Tag Archives: climate science
Water is Life: Climate Change and Cultural Strife
Prince Goodlove provided an overview of the fighting and civil strife that was taking place in his country and how this has replaced the harmony in Nigeria because the water is gone in several places. The people of the north that no longer have water are now going south and doing hostile takeovers of lands where the water is still flowing. When he used these geographic terminologies, I again could only nod and agree because the Gullah/Geechee Nation’s onslaught that has led to people attempting to occupy the waterfronts and that has contributed to many of the extreme negative impacts on the water quality of our area has come via those from the north coming south as well. As Prince Goodlove said, “Those from the north now come south to take the land that the people of the south need to sustain themselves.” I could barely remain calm.
Gullah/Geechee Action Call from COP22: Wha Hunnuh Gwine Do?
Living literally on the shores of the frontline of climate change impacts makes the immediately implementation of CULTURE IN ACTION absolutely necessary because as my mama always taught me “Time and tide wait for no man or woman!” The changes are already flowing. So, now it is a choice in which way we will be going. Disya a Gullah/Geechee Call ta Action frum COP22! Wha hunnuh chillun gwine do? The quality of life in the world is truly up to you!
Gwine ta de Motherland fa tek a Stand! Gullah/Geechee @COP22
“The land is our family and the waterways are our bloodline.”
• Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation (www.QueenQuet.com)
“Hunnuh mus tek cyare de tree.”
• Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation (www.QueenQuet.com)
I have heard these words come from my mouth thousands of times over the years because they are rooted in my heart. They are rooted as deeply as Gullah/Geechee culture is into the soil and the souls of the Sea Islands. These islands are from whence the blood comes that runs through my veins like the waters that flow to and from our shores each day perfectly syncopated in polyrhythmic rhythm to the motions of Gullah/Geechees as we move about and walk the sacred ground that holds the blood, sweat, and tears of our ancestors-our family.
Living Through Matthew in the #GullahGeechee Nation
As the coverage of #HurricaneMatthew continued and we prayed unceasingly for the islands of our kins people-Haiti, the Bahamas, and Cuba, we also prayed for all in this pathway of what was going to take every thing from the pages and the Powerpoint presentations of scientific reports and predictions about sea level rise and storm surge and place it on the center stage of real life after having rehearsed as theories. I wondered if the people that I worked with in so many meetings to discuss resilience and adaptation would now be paying attention to the cultural heritage aspects of all of this. I also wondered if equity entered their minds. SMH I continued praying while staying.
Support Queen Quet of @GullahGeechee Going to UN’s COP22
Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation (www.QueenQuet.com) tirelessly works to help keep the Gullah/Geechee culture alive and to protect the environment. Her native culture is inextricably tied to the land and the waterways of the Sea Islands and the Atlantic Ocean. Due to major climate change dynamics, there are numerous threats to the Gullah/Geechee Nation’s coast and thereby to the continuation of the cultural traditions of Gullah/Geechees. Please support her journey to the UN’s COP22.
Rest or Run? Discussing Rising Seas and Relocation with the Gullah/Geechee Nation
The word “retreat” immediately invokes images of relaxation for me and many in the Gullah/Geechee Nation since people come by the tens of thousands to our homeland for just that. The fact that they have has led to the displacement of our people for those that want this to be their final place of retreat and relaxation for numerous reason. However, in this discussion that I was now being engaged, this word meant the other meaning that is not a part of my standard vocabulary-to run!
Gullah/Geechee Land, Legacy, Access, and Sustainability
As I engage in the work on behalf of my people, one of the consistent questions over the years has been one regarding access issues in the Gullah/Geechee Nation and in the more recent years, the questions have also been about sustainability of the Gullah/Geechee Nation which brings us full circle to “saving the Sea Islands.” The environmental encroachment due to overbuilding that has been brought into the Gullah/Geechee Nation (and is not an outgrowth of native vision nor design) is now met with the rising seas and a myriad of climate science issues that continue to negatively impact the waterways and shoreline which lead to negative impacts on the quality of life for Gullah/Geechees. It also affects the continuation of our cultural traditions and the protection of cultural heritage assets. In the face of it all, we are “resilient.”
Gullah/Geechee Surviving and Thriving as the Sea Rises
It took the waters coming down over and over again as the seas rose day after day for people to begin to pay attention to what we spoke of generations ago about not building in certain areas and not building out into our waterways…no one was prepared for the supermoon to be coupled with all of this when the rain started falling and falling and falling in South Carolina and graves started to wash out and the sands started to move and as the sands moved, the roads collapsed and as more sands moved the houses fell and the streets flooded and what they had built came down.