Can The Gullah Culture Survive The Ideologically Induced Ignorance Of Today?

Last week this picture was abuzz on various Progressive-Fundamentalist blogs.   It showed a picture of a White Republican legislature in ole-South military garb and 2 Blacks in "slave fashions".  The event was some Republican womens forum.

White Snarling Fox Liberals and their "Progressives who are Black" sycophants used this picture to attack the state of South Carolina as being backward and the Republican Party as being racists. When they viewed the picture they saw "inferiority and superiority".  The two Blacks had to be sheepish Blacks that were tricked into "buckdancing" by the wily Whites that lead them along.

The TRUTH has now been published.

Meet Frank and Sharon Murray - Modern Day Griots Of The "Gullah" Tradition In Coastal South Carolina

Earlier this summer my family had a reunion in Charleston South Carolina.   We chartered a bus with a local Black owned tour company.  They provided a 'griot' who brought to life the various historical areas of the city and how Black people played an integral part in making it all happen.  Our particular griot - a free Black man and business owner living in 2010 - wore fashions commensurate with today.

As he drove us through the land marks in the city and then later onto the sea islands - what was the key concern that he spoke of regarding what was being threatened on the islands?   THE GULLAH CULTURE!!!!

The culture and the associated land is under stress by developers that wish to transform these lands into sea-side resorts.   The young people are choosing to depart the area for educational opportunities & a more robust social life in Charlotte and Atlanta.   Upon the death of a family matron or patriarch the survivors often fight as to what to do about their family parcel.  One side of the family often seeks to cash out.  The other side fights doggedly to retain the land for the Gullah culture.   Too often taxes owed to the state provide the final verdict.

As I rode through the streets of Charleston on the bus I saw many street vendors selling Gullah crafts, mostly the baskets.  Our Griot told us to not make the mistake of seeing these as "mere utility baskets".  The women making these crafts by hand view them as works of art.  This is the proper perspective, he said.

It turns out that Mr Frank and Mrs Sharon Murray were paid performers at this Republican gathering.  Their mission, as with the Griot that my family procured was to convey to the people living today - the value and rich culture of the Gullah people of the past and the present.   I am prone to think that just  maybe the next time a fire breathing Republican legislature has to vote on a law that might impact the taxes due on these coastal properties - he might think back to the lessons that were taught by Mr and Mrs Murray and consider the value of these great people and how they should not be rolled over as such.

• The Gullah - Rice, Slavery & the Sierra-Leon Connection
• Gullah Culture Will Disappear Without Heritage
• Gullah Culture In Danger Of Fading Away
• Bill Moyers - The Gullah Geechee Culture 

Cultural Ignorance In The Guise Of Popular Sentiment

Literally the other day I was thinking of which of my blogs I was going to place an entry that I planned to title "If Jesus Came Back Possessing Explicit Details On The 'Stolen African Culture And How To Recreate It' Documented Via An E-Book On An iPad - An Unconscious Street Pirate Might Mug Him, Steal The iPad And Erase The Content So That His Young Jeezy Music Collection Can Be Put Upon It".

I now see that if Jesus came back wearing Middle Eastern clothing AND if this "Stolen African Culture" required those who so often talk about the damage done by the culture that was STOLEN from us via slavery were forced to wear the clothing of their ancestors as a condition of being "repaired" as we were during the time of "Mystical Magical Africa" - we'd see that more than the Street Pirates would turn against these traditional archives.

 The local NAACP saw the picture of the Murray's and believed that it showed the same lack of sensitivity that the Confederate flag debate had indicated.  I take this to be that the local NAACP is ashamed of the historically accurate dress that the Murray's use in their performance.  The "offense" of the clothing is greater than the benefit of communicating the value of the Gullah culture to a wider audience.

Clearly the claim "If you don't know your history you are doomed to repeat it" is merely a call to focus upon the negative elements of history but not those of which we should be proud of.

Some people see proud Masai Warriors that have prevented the outside world from perverting their traditional dress.

Others have little self-confidence and upon hearing someone refer to these "equal human beings" as "Spear Chuckers" they project their personal thoughts of inferiority and shame upon these people who they believe have not "evolved" into the mainstream.  They fail to realize that these people have kept control over their culture and don't have many of the problems that "mainstream" people who are in more compliance to their world view have.