Gullah/Geechee Fighting Against Golf, Gates and Genocide

Gullah/Geechee Nation ♦ September 18, 2024 ♦ 1 Comment

by Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation (www.QueenQuet.com)

In the 1990s, a rapid wave of displacement struck the Lowcountry. No, it wasn’t a hurricane nor a tropical storm. It was what I deemed to be “destructionment.”

There was a plethora of planned unit “developments” (PUDs) that started to be platted and permitted along the Carolina and Georgia coast. As snowbirds started to see ways to capitalize on periodically perching in a semi-tropical paradise called “The Sea Islands,” others wanted to retire away from snow bound cold places so they resorted to flocking to these places that gated out the natives unless they were there to cater to the residents and tourists. This influx caused the displacement of thousands of native Gullah/Geechees from the Sea Islands due to them being taxed out in many cases. As the Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition stepped forth to stand up for the rights of native Gullah/Geechees worldwide, we quickly found out that not everyone left due to taxes. Some left due to terror after people in their families or that they knew from their communities were murdered for their land. There were even stories about a Black attorney that was murdered once he started helping the Gullah/Geechees protect their land. I had this in mind when I was quoted by Al Jazeera in September 2015 stating:

“The word genocide is one that a lot of people can’t handle me using,” Goodwine says. “Because so many people in the world don’t realise that those were Gullah/Geechee people that were massacred. Those were Gullah/Geechee people whose rights were being violated.”

It is a complicated issue, as Goodwine explains, and one that plays into a long-term struggle for the Gullah/Geechee Nation. Their homeland is being threatened by gentrification. Their lifestyle is eroding. And all the while, very few people are aware that they are anything other than ‘black’.

“That’s a color. That’s not a culture,” Goodwine says. “That’s a way to make sure people think we’re legend, and that we’re something of the past, that you only find Gullah/Geechee in a history book.”

There are many people that never thought that new pages of history books would need to be written in which there was the unity of native Gullah/Geechees who da binya wit dem wha da cumya. However, since 2021, these two communities that represent an array of cultures came together not unlike numerous strips of cloth that get sewn together to create beautiful handmade Gullah/Geechee quilts. Every strip has its own unique texture and pattern but when they are all stitched together, they become one warm piece that provides comfort for all that are covered by it.

The Cultural Protection Overlay (CPO) District for historic St. Helena Island, South Carolina which is the epicenter of Gullah/Geechee history, heritage and culture is that covering that this tapestry of cultural groups find comfort and peace in. As Elayne Scott stated after this week’s CPO meeting, “Queen Quet, we can show the world how all of us can live together!” To that I said, “AMEN!”

In 1999, when my Gullah/Geechee elders and I celebrated getting the Beaufort County Planning Commission and the Beaufort County Council to support having a zoning law that protected Gullah/Geechee culture from the threats of gated areas, golf courses and resorts, we were proud to have set a precedent for native Gullah/Geechee cultural continuation and land retention. I traveled to Charleston County and meetings along the Georgia coast spreading the word about this zoning category and sought the support of others in placing these overlays over communities such as Edisto, Johns, Wadamalaw and Sapelo Islands. However, the county councils in these locations did minor protections for family compounds and ignored specific language to protect Gullah/Geechees. As a result, we now see the Hamlin Beach Community fighting to get a “historic district” designation due to a moratorium for building in such places in Charleston County, SC and we see folks fighting for Sapelo Island to have a county decision overturned that started to allow McMansions and golf courses to be built there. The remaining Gullah/Geechee landowners on Hilton Head have historic neighborhood signage showing where many of them used to live while they fight to prevent another widening of Highway 278 from further disenfranchising and displacing them.

Each time that I get another email or go to a community and I am told about the destructionment approaching them, I am asked how we have held on to historic St. Helena and what are the steps for each of these places to keep the remaining Gullah/Geechee culture intact. Each time I listen to these conversations, I recall the many late nights driving back to St. Helena after hosting meetings to get people to see the vision that we had. “Where there is no vision, the people perish.”

