Category Archives: Gullah/Geechee Crafts
Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Conferences 2018
These conferences are wonderful opportunities to engage in interactive activities and dialogues with people that live the Gullah/Geechee culture and learn first hand how they continue to keep their cultural heritage alive. You can also learn how you can be an active part of assisting in that process. The Gullah/Geechees encourage hunnuh fa jayn we fa yeddi who webe frum we!
Gullah/Geechee Nation Appreciation Week to be Celebrated Throughout the Coast
“Gullah/Geechee Nation Appreciation Week” began in 2012 in the City of Charleston, SC. Since then, the celebration has grown to encompass the counties and townships of the Gullah/Geechee Nation in the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. This year, the theme of the celebration is “Fa We Ancestas.” The Gullah/Geechee Nation is proud that this week is part of the global activities for the “United Nations International Decade of People of African Descent.”
Celebrate the Gullah/Geechee Living Legacy on Historic St. Helena Island, SC at the Gullah/Geechee Nation International Music & Movement Festival
“Fa We Ancestas” is the theme of the 2017 “Gullah/Geechee Nation International Music & Movement Festival™.” This festival began on historic St. Helena Island, SC in the Gullah/Geechee Nation in 2005 and has since traveled to numerous cities of the Gullah/Geechee Nation as well as to the Bahamas. This year’s return to St. Helena Island will be a celebration of the rich living culture of the island and Beaufort County.
The three day celebration August 4-6, 2017 will educate the supporters through a series of cultural heritage activities.
Queen Quet & De Gullah/Geechee Nation Standing Strong fa We Ancestas
Queen Quet has been the elected head-of-state and Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation (www.QueenQuet.com) for 17 years as of July 2, 2017. She has been standing up for the rights of Gullah/Geechee people for over three decades. Whenever asked about this, she will let you know that she stands due to her faith and the strength of her ancestors. Thus, she has effectively led a number of endeavors that have led to global recognition of Gullah/Geechee cultural heritage. The annual event that she co-founded to celebrate this rich heritage while also supporting the businesses and institutions of the Gullah/Geechee Nation is the “Gullah/Geechee Nation International Music & Movement Festival™” which will be held on her home island-historic St. Helena Island, SC in the Gullah/Geechee Nation August 4-6, 2017.
Beyond Tourism Week in the Gullah/Geechee Nation
The U.S. travel and tourism industry generates approximately $2.1 trillion per year. So, it is no surprise that there is actually a “Tourism Week” celebrated. In South Carolina, Gullah/Geechee culture is often highlighted at the I-95 North Visitors Center in Hardeeville, SC. However, in most cases, Gullah/Geechee culture is not highlighted, it is hijacked!
The massive amount of tourists that come to the Gullah/Geechee Nation annually believe that by driving through and taking photos and then staying in a hotel or camp ground over night, they have supported the Gullah/Geechee people. They even end up often duped into spending funds at “historic sites” and plantations that have Gullah/Geechee listed on their websites and shots of sweetgrass baskets on their brochures to only find out that there are no Gullah/Geechee people that own that site. There may be one Gullah/Geechee person or a few that work there, but beyond their salaries, there is no economic support going to the citizens of the Gullah/Geechee Nation.
Celebrate Gullah/Geechee Sustainability and Self-Sufficiency on St. Helena Island
Celebrate Gullah/Geechee Sustainability and Self-Sufficiency at the St. Helena Island Community Market’s
Tunis Campbell Day
Gullah/Geechee Visitors Center Grand Opening!
Saturday, April 8, 2017 at 1 pm
Come celebrate the dedication of the new Gullah/Geechee Visitors Center 1908 Boundary Street at the intersection of Highway 21 and Ribaut Road in Beaufort, SC! Enjoy an afternoon of Gullah/Geechee sounds, scenes, and cuisine as we welcome folks to our coast!
E gwine be a time!
Gullah/Geechees Honor Emanuel 9
“Black History Month 2017” opened with events honoring the Emanuel 9 in Charleston, SC in the Gullah/Geechee Nation.
Celebrate the Holy Days in Gullah/Geechee Ways!
Cum fa jayn de @GullahGeechee famlee een sum fun and ting fa de Holy Days een Chastun and pun St. Helena Islandt!
Continuing Gullah/Geechee African Reconnections
As we traversed the roads through the valleys and then up into the mountains, I gave thanks for the strength of the women here that I saw hauling items on their backs on the dirt roads and herding the animals. They reminded me of my mother and the elder mothers of my island and all the hard labor that they had gone through while hauling babies on their backs and baskets on their heads as some of these women were also still doing. I thought about the many early mornings that I awoke and traveled fo dayclean ta de field. I could feel myself balancing my neck as I saw other women with the baskets on their heads the way I carried mine in the fields and how I still carry them on stages now around the world and bring out our continuing African traditions from them for groups of people that still want to learn how we thrived and survived.
