HEADS UP! Help Protect Gullah/Geechee Epicenter St. Helena Island ONCE AGAIN!

Gullah/Geechee Nation ♦ December 5, 2025 ♦ Leave a comment

Peace All!

I pray that you are enjoying the Holy Days season.  We all were too until we received notification that the one Beaufort County Councilman-Logan Cunningham-who is now running for Nancy Mace’s seat in Washington, DC decided to bring a vote that was already 10-1 (of course he was the 1) back before Beaufort County Council AGAIN!  He is attempting to convince the rest of the members of Beaufort County Council to reverse their votes to continue to uphold every aspect of the St. Helena Island Cultural Protection Overlay District and to deny any text and/or map changes.  

Pine Island and St. Helenaville are on the National Register of Historic Places and have always been rural farmland and hunting areas of St. Helena.  Now. someone has already started the process to build several homes there instead of leaving it open space and salt marsh with only a few historic cottages.  They have a fence up to block folks from going across the causeway the way that St. Helena folks have done for generations and they want to make that a gated area with a golf course.  The Cultural Protection Overlay District does NOT permit gated areas, resorts or golf courses within the CPO.  The CPO was designed to protect the epicenter of Gullah/Geechee culture.  So, we are thankful that the majority of the Beaufort County Council stood firm and united on  this matter two months ago when Beaufort County residents and people that love native Gullah/Geechee culture came out and sat through a marathon Beaufort County Council meeting. (I left St. Helena at 2 pm that day to get to Burton Wells and I left Burton Wells at 2 am after the voting was concluded.)  This was the longest county council meeting with the most attendees in history!  The second most attended was when we fought to protect Bay Point in the midst of the COVID pandemic.  (We were there from 5 pm until 10 pm in that case.). It is obvious that people love St. Helena Island’s CPO as it is and the law needs to remain as it is!

Please use the link below to send a CitizenGram to Beaufort County Council members to let them know that you appreciate what they did in September and over the past few years:

https://www.beaufortcountysc.gov/council/council-members/index.html?blm_aid=31405

Tell them that you want them to vote to continue to uphold the CPO in its entirety on Monday.  

If you can come and speak in person, please meet us EARLY at the meeting at the newly renovated Beaufort County Council Chambers 100 Ribaut Road in Beaufort, SC.  (You probably have it memorized since we have been fighting this battle for three years and will go into another year with people attempting to destroy Gullah/Geechee cultural heritage.  SMH!)  The meeting begins at 6 pm but space will be limited.  Hunnuh kno we da binya doe!  We ain gwine nowhey!

I look forward to seeing you on Monday before 6 pm in Beaufort County.

Peace,

Queen Quet

Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation

Founder, Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition