Monthly Archives: June, 2018
From Penn School to Penitentiary-The Attempted Imprisoning of a Gullah/Geechee Community
Ironically and Divinely, many of us that were students of St. Helena School who also grew up working at, going to programs and meetings, and fighting for Penn did not fall into the school to prison pipeline that has been the outgrowth of the lowering of the Gullah/Geechee students’ self-esteem and the lack of income that is directed toward the educational institutions on St. Helena. In fact, we are revolted by the site of penitentiaries! So, when an Anglo woman asked me last week, “Why is a fence going around Penn Center for it to look like a jail over there?,” I felt as if someone had punched me in the stomach. I visualized what she said and then I actually drove by the historic site yesterday and saw how it was now being caged in. I also knew that I was glad to be free and would remain so because I was not going to let anyone imprison me nor my mind because theirs may be!
Penn Center Drives a Stake Through the Heart of the Gullah/Geechee Community
The Gullah/Geechee community and residents of St. Helena Island repeatedly stated that they did NOT want Penn Center gated off from the community and wanted it to remain an open and welcoming public historic area.
Anyone that has learned the history of the displacement of Gullah/Geechee communities are well aware of the fact that gated areas are the primary mechanism used against the community. The gates promote exclusion no matter what reasoning may be provided about them. The native Gullah/Geechee family of St. Helena Island, SC in the Gullah/Geechee Nation has made it clear that fences and gates are in opposition to their culture and their lifestyle. Yet, an institution that their ancestors built is now becoming a gated area.
“Protect: Coastlines, Guns and Women in the Low Country” Focuses on the Gullah/Geechee
“Protect: Coastlines, Guns and Women in the Low Country” is a pilot episode of a series which highlights stories in local communities around issues of sustainability. These features are produced using film, photography and editorials to examine the challenges around meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the U.S. The SDGs are a universal call to action to end poverty, to protect the planet and to ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity. The Gullah/Geechee Nation is engaged with other nations of the world in insuring that the SDGs are accomplished.
Two Lane Films decided to interview Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation (www.QueenQuet.com) and several of the citizens of Savannah, GA and other areas of coastal Georgia regarding their views on a number of topics related to their land and culture.
De Queen & De Chillun: Gullah/Geechee Education for the Youth
Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation (www.QueenQuet.com) is continuing the Gullah/Geechee Save the Sea Islands Tour with a number of youth presentations in South Carolina. On Juneteenth, she will present at the Metatonia Freedom School in North Charleston as part of their summer reading program series. She will continue the journey by making her annual appearance at the Colleton County Memorial Library on Wednesday, June 20th at 10 am. On Saturday, July 14th, Duke Energy is sponsoring her histo-musical presentations in Greenwood County, SC. These presentations will take place from 10 to 11:30 at Weston Chapel with the afternoon session from 1:30 to 3 at Our Lady of Lourdes as part of the “Let’s Talk About Race” series.
A Place Fa We: Black Townships on the Gullah/Geechee Coast
Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation (www.QueenQuet.com) is releasing a thirty volume series on Gullah/Geechee history, heritage, and culture entitled “Gullah/Geechee: Africa’s Seeds in the Winds of the Diaspora.” Volume VI is entitled “A Place Fa We: Black Townships on the Gullah/Geechee Coast.” This volume provides a brief, but comprehensive history of the incorporated townships that dot the coast of the Gullah/Geechee Nation and celebrates the visionaries that founded these areas while also examining the causes for the loss of some of them.
Mek sho hunnuh git hunnuh copee frum http://www.GullahGeechee.biz.