Public Awareness 2012
Media Coverage to Date:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1957876924/shadows-of-the-gullah
Descendants of enslaved Africans, the Gullah/Geechee are fighting to hold on to their land and culture in the face of development.
"Nothing is more noble in documentary photography than trying to save a culture from extinction. Following the history of the slave trade often leaves one wondering if the price of slavery paid in human sacrifice can ever be erased. Of course it cannot. One would hope that at least the vestiges of this most horrific assault on human dignity could at least be allowed its own evolution, its own peace.
Removed unwillingly from their own land and forced to live in another should at least bring a sense of humanistic responsibility on the descendants of the guilty to make sure at least that the hybrid culture be respected and preserved rather than be victimized yet again.
Good on you Pete for giving this important document your all. If you believe in this work, then it will not be wholly dependent on a fundraiser. If you believe in this work, you will figure out a way to keep going until a body of work emerges that will at least be some form of payback to the travesties of our forefathers.
Surely even the greatest essay you can ever make on the remaining Gullah population can justify the original sin, but at least it can be a testament to the positive side of the many faces of human nature."
– David Alan Harvey, Publisher of BURN Magazine, National Geographic Photograher and member of the MAGNUM photo agency.
WHY IT'S IMPORTANTAs the Gullah/Geechee lands are consumed by development, can their culture survive? Or will it be reduced to a tourist attraction or a relic of the past?
I moved to Beaufort, S.C. with my family in 1974 when my father, who was in the Marine Corps, was transferred to Parris Island.
At age 13 I was quite unaware of the challenges of the Gullah/Geechee people. What I did see were the changes that were going on in nearby Bluffton and Hilton Head Island. I witnessed firsthand how the development of high-end residential communities known as plantations where taking over the land. I was just not conscious of the effect this was having on a community.
Later, living on Hilton Head Island, I met many Native Islanders. I have found them to be some of the most resilient people I have ever met. Proud of their heritage and determined to keep it alive.
Since the late 1950's the Gullah/Geechee people of the Sea Islands have been losing their lands due to sharply rising property taxes caused by resort development. They have struggled to prevent their culture, which is rooted in the land, from being assimilated.
Over the last 60 or 70 years other groups with centuries-old roots in America have been dragged into the mainstream, including the Cajuns, Highlanders, Native Americans.
Now the Gullah/Geechee are trying to hold on as best they can.
I need your help to tell this story.
THE STORYThe Sea Islands of South Carolina are home to a culture that is being consumed by golf courses, resorts and million-dollar homes. That culture is known as Gullah (known as Geechee in Georgia and Florida).
The Gullah people are direct decendents of enslaved Africans who were brought to the islands from West Africa. After arriving in America, the Gullah created their own community steeped in religion and African traditions. They also formed their own language also known as Gullah – a mix of Elizabethan English and African languages. "E aint crack a teet." Translation: "Hasn't said a word."
When slavery was abolished in 1863, the Gullah people of the Sea Islands remained on the land after slave owners abandoned the area. They continued their traditions – making sea grass baskets, burying their dead by the shore, farming vegetables and fruits and living life simply. Having lived this way for decades, the Gullah are believed to be one of the most authentic African American communities in the United States.
But development is now taking over these once isolated lands and consuming the Gullah way of life.
To witness this destruction, one needn't look further than the Gullah cemeteries, many of which have been taken over by privately owned gated communities and resorts known as plantations. Gullah who do not work for the plantations must ask for permission to even visit the cemeteries. The plantation owners will usually allow the Gullah on the land so long as an escort is available. If and escort is not available, the Gullah are not allowed to visit their relative's tombs.
Descendants of enslaved Africans, the Gullah/Geechee are fighting to hold on to their land and culture in the face of development.
"Nothing is more noble in documentary photography than trying to save a culture from extinction. Following the history of the slave trade often leaves one wondering if the price of slavery paid in human sacrifice can ever be erased. Of course it cannot. One would hope that at least the vestiges of this most horrific assault on human dignity could at least be allowed its own evolution, its own peace.
Removed unwillingly from their own land and forced to live in another should at least bring a sense of humanistic responsibility on the descendants of the guilty to make sure at least that the hybrid culture be respected and preserved rather than be victimized yet again.
Good on you Pete for giving this important document your all. If you believe in this work, then it will not be wholly dependent on a fundraiser. If you believe in this work, you will figure out a way to keep going until a body of work emerges that will at least be some form of payback to the travesties of our forefathers.
Surely even the greatest essay you can ever make on the remaining Gullah population can justify the original sin, but at least it can be a testament to the positive side of the many faces of human nature."
– David Alan Harvey, Publisher of BURN Magazine, National Geographic Photograher and member of the MAGNUM photo agency.
WHY IT'S IMPORTANTAs the Gullah/Geechee lands are consumed by development, can their culture survive? Or will it be reduced to a tourist attraction or a relic of the past?
I moved to Beaufort, S.C. with my family in 1974 when my father, who was in the Marine Corps, was transferred to Parris Island.
At age 13 I was quite unaware of the challenges of the Gullah/Geechee people. What I did see were the changes that were going on in nearby Bluffton and Hilton Head Island. I witnessed firsthand how the development of high-end residential communities known as plantations where taking over the land. I was just not conscious of the effect this was having on a community.
Later, living on Hilton Head Island, I met many Native Islanders. I have found them to be some of the most resilient people I have ever met. Proud of their heritage and determined to keep it alive.
Since the late 1950's the Gullah/Geechee people of the Sea Islands have been losing their lands due to sharply rising property taxes caused by resort development. They have struggled to prevent their culture, which is rooted in the land, from being assimilated.
Over the last 60 or 70 years other groups with centuries-old roots in America have been dragged into the mainstream, including the Cajuns, Highlanders, Native Americans.
Now the Gullah/Geechee are trying to hold on as best they can.
I need your help to tell this story.
THE STORYThe Sea Islands of South Carolina are home to a culture that is being consumed by golf courses, resorts and million-dollar homes. That culture is known as Gullah (known as Geechee in Georgia and Florida).
The Gullah people are direct decendents of enslaved Africans who were brought to the islands from West Africa. After arriving in America, the Gullah created their own community steeped in religion and African traditions. They also formed their own language also known as Gullah – a mix of Elizabethan English and African languages. "E aint crack a teet." Translation: "Hasn't said a word."
When slavery was abolished in 1863, the Gullah people of the Sea Islands remained on the land after slave owners abandoned the area. They continued their traditions – making sea grass baskets, burying their dead by the shore, farming vegetables and fruits and living life simply. Having lived this way for decades, the Gullah are believed to be one of the most authentic African American communities in the United States.
But development is now taking over these once isolated lands and consuming the Gullah way of life.
To witness this destruction, one needn't look further than the Gullah cemeteries, many of which have been taken over by privately owned gated communities and resorts known as plantations. Gullah who do not work for the plantations must ask for permission to even visit the cemeteries. The plantation owners will usually allow the Gullah on the land so long as an escort is available. If and escort is not available, the Gullah are not allowed to visit their relative's tombs.
The Gullah who live on the Sea Islands -- including Hilton Head Island, Daufuskie Island, and St. Helena Island -- have taken dozens of blows, and now their culture is in danger of becoming extinct.
The problem isn't unique to the Sea Islands of South Carolina, however.
The Geechee of Sapelo Island, Ga., are the latest to fall victim to encroaching development. Also descendants of slaves, the Geechee have for years been the only private landowners on Sapelo. The State of Georgia, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the University of Georgia Marine Institute own rest of the land.
However, investors have begun to slowly and quietly purchase land on the island, causing county taxes to increase sharply and leaving many Geechee distraught as they struggle to preserve their way of life.
For instance, one 73-year-old resident paid $362 in property taxes in 2011 for her three-room home and acre of land. This year, her taxes increased to $2,312, according to The New York Times.
The Gullah/Geechee Coast extends for hundreds of miles between Cape Fear, N.C., and the St. Johns River in Florida. In 2004, the National Trust for Historic Preservation named the Gullah/Geechee Coast one of the 11 most endangered placed in the United States. "Unless something is done to halt the destruction, [the] Gullah/Geechee culture will be relegated to museums and history books, and our nation's unique cultural mosaic will lose on of its richest and most colorful pieces," states the National Trust Website.
THE PROJECTIf successfully funded, donations will be used to complete the photography over the next year. I am planning 5-7 trips to the Sea Islands over the next 12 months. Funding will be used for transportation, lodging, and everyday expenses while on the road.
After photography has been completed, I will select a "gallery" edit of 25-30 images to be framed for exhibition. A portion of the donations raised here will cover the cost of framing.
Once the framed exhibit is complete it will be made available to organizations and galleries that are interested in telling the Gullah/Geechee story. I have already received interest from some of the Gullah/Geechee organizations.
The exhibit will be offered free of charge with the exhibitor paying for shipping and insurance.
NOTES ON REWARDSAll of the prints being given as rewards are signed and numbered editions limited to 125 prints for each size offered. A portion of each edition will be reserved to be donated to Gullah/Geechee organizations.
RISKS AND CHALLENGESLearn about accountability on Kickstarter
I think the biggest "risk" would be for me not to do what I can through my photography to help bring attention to the plight of the Gullah/Geechee culture. Of America's 50 national heritage areas, the Gullah/Geechee Corridor is the only one that deals specifically with the African-American experience. Anything that can be done to help preserve this part of our nation's fabric, should be done.
Usually the most challenging part of working on projects such as this is gaining access to the community that you want to photograph. I have already cultivated relationships with the Gullah and Geechee community leaders on many of the Sea Islands, and they are supportive of my efforts to tell their story.
To date this project has been self-funded. I am looking for your support to complete this reportage. Donations will go toward transportation, lodging and general living expenses while on the road.
The images you see here are part of the photography I have already completed on this project. The images are from Hilton Head Island, Daufuskie Island and from time I spent with two Gullah shrimpers off the coast of South Carolina.
Along the Gullah/Geechee Coast, I plan to continue documenting how development and ignorance are destroying the Gullah/Geechee culture. Through images and text, I plan to focus on the challenges the Gullah/Geechee people face as they cling to their traditions and land while adjusting to the "progress" that is imposed upon them.
My goal is to publish this story in a book and multimedia format on the internet. I also intend to show the photography as a traveling exhibit. The exhibit will be loaned free of charge except for shipping and insurance fees.
Telling this story will emphasize the importance of preserving this culture and enlighten those who don't even know it exists.
The problem isn't unique to the Sea Islands of South Carolina, however.
The Geechee of Sapelo Island, Ga., are the latest to fall victim to encroaching development. Also descendants of slaves, the Geechee have for years been the only private landowners on Sapelo. The State of Georgia, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the University of Georgia Marine Institute own rest of the land.
However, investors have begun to slowly and quietly purchase land on the island, causing county taxes to increase sharply and leaving many Geechee distraught as they struggle to preserve their way of life.
For instance, one 73-year-old resident paid $362 in property taxes in 2011 for her three-room home and acre of land. This year, her taxes increased to $2,312, according to The New York Times.
The Gullah/Geechee Coast extends for hundreds of miles between Cape Fear, N.C., and the St. Johns River in Florida. In 2004, the National Trust for Historic Preservation named the Gullah/Geechee Coast one of the 11 most endangered placed in the United States. "Unless something is done to halt the destruction, [the] Gullah/Geechee culture will be relegated to museums and history books, and our nation's unique cultural mosaic will lose on of its richest and most colorful pieces," states the National Trust Website.
THE PROJECTIf successfully funded, donations will be used to complete the photography over the next year. I am planning 5-7 trips to the Sea Islands over the next 12 months. Funding will be used for transportation, lodging, and everyday expenses while on the road.
After photography has been completed, I will select a "gallery" edit of 25-30 images to be framed for exhibition. A portion of the donations raised here will cover the cost of framing.
Once the framed exhibit is complete it will be made available to organizations and galleries that are interested in telling the Gullah/Geechee story. I have already received interest from some of the Gullah/Geechee organizations.
The exhibit will be offered free of charge with the exhibitor paying for shipping and insurance.
NOTES ON REWARDSAll of the prints being given as rewards are signed and numbered editions limited to 125 prints for each size offered. A portion of each edition will be reserved to be donated to Gullah/Geechee organizations.
RISKS AND CHALLENGESLearn about accountability on Kickstarter
I think the biggest "risk" would be for me not to do what I can through my photography to help bring attention to the plight of the Gullah/Geechee culture. Of America's 50 national heritage areas, the Gullah/Geechee Corridor is the only one that deals specifically with the African-American experience. Anything that can be done to help preserve this part of our nation's fabric, should be done.
Usually the most challenging part of working on projects such as this is gaining access to the community that you want to photograph. I have already cultivated relationships with the Gullah and Geechee community leaders on many of the Sea Islands, and they are supportive of my efforts to tell their story.
To date this project has been self-funded. I am looking for your support to complete this reportage. Donations will go toward transportation, lodging and general living expenses while on the road.
The images you see here are part of the photography I have already completed on this project. The images are from Hilton Head Island, Daufuskie Island and from time I spent with two Gullah shrimpers off the coast of South Carolina.
Along the Gullah/Geechee Coast, I plan to continue documenting how development and ignorance are destroying the Gullah/Geechee culture. Through images and text, I plan to focus on the challenges the Gullah/Geechee people face as they cling to their traditions and land while adjusting to the "progress" that is imposed upon them.
My goal is to publish this story in a book and multimedia format on the internet. I also intend to show the photography as a traveling exhibit. The exhibit will be loaned free of charge except for shipping and insurance fees.
Telling this story will emphasize the importance of preserving this culture and enlighten those who don't even know it exists.
The Darien News
December 13, 2012
www.thedariennews.et
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Gullah Geechees, a people whose descendants came from West Africa, manage to preserve their traditions in the U.S.
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/international/2012/12/03/inside-africa-gullah-geechee-a.cnn
The Darien News
November 29, 2012
www.thedariennews.net
Remote Gullah-Geechee community fighting to keep culture
Written by
Erin Hawley
12:14 AM, Nov 14, 2012
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/article/282580/483/Remote-Gullah-Geechee-community-fighting-to-keep-culture
SAPELO ISLAND, Ga. -- An island community feels its way of life is under attack.
On Sapelo Island in Georgia, the Gullah Geechees feel they are being pushed out.
"These places are precious to us and we don't want to lose it," said Cornelia Bailey, one of 45 full-time residents on Georgia's Sapelo Island, a barrier island nestled just above St. Simons.
The people are part of the Hog Hammock Gullah-Geechee community. They are descendants of slaves who worked on the island's plantation. The Geechees still live on the island that generations of family inhabited.
"It's a lot of passed down history and culture and so," Bailey said.
The Geechees live off the land. The island's natural resources are plentiful for the hunters and gathers: fish, oysters, clams, wild animals, and many plants.
The Hog Hammock community has two churches, one restaurant and a small store.
Some of the Geechee descendants live and work on the mainland now. Children take the ferry to school every morning, and many who live on the island keep a car on the mainland at the dock.
Bailey said those who live off the island still stay close to their family.
"They come over here and gather their life everlasting tea," Bailey explained. "They come over here and gather oysters and clams and go fishing because they're right down the road, they're right in Savannah or Brunswick or Jacksonville."
Bailey said although she and other Sapelo Island residents pay county taxes, they don't receive the same benefits as those on the mainland. For instance, she said although they pay for garbage pickup, there is none; they still haul their trash to the island's dumpsters.
"We're paying taxes. We don't get garbage services, we don't get road services, we don't get sewage services, we don't get road services," Bailey said. "We don't get any of the services that if most places if they lived there, they're responsible for some of those services and we don't get any of those services."
She and many of the residents experienced a hike in taxes over the past year.
"If your taxes have gone from $200 last year to over $2,000 to $3,000 this year, that's a big jump," Bailey said.
So much that many feel their way of life is being threatened.
"We're going to preserve and keep Hog Hammock at all costs," Bailey said.
Much of the island way has already been lost. There were originally five communities. There is now just one. Only 45 full time residents remain.
But "outsiders", as Bailey called them, are discovering the island. Some have purchased land and built homes.
Bailey is afraid if the Geechees can't afford the new taxes, they'll be forced out, creating more land available for purchase.
The Geechees are fighting for their culture. To live naturally, making tea from wild persimmon and jump ropes from cat briar vines. To keep it the way it's been for decades.
"We don't want to go someplace where there's such restriction on things that we can't do it or we can't enjoy the things we enjoy here," Bailey said. "That traditionally, we have enjoyed since my people have enjoyed, since even when they were slaves they were able to fish and hunt and gather and so that's the way it was supposed to be."
First Coast News tried to contact the county to find out why the taxes were increased on Sapelo Island. We have not heard back and will continue to attempt to contact those officials.
First Coast News
Erin Hawley
12:14 AM, Nov 14, 2012
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/article/282580/483/Remote-Gullah-Geechee-community-fighting-to-keep-culture
SAPELO ISLAND, Ga. -- An island community feels its way of life is under attack.
On Sapelo Island in Georgia, the Gullah Geechees feel they are being pushed out.
"These places are precious to us and we don't want to lose it," said Cornelia Bailey, one of 45 full-time residents on Georgia's Sapelo Island, a barrier island nestled just above St. Simons.
The people are part of the Hog Hammock Gullah-Geechee community. They are descendants of slaves who worked on the island's plantation. The Geechees still live on the island that generations of family inhabited.
"It's a lot of passed down history and culture and so," Bailey said.
The Geechees live off the land. The island's natural resources are plentiful for the hunters and gathers: fish, oysters, clams, wild animals, and many plants.
The Hog Hammock community has two churches, one restaurant and a small store.
Some of the Geechee descendants live and work on the mainland now. Children take the ferry to school every morning, and many who live on the island keep a car on the mainland at the dock.
Bailey said those who live off the island still stay close to their family.
"They come over here and gather their life everlasting tea," Bailey explained. "They come over here and gather oysters and clams and go fishing because they're right down the road, they're right in Savannah or Brunswick or Jacksonville."
Bailey said although she and other Sapelo Island residents pay county taxes, they don't receive the same benefits as those on the mainland. For instance, she said although they pay for garbage pickup, there is none; they still haul their trash to the island's dumpsters.
"We're paying taxes. We don't get garbage services, we don't get road services, we don't get sewage services, we don't get road services," Bailey said. "We don't get any of the services that if most places if they lived there, they're responsible for some of those services and we don't get any of those services."
She and many of the residents experienced a hike in taxes over the past year.
"If your taxes have gone from $200 last year to over $2,000 to $3,000 this year, that's a big jump," Bailey said.
So much that many feel their way of life is being threatened.
"We're going to preserve and keep Hog Hammock at all costs," Bailey said.
Much of the island way has already been lost. There were originally five communities. There is now just one. Only 45 full time residents remain.
But "outsiders", as Bailey called them, are discovering the island. Some have purchased land and built homes.
Bailey is afraid if the Geechees can't afford the new taxes, they'll be forced out, creating more land available for purchase.
The Geechees are fighting for their culture. To live naturally, making tea from wild persimmon and jump ropes from cat briar vines. To keep it the way it's been for decades.
"We don't want to go someplace where there's such restriction on things that we can't do it or we can't enjoy the things we enjoy here," Bailey said. "That traditionally, we have enjoyed since my people have enjoyed, since even when they were slaves they were able to fish and hunt and gather and so that's the way it was supposed to be."
First Coast News tried to contact the county to find out why the taxes were increased on Sapelo Island. We have not heard back and will continue to attempt to contact those officials.
First Coast News
On Sapelo Island, Another Case Study in How Black Exploitation Fuels Wealth
by Imara Jones
Monday, October 1 2012, 9:37 AM EST
http://colorlines.com/archives/2012/10/on_sapelo_island_another_case_study_in_how_black_exploitation_fuels_wealth.html
President Barack Obama gave an important speech this past Tuesday on the “modern day slavery” of human trafficking. On the very next day, The New York Times ran an article on the injustice looming over direct descendants of slaves here in the United States. Those descendants—the Geechee of Sapelo Island, Georgia—stand to lose their once “invaluable” land for the same reason that most traditional black and brown cultures have: someone else has noticed that a profit can be made by taking it.
The Sapelo Island dispossession is the latest example of the way in which our economy creates and thrives off of inequity. It comes during a year in which the systemic separation of people of color from their land, both in the United States and around the world, has reached a fever pitch. These larger issues require massive action by national governments and official international organizations.
However there might be an important opportunity for wealthy individuals and dedicated NGOs to save a distinct black culture in our own backyard that needs our help to survive. People of color and the organizations focused on them should be high on the list to get involved. The creation of a land trust for the people of Sapelo Island, given their history, might be the right thing at exactly the right time.
The Geechee or Gullah (the designation depends on geography, language or usage) are a unique set of African-based cultures scattered along the outer island coast from North Carolina to Florida. Their forebears were brought to the United States from rice producing civilizations along the West African coast. Residents in communities that stretched from present day Sierra Leone to Benin were targeted by slavers for their special economic skills. Colonists in the Americas needed West African agricultural prowess to turn a profit in the new terrain, which was similar to that Africans had made productive more than a thousand years before.
The economic know-how of Geechee ancestors transformed the Sea Islands into one of the wealthiest areas in the United States. Before the Mississippi Valley was taken from Native peoples and transformed into a slave-economy of cotton, sea island plantations were some of the most productive in the country. In the early 19th century, the Sea Islands were the Saudi Arabia of the American South. In due course, the Civil War arrived on the coast and destroyed an economic way of life based on stolen land and bonded labor.
The Geechees, through several turns of history, eventually took possession of the land that they had worked since before the Declaration of Independence. In economic hardship and isolation, the Geechees preserved their unique culture, language, and spiritual beliefs. But since the 1950s that way of life has come under increasing pressure from the broader society that had first used and then abandoned them. Land that was once overlooked became desirable again.
Given its climate and location, Geechee land is prime property for tourist hotels and big vacation homes. The built-up luxury resort of Hilton Head Island in South Carolina was mostly Gullah-inhabited just 50 years ago. Having transformed other parts of the costal archipelago, such as St. Simmons and Amelia Islands into similar tourist destinations, there are less and less Geechee enclaves to seize and flip for profit. That’s why Sapelo Island is in the crosshairs.
As the Times details, most of the private property on Sapelo Island is Geechee owned. Sitting on scarce property, their coastal land has attracted the attention of investors, who have been slowly buying it.
These below-the-radar purchases have suddenly led to a massive tax reassessment by the local government of Geechee property. In just one year taxes have leapt for many cash-strapped residents by a whopping 500 percent. The sky-high tax bills could accomplish what others have been unable to do so far: clear the island of the Geechee through the legal dispossession of their property.
Geechee “history makes it hard for people to believe county officials who say there is no effort to push them from their land,” writes Times reporter Kim Severson. “The whole thing smells,” adds longtime island resident Jasper Watts.
Beyond Sapelo Island
The Sapelo Island dispossession exemplifies the larger problem of modern land-taking from people of color around the world.
Here in the United States foreclosures have separated millions of black and brown Americans from their property. Four out of 10 of the nearly 10 million people who’ve been foreclosed are black and Latino.
Like the residents of Sapelo Island, these men and women lost ownership due to circumstances largely beyond their control. Banks steered credit worthy people of color into dodgy home loans. Once the loans went sour, as they were sure to do, blacks and Latinos were forced into bankruptcy and on the street.
Now those same banks that made the loans and hustled homeowners out are profiting from the mess they created.
Presently, Wall Street is spending billions of dollars to buy these foreclosed homes and rent them back to the very people from whom they took them. The loss of property by blacks and Latinos due to this foreclosure racket has led the net worth in communities of color to plunge to the lowest level on record. Black and brown wealth has been transferred to the balance sheet of America’s largest banks.
The same dynamic is at work in the ongoing process of “gentrification” in urban America. Black and brown neighborhoods that were impoverished, due to intentional neglect by banks and municipalities, have suddenly been labeled as desirable. The same banks that helped create urban distress are profiting from it as they dispense new loans to mostly “hipster and high income sophisto professional” newcomers, as Forbes Magazine contributor Joel Kotkin calls them. In the process, money is made by ushering out traditional residents who couldn’t get banks to make mortgages for 40 years.
According to Forbes, Brooklyn, with the highest concentration of gentrifying ZIP codes in the country, is now the second most expensive place in America to live. That’s no accident. Brooklyn also has the highest foreclosure rate of any neighborhood in New York City.
In Africa and Latin America, investors have bought up an area the size of Western Europe from cash-strapped governments for as little as .75 cents an acre. Similar land in the U.S. sells for as much as $12,000 an acre.
As they gain possession, financial firms push millions of subsistence farmers off their newly owned assets. Over 700,000 people are being forced from property in Ethiopia to make way for one agricultural project alone. These Ethiopians’ forbearers have worked that land for longer than anyone can remember.
In the space created by the forced removal of local people, industrial farms are set up to feed the rest of the wealthy world. What was once dedicated to support communities and families is now solely dedicated to generate profit.
Immediate Solutions
The larger trend of land-grabbing in the United States and around the world will require significant action to reverse it. In this election year, it’s a demand that should be made.
But the problems of the Geechee on Sapelo Island are solvable right now.
An investigation into the timing and legality of the tax reassessments should be considered. According to the Times, such a review by the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department is already possibly underway.
Another longterm option is the creation of a land trust for the Geechee residents. A trust, funded by people and organizations with means could underwrite the tax obligations of the Geechee; create terms for the intergenerational transfer of the property; and restrict the sale of Geechee land supported by the trust.
Whatever might be done, it should happen fast. This has already been a banner year for black and brown land dispossession. Movement on this issue is important.
As I’ve written, our slave history has a geography. That landscape, like Sapelo Island itself, helps to form our collective memory. That memory reminds us of who we are and where we come from. Sadly, the same economic forces that bonded Africans in the first place are helping to erase it.
The Sapelo Island dispossession is the latest example of the way in which our economy creates and thrives off of inequity. It comes during a year in which the systemic separation of people of color from their land, both in the United States and around the world, has reached a fever pitch. These larger issues require massive action by national governments and official international organizations.
However there might be an important opportunity for wealthy individuals and dedicated NGOs to save a distinct black culture in our own backyard that needs our help to survive. People of color and the organizations focused on them should be high on the list to get involved. The creation of a land trust for the people of Sapelo Island, given their history, might be the right thing at exactly the right time.
The Geechee or Gullah (the designation depends on geography, language or usage) are a unique set of African-based cultures scattered along the outer island coast from North Carolina to Florida. Their forebears were brought to the United States from rice producing civilizations along the West African coast. Residents in communities that stretched from present day Sierra Leone to Benin were targeted by slavers for their special economic skills. Colonists in the Americas needed West African agricultural prowess to turn a profit in the new terrain, which was similar to that Africans had made productive more than a thousand years before.
The economic know-how of Geechee ancestors transformed the Sea Islands into one of the wealthiest areas in the United States. Before the Mississippi Valley was taken from Native peoples and transformed into a slave-economy of cotton, sea island plantations were some of the most productive in the country. In the early 19th century, the Sea Islands were the Saudi Arabia of the American South. In due course, the Civil War arrived on the coast and destroyed an economic way of life based on stolen land and bonded labor.
The Geechees, through several turns of history, eventually took possession of the land that they had worked since before the Declaration of Independence. In economic hardship and isolation, the Geechees preserved their unique culture, language, and spiritual beliefs. But since the 1950s that way of life has come under increasing pressure from the broader society that had first used and then abandoned them. Land that was once overlooked became desirable again.
Given its climate and location, Geechee land is prime property for tourist hotels and big vacation homes. The built-up luxury resort of Hilton Head Island in South Carolina was mostly Gullah-inhabited just 50 years ago. Having transformed other parts of the costal archipelago, such as St. Simmons and Amelia Islands into similar tourist destinations, there are less and less Geechee enclaves to seize and flip for profit. That’s why Sapelo Island is in the crosshairs.
As the Times details, most of the private property on Sapelo Island is Geechee owned. Sitting on scarce property, their coastal land has attracted the attention of investors, who have been slowly buying it.
These below-the-radar purchases have suddenly led to a massive tax reassessment by the local government of Geechee property. In just one year taxes have leapt for many cash-strapped residents by a whopping 500 percent. The sky-high tax bills could accomplish what others have been unable to do so far: clear the island of the Geechee through the legal dispossession of their property.
Geechee “history makes it hard for people to believe county officials who say there is no effort to push them from their land,” writes Times reporter Kim Severson. “The whole thing smells,” adds longtime island resident Jasper Watts.
Beyond Sapelo Island
The Sapelo Island dispossession exemplifies the larger problem of modern land-taking from people of color around the world.
Here in the United States foreclosures have separated millions of black and brown Americans from their property. Four out of 10 of the nearly 10 million people who’ve been foreclosed are black and Latino.
Like the residents of Sapelo Island, these men and women lost ownership due to circumstances largely beyond their control. Banks steered credit worthy people of color into dodgy home loans. Once the loans went sour, as they were sure to do, blacks and Latinos were forced into bankruptcy and on the street.
Now those same banks that made the loans and hustled homeowners out are profiting from the mess they created.
Presently, Wall Street is spending billions of dollars to buy these foreclosed homes and rent them back to the very people from whom they took them. The loss of property by blacks and Latinos due to this foreclosure racket has led the net worth in communities of color to plunge to the lowest level on record. Black and brown wealth has been transferred to the balance sheet of America’s largest banks.
The same dynamic is at work in the ongoing process of “gentrification” in urban America. Black and brown neighborhoods that were impoverished, due to intentional neglect by banks and municipalities, have suddenly been labeled as desirable. The same banks that helped create urban distress are profiting from it as they dispense new loans to mostly “hipster and high income sophisto professional” newcomers, as Forbes Magazine contributor Joel Kotkin calls them. In the process, money is made by ushering out traditional residents who couldn’t get banks to make mortgages for 40 years.
According to Forbes, Brooklyn, with the highest concentration of gentrifying ZIP codes in the country, is now the second most expensive place in America to live. That’s no accident. Brooklyn also has the highest foreclosure rate of any neighborhood in New York City.
In Africa and Latin America, investors have bought up an area the size of Western Europe from cash-strapped governments for as little as .75 cents an acre. Similar land in the U.S. sells for as much as $12,000 an acre.
As they gain possession, financial firms push millions of subsistence farmers off their newly owned assets. Over 700,000 people are being forced from property in Ethiopia to make way for one agricultural project alone. These Ethiopians’ forbearers have worked that land for longer than anyone can remember.
In the space created by the forced removal of local people, industrial farms are set up to feed the rest of the wealthy world. What was once dedicated to support communities and families is now solely dedicated to generate profit.
Immediate Solutions
The larger trend of land-grabbing in the United States and around the world will require significant action to reverse it. In this election year, it’s a demand that should be made.
But the problems of the Geechee on Sapelo Island are solvable right now.
An investigation into the timing and legality of the tax reassessments should be considered. According to the Times, such a review by the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department is already possibly underway.
Another longterm option is the creation of a land trust for the Geechee residents. A trust, funded by people and organizations with means could underwrite the tax obligations of the Geechee; create terms for the intergenerational transfer of the property; and restrict the sale of Geechee land supported by the trust.
Whatever might be done, it should happen fast. This has already been a banner year for black and brown land dispossession. Movement on this issue is important.
As I’ve written, our slave history has a geography. That landscape, like Sapelo Island itself, helps to form our collective memory. That memory reminds us of who we are and where we come from. Sadly, the same economic forces that bonded Africans in the first place are helping to erase it.
