The Gullah/Geechee Fight for Self-Determination

Not many people have heard of Gullah/Geechee culture, the Sea Islands, or this respective nation, but many more have heard of the ‘Heritage Golf Classic’ or ‘Hilton Head Island’. Little do most know that beneath the perfect lawns and clubhouses of the golf courses are the blood, sweat, tears, and literal bones of the Gullah/Geechees.

We, the Gullah/Geechee Nation, exist on the Sea Islands off the southeastern coast of the United States. Our culture evolved during the transatlantic slave trade. Since that time the Gullah/Geechees – also called ‘Black Seminoles’, ‘Afro-Seminoles’ and ‘Muscogos’ – have had to fight consistent exploitation, displacement, and even attempts at ethnocide waged against them by the US government and state leaders. We have preserved our language and traditions despite a public education system that degrades us for speaking our native tongue. Government-funded institutions would issue corporal punishment to students for speaking in the Gullah language.

In 1999, I, Marquetta L. Goodwine – now Queen Quet, Chieftess and Head-of-State for the Gullah/Geechee Nation – became the first Gullah/Geechee to speak before the United Nations.  I brought the issues of displacement and the continued human rights abuses of Gullah/Geechees before the global forum at the meeting of the Commission on Human Rights.  When we became more aware of our rights at the international law level, we held a year-long election which culminated at Sullivan’s Island on July 2, 2000, with United Nations observers, US federal government representatives and media looking on.  A year later, the Wisdom Circle Council of Elders returned to the island to present their national flag and constitution to the world.

Since that election, there have been attempts by some US government affiliates to discourage the media from covering stories regarding myself and the Gullah/Geechee campaign for self-determination. They apparently do not want the world to become aware of the numerous land rights battles that we have been fighting to remain on our land and to protect our sacred burial areas from being built on by the corporate interests that fund tourism and the development of resorts, gated and retirement areas, and major golf tournaments. The Gullah/Geechee are not unfamiliar with this strategy. Some suffer continued psychological trauma due to the brutality that took place in Wilmington, NC during the ‘Wilmington Massacre’ when a Gullah/Geechee-owned newspaper refused to be shut down because it served as a political vehicle and voice for the community. Anglo militias came into the town and committed hostile attacks and murders on the Gullah/Geechees while also burning down ‘Black-owned’ businesses and institutions.

We, the leaders of the Gullah/Geechee Nation, continue to stand strong in the face of what has been called an ‘economic embargo’. Chambers of commerce, tourism bureaus and park systems promote tourism in a hypocritical fashion, exploiting the images and art of Gullah/Geechees to sell brochures, while directing visitors away from Gullah/Geechee-owned and operated facilities, and towards non-Gullah/Geechee-owned locations. State governments have continued a practice of extreme taxation which has in turn contributed to the loss of properties. This has been coupled with the use of “eminent domain” as a legal means of compulsory purchase.”

We are a national, linguistic and ethnic minority, as defined by international human rights law. Our culture is indigenous to the region that is the Gullah/Geechee Nation. However, due to the displacement caused by gated areas, golf courses, mass tourism and exploitation, we have had to continuously fight for our rights and self-determination in local, state, and international arenas. During my tenure as Queen Quet, the Gullah/Geechee became recognised by the United States Congress via the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Act, which was signed into law by President Bush in 2006. Unfortunately, this law is unable to ensure the protection of Gullah/Geechee land rights. Gullah/Geechee culture is inextricably tied to the land and waterways on which we live. Without the land, the culture is endangered.

Gullah/Geechee freedom of movement has been attacked by gated areas preventing access to sacred areas, waterways and gathering spaces. In an attempt to combat this, we began our own human rights movement, and successfully elevated our culture to international awareness. The Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition – the premier organisation advocating the rights of Gullah/Geechees – has successfully worked with numerous partners and members around the world to insure that Gullah/Geechee culture will exist well into the future. Personally, I am not only the Chieftess and Head-of-State for the Gullah/Geechee Nation, but also a directorate member for the International Human Rights Association for American Minorities (IHRAAM), which is an NGO with consultative status with the United Nations. In this capacity, I continue to participate in United Nations forums on human rights, including the Forum on Minority Rights and the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

2012 marks the twentieth anniversary of the ‘Declaration of Persons Belonging to National, Linguistic, Ethnic, and Religious Minorities’. I believe that it is divine order that this is also the year in which Gullah/Geechee are seeking to bring together our diaspora at the Gullah/Geechee Nation International Music and Movement Festival to be held in Charleston, SC in August. The theme is Gullah/Geechee Jubilee, and we see this as an opportunity to continue our movement and celebration of self-determination.

Fa lun mo bout who webe, gwine to disya (To learn more about who we are viset www.officialgullahgeechee.info or www.gullahgeechee.net

By Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation (www.QueenQuet.com)