Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition 19 Years Strong!

Gullah/Geechee Nation ♦ December 22, 2015 ♦ Leave a comment

The Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition was founded in 1996 by Queen Quet Marquetta L. Goodwine.  At the time of its founding, it was the first organization in the history of the world to have “Gullah/Geechee” in its name.  Prior to that, there were less than 1000 hits of information returned for “Gullah” or “Geechee” in a search on the world wide web as the Internet was known when Queen Quet launched the first website to exist in world history with either word in the name much less both names in one title united.

The Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition continued to educated people around the world daily by launching the first listserve to ever be dedicated to daily postings regarding the history, heritage, and culture of Gullah/Geechees of the Sea Islands.  This effort was sponsored by the company, “Infobro” for a decade.  As technology evolved, the Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition offered the first online course on Gullah/Geechee culture via NetNoir which was on “America Online.”

As technology evolved, the Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition has evolved with it by sponsoring “Gullah/Geechee Riddim Radio” as a weekly broadcast keeping hundreds of thousands of global listeners aware of what is taking place in the Gullah/Geechee Nation.  They also co-sponsor Gullah/Geechee TV (GGTV) (www.gullahgeechee.tv) with All Mobile Productions™ (AMP™) and support various social media efforts to keep the world aware of the continuing existence of Gullah/Geechee culture.

The Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition:

• advocates for the rights of all Gullah/Geechee people around the world.
• promotes and participates in the preservation of Gullah/Geechee history, heritage, culture, and language.
• works toward Sea Island land re-acquisition and maintenance.
• celebrates Gullah/Geechee culture through artistic and educational means electronically and via “grassroots scholarship.”

The Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition uses electronic means to convey the messages from the grassroots Gullah/Geechee community and to challenge the many misleading depictions of Gullah/Geechee culture that have emerged as the culture has come to be exploited by governmental bodies for the sake of obtaining tourism dollars and trying to control the historic narrative.  The narrative of the happy field hand/servant, “the slave,” and the singing storyteller have been the town, county, state, and federal government funded narratives that have been promoted as a method of propaganda to counteract the successful sharing of the human rights movement activities of the Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition and its supporters such as the International Human Rights Association for American Minorities (IHRAAM) and the leaders of the Gullah/Geechee Nation.  In spite of these attempts, the Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition has stood its ground and the tests of time in regard to advocating for the rights of Gullah/Geechee people worldwide and have seen many successes and gained many global supporters as they continue to do so.

The many stories of success and those of the native Gullah/Geechees that live the traditions of the culture as well as the painful stories of land rights battles and environmental justice issues are housed at the ONLY archive in the world totally dedicated to Gullah/Geechee history, heritage, and culture, De Gullah/Geechee Alkebulan Archive. De Gullah/Geechee Alkebulan Archive is now being digitized due to the outstanding support of Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition members and collaborators that helped raise the funds for and donated the electronic equipment and their own personal time and expertise to getting the work done.  Each year in March, the Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition host and coordinate “Gullah/Geechee Nation Volunteer Month” during which hundreds of volunteers converge on the Sea Islands to assist not only with the archiving, but with environmental sustainability projects, elder home restoration projects, and community service and transformational learning.  All of these things assist in the promotion and preservation efforts in the Gullah/Geechee Nation and provide support for the continuation of Gullah/Geechee traditions, heritage, language, and culture.

The Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition works in collaboration with numerous fundraising efforts of their sister institutions and organizations each year.  As they enter into 2016, they will launch a series of events to support three specific fundraising efforts:

• “Fill the Shelves” for the St. Helena Branch Library

• “De Yenna House” Project

• Digitization and cultural heritage protection of “De Gullah/Geechee Alkebulan Archive”

As part of their on-going efforts of land reclamation and maintenance, they will continue to encourage their members, supporters, and collaborating partners to contribute to the “Pan African Family Empowerment and Land Preservation Network” and to the “Save Gullah Homes for Gullah Families” projects that they have been supporting since their inception over the last year.  They will also continue to support the Gullah/Geechee Fishing Association‘s advocacy and educational efforts by co-sponsoring the “Gullah/Geechee Seafood Festival” and the Gullah/Geechee SEA & ME activities.  These are the types of projects that the Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition has always been focused on and continues to consistently engage in.

Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition membership is open to people from around the world that want to support keeping Gullah/Geechee culture alive.  Supporters are not necessarily dues paying members, but they are those that contribute to the wish list that the organization has annually or that make contributions to the organizational efforts.  To become a part of the Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition email GullGeeCo@aol.com and request a membership form.  To contribute send snail mail to: