The Remarkable, Tenacious, Overlooked Gullah Geechee

Facilitator: Dale Mary Grenfell

Contact information:970-484-1945, grenfell@myctl.net

Class length: 2 hours,

Class time: Mondays,1:30-3:30 pm

Class duration: 4 weeks, starts late: Sept 14—Oct 5

Place:1st class 9/14 in Prairie Sage, remaining in Foxtail 2.

Required texts: No required texts or presentations.

Suggested reading/video list provided

Thousands of human beings known as the Gullah Geechee were taken by force from West and Central Africa (shamefully, hundreds by my own ancestors) and enslaved for over 200 years on island plantations along the southeast coastal islands of South Carolina, Georgia and the northern tip of Florida. Their amazing narrative has been overlooked in our understanding of Black history in the U.S. and yet the contributions they made to the building of this country are enormous.

The ring shout…..flying Africans…...blue bottle trees. Maybe not familia? But….the banjo? Kumbaya? Gumbo? Brer Rabbit? Watermelon? Mojo? All Gullah Geechee and just a sampling of what they have given us. In addition, the values placed on family, community, individual human dignity and stewardship of the earth teach us about critical cornerstones of a sustainable democracy.

Since Emancipation, more than any other African American community, these warm and

tenacious cultural warriors have fought relentlessly to keep their rich heritage alive and the land they acquired when freed…..to push back against cultural genocide. Very few direct-descendant residents remain on the islands and their rich legacy is under threat of extinction from greedy developers, oppressive taxation, and rising tides.

“The ghosts are dying”……spoken in grief by Gullah Geechee elders.