- Descendants of Africans enslaved on Sea Island plantations preserved West African rice-growing knowledge and cultural practices.
- The Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Act (2006) created the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor to protect sites, artifacts, and history.
- Gullah creole emerged as a contact language among diverse speakers; uniquely African creole in the U.S., it influenced Southern speech.
- Traditional arts and crafts like fishing nets and woven baskets, plus musical traditions, shaped gospel, jazz, rhythm and blues, soul, and hip hop.
- Jim Brown organized the Cleveland Summit supporting Muhammad Ali; notable members include Michelle Obama, Michael Jordan, Darius Rucker, and Denmark Vesey.
A Brief History of the Gullah Geechee People
The Gullah Geechee people have a rich heritage and history on the Southeastern coasts of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. The name Gullah Geechee derives from the community’s African-rooted, creole language often called Gullah or Gullah Geechee, which combines English, French, Portuguese and West African languages. Gullah is also the name used to refer to islanders who are located in North Carolina and South Carolina, while Geechee refers to those living on the coasts of Georgia and Florida.
The Gullah Geechee people descend from Africans who were enslaved on the Sea Island Cotton, indigo and rice plantations, located on the lower Atlantic coast. Many Africans enslaved on these coastal plantations came from West Africa’s rice-growing region, and they created a culture unique to the Gullah Geechee people, deeply rooted in African traditions.
On Oct. 12, 2006, the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Act was enacted into law by the U.S. Congress as part of the National Heritage Areas Act of 2006. The Act recognizes the important cultural contributions made by the Gullah Geechee community and aids state and local governments, and public and private institutions, in understanding and preserving the history and culture of the Gullah Geechee people. It also assists in distinguishing and preserving sites, historical data, artifacts, and objects connected to the Gullah Geechee community. It also established the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor.
Gullah Geechee Culture
The creole language of Gullah emerged as a simplified way of communication between people who spoke various languages, including European colonial slave traders, slave owners and numerous African ethnic groups. Gullah is the only language in the United States that is distinctly an African creole language, and it has had a tremendous influence on Southern vocabulary and speech patterns. A Gullah word that is commonly known among people even outside of the Gullah Geechee community is “kumbaya,” which means “come by here.”
Arts and crafts are a large part of Gullah Geechee culture. The ancestors of the Gullah Geechee community created technology such as nets for fishing, woven baskets for agricultural work and textiles for clothing and warmth as a necessity to survive. This technology remains a large part of the culture today.
Shaped by both African tradition and the experiences of enslaved Africans, music is another large part of Gullah Geechee culture. Genres such as gospel, ragtime, rhythm and blues, soul, hip hop, and jazz all emerged from the Gullah Geechee community.
Prominent Members of the Community
The late Jim Brown was from St. Simon’s Island, GA. Brown was a civil rights activist, actor, and football player. He played for the Cleveland Browns, and in 1964, he led his team to victory in the NFL Championship. He was also nominated for five awards as an actor and won the NAACP Image Award in 1970. Brown leveraged his fame to advocate for civil rights, and even organized what the National Museum of African American History and Culture claims was “One of the most important meetings of athletes during the tumultuous 1960s.”
After Muhammad Ali was jailed for refusing to be drafted to serve in the military during the Vietnam War, Brown organized what was later known as “the Cleveland Summit,” a meeting attended by prominent athletes such as Bill Russell, Muhammad Ali and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. These athletes presented as a unified front in support of Ali’s refusal to be drafted. Along with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s speech against the Vietnam War, the Cleveland Summit symbolized the African American community’s resistance to the war in Vietnam.
Other notable members of the Gullah Geechee community include former first lady of the United States Michelle Obama, basketball player Michael Jordan, three-time Grammy-winning musician Darius Rucker, and historical figure Denmark Vesey, who, along with other members of the African church, planned a slave revolt.
Preservation of Gullah Geechee Culture Around Savannah
Armstrong students can learn more about the Gullah Geechee community at The Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Center, located at the Armstrong Center. African American and Gullah Geechee culture can also be observed at Pin Point Heritage Museum, the Beach Institute African American Cultural Center and the Savannah African Art Museum.
