on healing can join Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation on historic St. Helena Island, SC in the Gullah/Geechee Nation for “Gullah/Geechee CREATE Day” and again as she provides the keynote at the College of William & Mary in Virginia.
Gullah/Geechee SEA & ME: Celebrating and Saving Coastal Legacy
The Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition has always centered its work on ensuring that Gullah/Geechee land would be in Gullah/Geechee hands for generations to come. When we first started our work over two decades ago, I didn’t realize how true “De wata bring we and de wata gwine tek we bak.” would be. However, it is due the water’s consistency that we have witnessed the erosion of our coastline and also the rising of new collaborations within the Gullah/Geechee Nation.
Nature Walk on Historic St. Helena Island in the Gullah/Geechee Nation
Join the community of historic St. Helena Island in sustaining the environment and their cultural heritage. Be a part of the nature walk and then join in Gullah/Geechee Agroculture Day.
Gullah/Geechee Agroculture Day: Sustaining and Celebrating St. Helena!
Jayn we pun historic St. Helena Island fa Gullah/Geechee Agroculture Day 2023! Sustaining and Celebrating St. Helena! Cum jayn we and bring hunnuh Famlee! Saturday, October 28, 2023Noon to 3 pm Regista ya: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/gullahgeechee-agroculture-day-sustaining-and-celebrating-st-helena-tickets-739759950927?aff=oddtdtcreator Jayn de Gullah/Geechee Famlee down by de RiverSide! Come out and Help engage in the Gullah/Geechee CREATE Marine Debris Removal project as …
OCEAN-Ocean Community Engaging Action Now
Although I grew up living in the Atlantic Ocean on the Sea Islands of what is now the “Gullah/Geechee Nation,” no one could have told me that there would be global and national celebrations of this body of water. Of course for centuries, there have been traditional African rituals honoring the waters and the spirits of that element. However, when the world sits down to declare an international Ocean Decade, it seems that folks would immediately take notice. I guess I did because the survival of my people and our cultural heritage is tied to the ocean and the estuaries and creeks that flow to it.
S.A.L.T.-Saving a Lowcountry Treasure
Salt is not the only thing that adds flavor to the coast of the southeast. Gullah/Geechee culture is also quite flavorful not only due to the way we enhance our cuisine, but because of the vibrance and tastefulness that folks find unforgettable about us when they encounter us. One of the places that you will often find us is amidst the salt marsh casting nets or going after blue crabs or picking oysters to feed our families while breathing in the very air that feeds our souls. Like the spartina grass or salt marsh that is a major part of our ecosystem, we’ve migrated up and down the waterways and held in place a cultural landscape for multiple generations as our roots go deeper into the soil and we stand tall bringing healing to this land.
Jayn we fa Gullah/Geechee Famlee Day 2023!
Jayn we fa de annual reunion of de Gullah/Geechee Famlee pun historic St. Helena Island, SC een de Gullah/Geechee Nation! E gwine be a time!
Biden Administration Supports Resilience in the Gullah/Geechee Nation
Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation who was an Expert Commissioner on the inaugural Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission and who served as the General Management Plan Chair will be engaged in several of the projects that will be funded. She stated: “Tenk GAWD fa disya! We land da we famlee and disya gwine keep we coast ya fa de Gullah/Geechee famlee stay ya. We binya and ain gwine nowhey! I have personally been focused on engaging with numerous divisions of the US government and with various sustainability, adaptation and resilience partners for decades in order to have them assist us in making the Sea Islands more resilient especially in the face of climate change. Therefore, I am looking forward to engaging in the numerous projects that NOAA will be funding along our shoreline especially the ‘Gullah/Geechee CREATE Debris Removal Project’ that we will work on with South Carolina Sea Grant which has been a part of the Gullah/Geechee Sustainability Think Tank since its inception. I’ve worked on living shorelines with SCORE (South Carolina Oyster Restoration & Enhancement) for decades. However, the Gullah/Geechee have truly scored this time! Tenk GAWD!”
Celebrating St. Helena De Gullah/Geechee Epicenter
Interestingly enough, I never drew the connection between helping write and establish the Cultural Protection Overlay District law and the fact that it took place the same year that I made world history by taking the human rights of my people before the Human Rights Commission of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland until I just typed out the year. I did reflect on the fact that on my UN anniversary this year (April 1st), I was leading the “Coastal Cultures Conference” and sitting amongst national leaders focused on assisting with protecting the rich environment of St. Helena Island and helping the island to be even more resilient. The Gullah/Geechee Nation Sustainability Plan calls for us to ensure that the mission of the Gullah/Geechee Nation is adhered to and that we protect our people by enhancing their quality of life. We can only do this by protecting and improving the land and water quality and lessening the stress of them having to fight to keep protecting themselves and their homeland. Yet, as our ancestors did, we find ourselves on a battlefield once again protecting our rights as was done during the US Civil War, the Jim Crow Era and the Civil Rights Movement. I am proud to be in the number leading the human rights movement!
Protecting St. Helena Island’s Gullah/Geechee Serenity by Queen Quet
With the coming of this destructionment there is not only environmental degradation, but higher land taxes and cultural degradation and erasure. I went before the world in 1999 to sound the alarm about this attempted genocide of native Gullah/Geechees and I have not stopped going to the world to keep them aware of our on-going need for their support to protect our cultural heritage and continue our cultural traditions in our homeland. I knew that my living was not in vain and that people had heard and continue to hear us when I saw the outpouring of the crowd that were Gullah/Geechee and non-Gullah/Geechee that showed up at at the Protect St. Helena Rally to help us fight to keep the St. Helena Island Cultural Protection Overlay District zoning law in place and to strengthen it so that it will continue to exist for centuries to come as will Gullah/Geechee culture.