• Summary
• About the Author
• Contents
• Excerpt
• Ordering Information
• A Riverfront Town by the Waccamaw River
• There is Only One Way, Amen!

Contents

Dedication	i
Special Dedication	i
Introduction	1
Sandy Island	3
The Sandy Island Preserve	4
Gullah Settlements on Sandy Island	6
The Gullah People of Sandy Island	8
My Summers on Sandy Island	20
Other Stories	44
Days at Annie Village	46
Georgia Hill, Outside Annie Village	48
Hanging Out at Red Sand Hill	50
The Old Boat Dock	52
Dinners at Annie Village	55
The Pathways to Mt. Arena	56
Migration Away; California Living	63
Problems of The City	66
Reunions - Over the Years	69
Homecoming at Last	72
Goals and Objectives	83
A Knowledge of One's Culture is Essential	84
You Can Only Reap What You Have Sown	86
A New Generation on Timeline	88
Through the Long Day	90
This Feeling Within	98
A Renaissance	116
Journey By The Water's Edge	122
The River is Rising	124
The Law of Cause and Effect	125
Blow Gabriel Blow	127
The Twilight	131
Sandy Island Today - Still The Home of the Gullah People	137
The Art Insights of a Gullah Descendant	141
Secrets for Success	143
Practice Truth, Teach Truth, Know the Truth	145
The Dragon's Poison Bows	147
Children are Crying and Youngsters are Dying	150
Demons are Hibernating in Drugs and Alcohol	154
The Acquisition of Economic Skills	158
Be Prepared to Compete in the Global Arena	161
Practice Financial Accountability	165
That View of Life	170
Index	171

Excerpt

Introduction

The Gullah-Geechee culture is unique to the coastal areas and sea islands of the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida. It is known as Gullah in the Carolinas and as Geechee in Florida and Georgia. The Gullah-Geechee people are direct descendants of resident of West Africa's rice coast who were brought here as slaves to work the fertile coastal areas. When the captains of the slave ships brought Africans to America, they dropped many of their captives off at Charleston, S.C. which was America's largest slave marketing center in the 18th century. It has been estimated that over one third of Blacks can trace their history to the Charleston seaport.

Many of the slaves were taken to plantations on the isolated barrier islands off the South Carolina coast. Many of the plantations were rice plantations along the Waccamaw neck along the Waccamaw River. And even though stripped on their homeland and forced to live in isolated patches they continue to speak their language and retain their culture. The Gullah culture, handed down by West African slaves, is still alive on Sandy Island and the island communities along the South Carolina coast. For over 300 years the Gullah people have resided in these low lying isolated pockets. The lack of bridges to the island left the Gullah culture unspoiled and pristine with its dominant motherland influences. The isolation retained their distinct cultural differenced from mainland residents.

The Gullah people of today that reside on Sandy Island are direct descendants of the Gullah people who were brought here centuries ago. The Gullah people of today have maintained an ongoing fight to preserve their culture as handed down from generation to generation, and has a major impact on how they function as a group of people. Sandy Island is still pretty much isolated as there are no bridges to the island, and electricity didn't come to the island until 1967 and running water didn't come until 2001.