Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition Moves Like the Tide Bringing Positive Change to the Gullah/Geechee Nation!

Tenk GAWD fa disya!!!Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation (www.QueenQuet.com) is also the founder of the Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition. Under her leadership, the Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition

has grown from a national grassroots group to an international member and supporter organization. The Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition has developed the ONLY archive in the world totally

dedicated to Gullah/Geechee history, heritage, and culture. They have also sponsored and support the Gullah/Geechee Sustainability Think Tank and a transformational learning and community service effort that is having substantial positive impacts on the Sea Islands and the entire Gullah/Geechee Natiion.

This edition takes you into some of the work that has been done over a six month period. !Hunnuh kin jayn we een wha gwine on!!!

www.gullahgeechee.net

Gullah/Geechee Angel Network p. 6

WEBE Gullah/Geechee Anointed People!

Queen’s Message p. 2 Gullah/Geechee Land Fund

page 10-15

De ConchGullah/GeecheeGwine on 2015 Edition

Queen Quet’s Chronicles

Tenki Tenki ta all hunnuh chillun wha da support wi ya! It has been a blessed journey over the past several months as we entered Phase Two of the Gullah/Geechee Alkebulan Archive upgrades here and started preparing for the 20th anniversary of the Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition. Many of you can recall how our 4 page newsletter began which has now become this international ezine-De Conch! We greatly appreciate your continued support!

We decided to create a brief photographic essay that ties to many of the images that our social media supporters have seen over the last six months and some of the links to www.gullahgeecheenation.com entries and Gullah/Geechee Riddim Radio (www.blogtalkradio.com/gullahgeechee) and Gullah/Geechee TV (www.gullahgeechee.tv) episodes. These mechanisms now allow us to chronicle our progress in the Gullah/Geechee Nation daily and weekly while De Conch serves our supporters quarterly. We will be returning to the monthly format with the April edition of the ezine now that we have undergone some additional digital improvements during “Gullah/Geechee Volunteer Month” which was a tremendous success!

The Gullah/Geechee Land & Legacy World Tour will be a feature in the next edition along with the work of the Gullah/Geechee Sustainability Think Tank. We also will be launching an April fundraising drive to raise $7000 for the Gullah/Geechee Alkebulan Archive so that we can complete the digitizing of our collections so that we can protect this major cultural heritage asset from climate change issues, potential hurricanes and regular deterioration that happens to tapes and papers over time.

We have also been able to partner with the Pan African Family Empowerment & Land Preservation Network, Inc. to form the Gullah/Geechee Land Fund to which we pray all of our supporters will contribute. We continue to live out our motto: “Hunnuh mus tek cyare de root fa heal de tree!” Gladdee GAWD blessing de root. Tun de page een ya and hunnuh gwine see!

!The Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition is the premiere organization on the protection and continuation of the Gullah/Geechee history, heritage, and culture. The Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition:

• advocates for the protection of the human and land rights of Gullah/Geechee

• promotes and participates in the continuation of Gullah/Geechee history, heritage, culture, and language.

• works toward Sea Island land re-acquisition and maintenance. !• celebrates Gullah/Geechee culture through artistic and educational means electronically

and via "grassroots scholarship." !The Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition has successfully carried out this mission since 1996. During which time, they developed the ONLY archive in the world which is TOTALLY dedicated to Gullah/Geechee history, heritage, and culture. The Gullah/Geechee Alekbulan Archive is being upgraded in order to continue to provide access to artifacts, images, documents, books, films, and recordings to future generations of Gullah/Geechees and global researchers. The Coalition host hundreds of students and professional writers each year and it also supports native Gullah/Geechee speakers and presenters traveling to other parts of the world to make sure that accurate presentations on our culture are done in a varied array of venues. !We are calling on all supporters of the Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition to become dues paying members and to contribute to the “Gullah/Geechee Gold Souls Campaign.” The funds will assist with the completion of the Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition Center and our land fund. Please use the form at the end of this ezine or go to http://fnd.us/c/07Wl6 in order to financially contribute to the fundraising efforts that are currently under way which will finalize the second phase of the work plan. !The “wish list:” !• DVC tape to digital converter system • 20 Mac Compatible 2T-4T External Drives • Acid free archival boxes of all sizes and types and poster holder • Apple server !For details on how you can host a fundraising event, contribute in any or in all of these ways, please email GullGeeCo@aol.com.

