Fighting for the Gullah/Geechee Environment Globally
Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation (www.QueenQuet.com) initiated the“Save the Sea Islands” annual tour over two decades ago. In that period of time, she has taken the Gullah/Geechee story to national and international platforms including numerous United Nations events, UNESCO, and most recently to the Global Climate Action Summit. During the latter, she received a standing ovation for delivering this riveting presentation about climate action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7ZLI8kpD_I&t=52s
Queen Quet delivered the keynote address for the “Rise for Jobs, Climate, and Justice Rally” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vD-LHMp5k0s&t=3s) in Columbia, SC before she departed to be with world leaders at the Global Climate Action Summit. She returned with the intention of bringing the global message of how to work to protect the Carolina environment against climate change back to that city as well. However, the Carolinas Resilience Conference at which she is schedule to lead a session had to be postponed due to Hurricane Florence. Queen Quet then used that time to lead her organization, the Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition in coordinating storm recovery and emergency management efforts for the Gullah/Geechee Nation. Her knowledge of environmental issues and links with national and global partners including the Black Emergency Management Association immediately led to a people coming together to gather resources for and to get assistance to coastal areas in a more equitable fashion than is normally the case in times of crisis. She will be leading additional emergency preparedness trainings throughout the Gullah/Geechee Nation as part of the recovery efforts for those effected by the hurricane and subsequent flooding and for the rest of the Nation due to the fact that the hurricane season has not ended. Thousands of people are supporting this initiative via https://www.gofundme.com/GullahGeecheeStorm and https://secure.actblue.com/donate/schurricanerelief .
Queen Quet is well aware that storms are only compounding the erosion of the Sea Islands and the coast which is happening due to sea level rise and other impacts of climate change. How to mitigate and reverse this harm is some of the information that she is presenting in her lectures and workshops during the “Save the Sea Islands World Tour.” The work of the tour is part of the commitment that has been made by the Gullah/Geechee Nation to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Queen Quet will deliver a keynote address at the University of Florida’s Chemistry Lab C130 in Gainsville at 7:30 pm on Tuesday, September 25, 2018which is free and open to the public. This histo-musical presentation and interactive dialogue will address how to maintain and sustain cultural heritage in the midst of environmental issues, injustice, and attempted displacement. The Gullah/Geechee have been faced with all of these issues repeatedly and have managed to continue their existence on the Sea Islands from Jacksonville, NC to Jacksonville, FL. The audience will be able to not only hear of their success story, but will learn how to respectfully engage with the community and support their efforts to protect their homeland.
After the engagement in Florida, Queen Quet will host an event on historic St. Helena Island, SC to enlighten the Gullah/Geechee community about the toxins caused by environmental dangers including oil drilling (https://www.eventbrite.com/e/toxic-chemicals-and-oil-exploration-in-the-gullahgeechee-nation-discussion-tickets-49396723931?aff=ebapi). She will then depart once again for the United Nations. Those that want to support her UN journey which will include three more events during 2018 can contribute to that aspect of the “Gullah/Geechee Save the Sea Islands Tour” via this GoFundMe campaign: https://www.gofundme.com/gullahgeechee-queen-quet-goes-toun
Queen Quet says, “Hunnuh mus tek cyare de root fa heal de tree. Ef hunnuh wan git de tools fa disya, cum fa yeddi de Gullah/Geechee.” Come out and hear the Gullah/Geechee wisdom that she will share.
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- Tagged: climate change, environment, environmental justice, environmentalism, Geechee, Gullah, gullah geechee nation, Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition, land rights, Queen Quet, Save the Sea Islands