The Gullah-Geechee People: Restoring Historical Memory

The Gullah-Geechee people are the descendants of enslaved West and Central Africans brought in the seventeenth and eighteenth-century to the United States to work on the rice plantations of the Low Country regions on the Southern Atlantic coastline. The term “Gullah” comes from the Central African connection to Angola and comes to represent people of all African descent particularly from South Carolina. In contrast, the term “Geechee” is derived from the Ogeechee River where the first Georgia plantations were formed. Eventually, these terms are fused by Queen Quet, the first elected chieftess and Head of State for the Gullah-Geechee nation, to speak of a unified identity among these communities as they seek to preserve their land and memory in the face of modern developers and coastal shoreline erosion. Ultimately, the Gullah-Geechee communities have a strong sense of identity, a preserved African heritage, and are rooted to the Atlantic coastlines. This episode features three guests:  Dr. Ras Michael Brown who is an Associate Professor in the History department at Georgia State University, Dr. Tiffany Player who is Assistant Professor of History at Georgia State University and their student Ms. Natasha Washington. Dr. Brown and Dr. Player have created on-the-ground learning opportunities for students to visit historical landmarks in South Carolina . They  have joined in collaboration with Gullah-Geechee partners in the effort of preserving memory and Gullah-Geechee historical landmarks. 

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