Disya bout geeing frum de soul fa mek sho de richness stay een wi black gold!

GULLAH/GEECHEE GOLD SOULS CAMPAIGN

De Gullah/Geechee Famlee Togedda

Hep Mo Angel fa Fly!

Support De Gullah/Geechee Angel Network!

!The mission of the official 501(c)3, non-profit of the Gullah/Geechee Nation,

the Gullah/Geechee Angel Network is

To preserve, protect and promote the cultural heritage of the Gullah/Geechee People who have lived in the southeastern portion of the United States of America from North Carolina to Jacksonville Florida 30 miles inland (known as the "Low Country") for over 300 years. To connect all people, not just in the 50 states, but internationally throughout the Diaspora, Europe, Caribbean and Africa.

Goals and Objectives are achieved by the implementation of the following seven (7) point program:

The Performing Arts: Musical plays, dramatizations, poetry, storytelling, enactments and workshops

Arts and Crafts: Workshops in the production and displaying of traditional Gullah/Geechee cultural items. Demonstrative workshops that encourage the development of functional skills and forms of expression to potentially showcase and stimulate direct participation in the growing ethnic tourism industry, festivals and cultural events.

Educational: The establishment of Cultural Learning Centers designed to foster motivation, achievement and cultural enrichment. Historical/Research excursions from the tip of North Carolina (Cape Fear) to the outlining areas of Jacksonville, Florida.

Scholarships and Awards: Lifetime Achievement Award programs and events recognizing those persons who have given selflessly of themselves, and have done considerable work for the benefits of their particular community as it relates to cultural preservation. Awarding Scholarships to youth who exhibit talent, and are oriented toward developing skills which foster Gullah/Geechee Culture.

The Internet and The Media: Networking with organizations, institutions and groups which focus on Gullah/Geechee Culture. Consistently present positive role models and activities to the low country in particular, and to in the Diaspora in general.

Production, Preservation and Documentation: Production and archiving of Gullah/Geechee video and audio recordings, books, symbols and banners. Radio, television and computer production programming.

Health and Nutrition Awareness: Forums and symposiums which explore lifestyles, food staples, food cultivation and preparation of Gullah/Geechee cuisine, as well as developing holistic programs to promote well be-ing.

Gret Camp Meetin Centa!

The Gullah/Geechee International Camp Meeting Center & Yenna House will host a number of activities and people from around the world and educate people on the living traditions of that exist throughout the Gullah/Geechee Nation. The next major fundraiser for the project will be the Gullah/Geechee Nation International Music & Movement Festival™ www.gullahgeechee.info.

For more details on fundraisers, tours, assisting with the project, or contributing, call

(843) 572-6788 or go to www.gullahgeecheeangelnetwork.com

1. Gullah/Geechee Nation Headquarters www.officialgullahgeechee.info or www.gullahgeecheenation.com

2. Gullah/Geechee Nation on Instagram http://instagram.com/gullahgeecheeor @GullahGeechee

3. Gullah/Geechee Angel Network www.gullahgeecheeangelnetwork.com

4. Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition www.gullahgeechee.net

5. Gullah/Geechee TV™ (GGTV) www.youtube.om/AMPTurnItUp

6. Gullah/Geechee Riddim Radio http://www.blogtalkradio.com/gullahgeechee

7. Gullah/Geechee Fishing Association www.gullahgeecheefishing.net

8. Gullah/Geechee Nation Facebook Fan Page https://www.facebook.com/pages/GullahGeechee-Nation/66574769035

9. Gullah/Geechee Folks on Twitter www.twitter.com/gullahgeechee or @GullahGeechee

10. Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee www.QueenQuet.com

11. Gullah/Geechee Nation International Music & Movement Festival™ www.gullahgeechee.info

12. Gullah/Geechee Doula Association http://www.gullahgeecheedoula.com/

13. Gullah/Geechee Nation on Pinterest http://www.pinterest.com/gullahgeechee/

Links to Gullah/Geechee Living Culture

!Save the dates! !

Cum fa jayn we een de Gullah/Geechee Nation! !www.gullahgeecheenation.com

By Theresa White

In case you're wondering who I am, please allow me to introduce myself: I'm Theresa White, a former journalist and congressional aide, and the Founder, President & CEO of The Pan-African Family Empowerment & Land Preservation Network, Inc. in Beaufort, SC. Although it may seem hard to believe--both of my paternal grandparents were born into slavery in what is now America's Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor. My Aunt Dossie used to say that they were "knee to a duck" when freedom came, even though my grandfather was 7-years-old.

A DEVASTATING LOSS

My grandparents worked very hard to build a secure future for their young family.

But about a decade after Reconstruction was dismantled, they were cheated out of their family-owned farm because--like almost all formerly enslaved Africans--they had been prevented, by law, from learning how to read and write.

The legal system was stacked against my grandfather because he didn't have the money to fight the unscrupulous white banker who had him to sign his X on a Bill of Sale--instead of a promissory note for the seed and equipment he needed to expand the family farm. That criminal act of deception broke my grandfather's heart. But it never broke his spirit, or shook his faith in God.

I heard the story about how my grandparents got cheated out their land as a child in the 1950s. And I never forgot the lessons it taught about the value of a good education, and passing down land to future generations.

GULLAH/GEECHEE LAND FUND Needs Your Support

!CONTINUING BATTLE FOR BLACK-OWNED LAND

Unfortunately, the greed that stripped unprotected new African-American citizens like my grandparents of their land over a century ago--and forced them to become share-croppers, still exists today. And Black-Americans have been, and are still being cheat-ed out of their land far more often than most Americans realize.

In 2006, the Associated Press published the findings of its 18-month investigation which revealed a pattern of African-Americans being cheated out of their land, or run off it through methods, including intimidation, trickery, forged deeds, violence, arson, and outright murder--in 107 documented land takings in 13 southern and border states. Crooked judges and law enforcement officials were involved in several of the cases uncovered by the AP.

As recently as 2012, the Gullah/Geechee people of Sapelo Island, GA had to fight off a McIntosh County tax reassessment that resulted in more than 500% tax increases for almost all of the Hog Hammock community's less than 50 families. Incredibly, Annie Watts, 73, saw the tax bill for her three-room, 1-acre Sapelo Island homestead rise from just $362 to $2,312, according to The New York Times.

FUNDS NEEDED TO HELP GULLAH/GEECHEE LANDOWNERS AVOID HOMELESSNESS & DISPLACEMENT

We need your help to prevent thousands of land-rich, but cash poor Gullah/Geechee families from having their highly-coveted land sold from under their feet at tax auctions. If they lose the land they own now--they face a very depressing future: Either they'll become homeless. Or they'll remain permanently displaced, because they'll never be able to earn enough money to replace the beautiful land that's been passed down to them by their ancestors.

RENTERS FACE DISPLACEMENT, TOO

Gullah/Geechee renters are also facing displacement, and the difficult search for new affordable housing in record numbers due to gentrification in cities including Savannah, GA , and Charleston, SC,

In Charleston, according to a Dec. 23, 2014 article in the Black-owned newspaper, The Charleston Chronicle, the city's Black population was plummeted from 70% to just 28% since 1980!

!

!THE PAN-AFRICAN FAMILY EMPOWERMENT NETWORK'S MISSION

One of the PAFEN's main goals is empowering people of African descent with the educational, organizational, and financial tools necessary to protect their ancestral homes, family-owned land, and farms from being lost through delinquent tax sales; gentrification; new developments and resorts; and skyrocketing property taxes.

We also aim to ensure that African peoples understand that land and home ownership are key to building wealth to pass from one generation to the next, as well as important stepping stones to breaking the cycle of generational poverty.

I founded the PAFEN on Aug. 28, 2013 to commemorate two uplifting events for people of African descent: The 50th Anniversary of the historic 1963 March on Washington led by revered slain Civil Rights Movement icon Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. And the North American Pan-African Congress, which was convened in Savannah, GA in May 1992 by Rev. Dr. Ja A. Jahannes, Chairman of the Pan-African Movement USA. Protecting, empowering, uplifting, uniting, and ensuring the rights of people of African descent topped the agenda of both events.

QUEEN QUET OF THE GULLAH/GEECHEE NATION

Queen Quet (www.QueenQuet.com) was the first person to put the Gullah/Geechee people on both the national and international agendas across several platforms. She's spent more than 30 years working to protect Gullah-Geechee people, culture, and land--including addressing the United Nations on their behalf. Queen Quet is currently engaged in a world-tour that she calls the "Gullah/Geechee Land & Legacy Tour."

As one of the PAFEN's new International Vice Co-chairs, Queen Quet will continue working hard to ensure that not another acre of Gullah/Geechee-owned land is lost by either deception, or the inability to pay property taxes.

THE GULLAH/GEECHEE CULTURAL HERITAGE CORRIDOR

The Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor was established by Congress in 2006 through the tireless efforts of Gullah/Geechee leaders like Queen Quet.

Powerful back-up and legislative leadership was provided by U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, the first African-American elected to Congress from South Carolina since Reconstruc-tion. He's currently the third highest ranking Democrat in the U.S. House.

!

The Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor is marked by distinctive road signs from Wilmington, NC to Jacksonville, FL. It seeks to preserve and protect the culturally-unique Gullah/Geechee people, whose blended West African, Native American, and European culture features some of the purest traditional African cultural retentions in the New World.

11 MOST ENDANGERED HISTORIC PLACES IN AMERICA

Since 2004, the National Trust for Historic Preservation has listed the Gullah/Geechee Coast as one the11 Most Endangered Historic Places in America.

"Unless something is done to halt the destruction, Gullah Geechee culture will be relegated to museums and history books, and our nation's unique cultural mosaic will lose one of its richest and most colorful pieces," observes the National Trust for His-toric Preservation website.

Every formerly-enslaved African in America's rebellious slave states didn't get "40 acres and a mule" during the Civil War and Reconstruction. But some of those lucky enough to have received land from the federal government, or who purchased it at tax sales more than 150-years ago, and othewise--have left behind an invaluable legacy that many of their descendants are now strugglng desperately to hold on to.

Because many of their families live on valuable waterfront property on beautiful sea islands stretching from North Carolina to Florida, untold numbers of Gullah/Geechee people are being forced to sell land their families have owned for generations due to skyrocketing taxes.

LANDOWNERS NEED TRANSITIONAL FUNDS

Fortunately, here in Beaufort County, SC the Beaufort County Council has made it possible for all taxpayers to pay their property taxes in five equal installments--rather than one often hard to obtain lump sum payment.

The problem is that taxpayers have to be current on their tax bills by Jan. 15--in order to start making the estimated installment payments on the next year's taxes by February 15.

Predictably, year-end holiday spending makes that impossible for many taxpayers. So, they wind up paying high interest and penalty fees. Or they take out high-interest loans from finance companies, and Payday Loan/Check Cashing firms to help pay their taxes.

Here's why local Gullah/Geechee landowners bend over backwards to avoid let-ting their property go to the property tax sale:

When Beaufort County Gullah/Geechee families fail to pay their property taxes, their property winds up being sold at the annual Beaufort County Delinquent Tax Sale on the first Monday in October. But they have one year, and a day to redeem it from the winning bidder.

At the Oct. 6, 2014 tax sale, hedge fund representatives and other big money investors outnumbered the average citizens who came to bid in hopes of buying valuable land for pennies on the dollar.

If the owners of the auctioned property fail to redeem it, the winning bidders will own it after one year and a day. And if they do redeem it, the winning bidders would have earned a very attractive 1% interest per month. That's 12% interest if they wait until the last minute to redeeem their property!

Dozens of Black-owned properties were among those sold both in 2014 and in 2013. In one year, 850 properties were auctioned off for about $40-million to settle just $2.44-million in owed property taxes, fees, and penalties, according to information Beaufort County Treasurer Doug Henderson gave to The Beaufort Gazette.

Gullah/Geechee families have tried to raise funds to pay their taxes by many methods, including fish frys, bake sales, raffles, yard sales, timber harvesting, and the online sale of products like the Sapelo Island Geechee Red Peas Project. But they still need help from other sources.

$5-MILLION GOAL IS JUST THE BEGINNING

Our goal is to raise $5-million to assist Gullah/Geechee families with buying back property that was sold at the 2014 Beaufort County Delinquent Tax Sale before the "one year and a day" deadline; providing training on various aspects of lowering property taxes and making property pay for itself; and giving one-time tax payment grants to allow local families to make the transition to installment tax payments.

We'll also assist other Gullah-Geechee and Black communities in need of help as our fundraising progresses.

Any donation that you can make will be greatly appreciated, and publicly acknowl-edged on the Pan-African Family Empowerment Network website--unless you request to remain anonymous.

Please give as generously as possible. No donation is too small, or too large! :-)

To donate go to:

http://www.gofundme.com/panafricanfamilyem

We're a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization, and will issue receipts that can be used for tax-deductions.

Thanks in advance for your much-needed support!

Theresa White, Founder, President & CEO

The Pan-African Family Empowerment & Land Preservation Network, Inc.

Beaufort, SC

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Come meet the Board of Directors, President & CEO, and the International Vice Co-Chairs of the Pan African Family Empowerment & Land Preservation Network, Inc. on Saturday, April 4, 2015 from Noon to 2 pm at their open house!

!PAFEN Headquarters

One Beaufort Town Center

2015 Boundary Street

Beaufort, SC 29902

Gullah/Geechee Nation

!Call 843-592-6076 or email info@panafricanfamilyempowermentnetwork.org for more information and to RSVP.

!

Cum jayn de work ob de Gullah/Geechee Sea

Island Coalition fa hep tek cyare de root fa heal de tree and heal de land

fa de famlee!!!www.gullahgeechee.net!

Gullah/Geechee Nation Volunteer Month 2015 was a huge success! !

Tenki tenki ebeebodee!!!www.gullahgeechee.net!!

GULLAH/GEECHEE SEA ISLAND COALITION

Post Office Box 1207 St. Helena Island SC 29920

I am enclosing my check for!!_____ $45 for the year of membership!!_____ $300-999 supporter (Pledge amount can be sent in monthly installments)!!_____ $1200 for lifetime membership!!_____ $___________ toward the Gullah/Geechee Gold Souls Campaign!!My check is written to the !Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition. I know that I will receive a newsletter, event announcements, and will be a subscriber to the Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Roots Listserve and will also receive discounts on Gullah/Geechee products. !!!!

Mail this to !!Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition!

Post Office Box 1207!St. Helena Island SC 29920!!

Name: ! _________________________!!Address: ! ______________________________!! ______________________________!!Telephone:! ___________________ ! ! ! (Day) ! ! _______________________________ ! ! (Eve or Cell)! !!

What island are you closely connected to? ________________________________!!How?(Circle one) !! ! Family Business! !E-mail address: ________________________________!!Where did you receive this? ________________________________!!What would you like to see done by this organization?

Join the GULLAH/GEECHEE SEA ISLAND COALITION www.gullahgeechee.net

© 2014 Gullah/Geechee Nation!

© 2014 Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition !

ALL rights for photographs and articles are re-served. !

Republishing should not be done without consent from the Gullah/Geechee Nation.