As I pause and pray and write letters and attend numerous town and county meetings to support the native Gullah/Geechees in protecting their land ownership, it is not lost on me that this is a simultaneous attack on our land and water rights that is taking place. I then immediately think back to one word-“genocide.” “Genocide” is defined as “acts committed with intent to partially or wholly destroy a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group.” Each time in the history of Black people, there have been other Black people brought in to assist in the commission of these acts and that was not different in the attempts that have been made against the upholding of the Cultural Protection Overlay (CPO) District zoning. Aaah, but as my mama taught me, “Tenk GAWD! GAWD ain dead!”

GOD had it that in spite of people being stressed out and concerned about the future of the world in 2020, there were thousands of folks that continued to participate in the process of the creation of the 2040 Comprehensive Plan for Beaufort County. In November 2021, Beaufort County adopted the Envision Beaufort County 2040 Comprehensive Plan. The plan identifies threats to the Gullah/Geechee community and the rural way of life on St. Helena including rapid coastal “development,” and high-end “developments” on the water that block access to traditional fishing and hunting grounds and increase property taxes. The plan makes clear the dangers of incompatible development on historic St. Helena. The document points out that “The primary threat to the long-term viability of Beaufort County’s Gullah/Geechee communities is land development.” Therefore, the Beaufort County Planning Commission and the Beaufort County Council made sure to seat a new Cultural Protection Overlay District Committee to focus on strengthening the CPO. Just as the committee started its work, a proposal came about to place a gated area, golf course, multiple houses and docks on an area called “St. Helenaville” and “Pine Island” which are areas that are on the National Register of Historic Places and that are within the Cultural Protection Overlay District.

Gullah/Geechee natives of St. Helena Island, people of all cultures that now live on or adjacent to St. Helena Island, the board of trustees for Penn Center, Inc. and the Coastal Conservation League stood up with the Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition to continue to protect, uphold and strengthen the CPO and to prevent destructionment from coming to historic St. Helena Island, SC. Meeting after meeting after meeting for almost three years, we held together just like a well made Gullah/Geechee quilt does. We showed up and stood up together united in protecting this unique rural place so that Gullah/Geechee culture can continue to thrive in it. We’ve rallied together. We’ve protested together. We’ve prayed together. On Monday, September 16, 2024, the Beaufort County Council emerged from yet another executive session regarding this matter and voted once again to uphold and defend the CPO and we applauded and gave thanks to GOD together!

Before I went to Beaufort on September 16th, I already was content that GOD is for us. I saw Gullah/Geechees and our allies standing together and praying. So, it came as no surprise to me when my cousin walked up to me as everyone was fellowshipping together over pizza outside of the county chambers and said, “We need a prayer.” I said, “I saw that since this morning. I’m going to let y’all finish your pizza first.” Just like the pizzas, we gathered everyone together in a circle and I prayed:

As I prayed, I could feel the ancestors standing with us shaking their heads “yes” as they looked on as we continued to stand for our land ownership wherein lies their blood, sweat and tears. I could feel the confirmation of our victory because we are standing up for all those that continue to live our Gullah/Geechee cultural heritage traditions. I knew that as we stood outside the building, GOD was standing there and simultaneously standing in the room with our attorneys and the Beaufort County Council members to show them that they path that they have been on walking with native Gullah/Geechees to keep the epicenter of our culture not only alive but thriving was the path that righteous people would remain on. So, it came as no surprise that when we all reconvened inside the Beaufort County Council Chambers, they emerged and voted 8-3 to continue to deny the building of a gated area and golf course in the CPO.

This on-going battle to protect historic St. Helena Island, South Carolina from succumbing to the fate of numerous Black communities in which the people are displaced for the purpose of others’ recreation and plots and plans of genocidal gentrification should stand as an example of what came be done when people not only respect the law but when they respect the cultural heritage communities that they come into.

De Gullah/Geechee wha dey frum St. Helena da binya and we ain gwine nowhey! Tenk GAWD WEBE Gullah/Geechee Anointed People! GAWD bless up de cumya wha da stand wit de binya fa hol pun we land and legacy!