Hog HammockA Vanishing World
by Alex Kearns
Sep 29, 2012http://likethedew.com/2012/09/29/a-vanishing-world/
You hold in your hands an intricate basket made of woven sweetgrass, palmetto and pinegrass and you marvel at the artistry. You listen to the murmur of a language that challenges the lexicologist’s analysis, for it is a melding of many ancient cultures into a unique and musical tongue. A burial by the sea so that the spirit of the lost one can return to the home beyond the waves, the exhilaration of a “ring shout” as the Lord is praised… these are the precious traditions of the Gullah/Geechee: a world, people and history that was pivotal in the formation of this country. Now, as “progress” alters the face of the Sea Islands, knowledge and awareness are all that stand between a treasured reflection of human courage and the mere ghost of a forgotten time.
And now the Gullah/Geechee community on Sapelo Island is being threatened.Visiting Sapelo (a 16,000-acre barrier island) is like taking a step back in time – a time before high-rise condos, malls, traffic lights and the clamour of “civilization.” The Island’s natural beauty is stunning – from the seemingly endless stretch of the (usually) deserted beach to the regal live oaks draped with Spanish moss.
The island community of Hog Hammock includes a general store, bar, two churches and some small businesses. Most inhabitants of the town (pop. 47) are members of the Gullah/Geechee community, and have been living on the island for generations. The residents bring over all supplies from the mainland or purchase them in the small store on the island while the children of Hog Hammock take the ferry to the mainland and take a bus to school.
The Gullah/Geechee culture has persevered along the South Carolina and Georgian Sea Islands since its roots in the early 1700s. (Although the wider society itself is comprised of the same mixture of West Africans, Gullah has come to represent those of South Carolina while Geechee refers, specifically, to the Georgian inhabitants).
Modern day researchers consider the stretch of land from Sandy Island, South Carolina to Amelia Island in Florida the “Gullah Coast” – the locale of the people who’s labor created some of the richest plantations in history – and work assiduously to explore and preserve these diminishing remnants of a turbulent and often painful past.
A Board of Trustees established Georgia in 1732, primarily as a method of providing land for impoverished British citizens while supplying England with much-needed agricultural products. Though the colony, in 1735, enacted an anti-slavery law this ban was lifted in 1750 when the need for labor became crucial. It was thought that the peoples of the West African coast would be well suited for the challenging climate and, as the rice economy grew increasingly powerful, so too did the lucrative slave trade.
Plantation owners sought the men and women of the Windward Coast of West Africa, specifically Senegal, Sierra Leone and Liberia: an area already deeply involved with the indigenous rice, indigo and cotton crops. Over the centuries that followed these displaced and isolated peoples recreated their home cultures – retaining, blending and adapting – until the whole became known as “Gullah” (a word that is thought to be a variation of “Angola”, though its true genesis remains unclear).
The Gullah language itself is a monument to survival and adaptability for it merges the various terms and words of the diverse West African peoples with the English language of their new (enforced) surroundings. Many aspects of the language bear great similarities to the patois of the Dominican Creole, The Bahamian dialects and others created through the blending of cultures. The result is a fascinating amalgam of past and present: a reflection of two worlds that collided, causing the tragic loss of one and the success of the other.
The music of the Gullah/Geechee culture has been studied extensively for it gives deep insight into the language, traditions and spirituality of these extraordinary people. “Praise houses” served as safe locations for the celebration of the soul and this continuation of the religious community supported, united and nourished an enslaved culture. “Ring shouts”, a rapid, rhythmic, hand clapping accompanied by spiritual songs while dancing counterclockwise, are intimately connected to the “old ways” of the West African coast.
Though few elders remain who know the songs and movements, there are groups such as The Macintosh County Shouters of Georgia who strive to keep the traditions alive today. These are echoes that reach out across the time and tide: that create a bridge between the people who were torn from their land, transported and enslaved and those who followed. The notes weave though generation after generation, creating a living memory of shared heritage.
In the early 1930s renowned ethnomusicologist, Lorenzo Dow Turner, recorded the voice of islander Amelia Dawley as she sang a song that her mother, Octavia “Tawba” Shaw (a slave) had taught to her. Dawley then taught the song to her own daughter, Mary Moran who would become the final individual in the United States to guard the ancient words and rhythms.
In 1989 this song was traced to Benju Jabati of Senehun Ngola, Sierra Leone who was the last person in her village to know the piece. Moran and Jabati were introduced and, together, performed what was revealed to be a Mende funeral song. The past and the present were finally reunited in one extraordinary moment of cultural truth and honor.
After the American Civil War, the rice planters of the mainland gradually abandoned their farms for the freed blacks were, for the most part, unwilling to work in the cruel conditions of the rice fields. With the exodus from the Sea Islands, the Gullah/Geechee peoples were increasingly isolated in remote areas of the Low County and were free to continue their religious, social and cultural traditions with little influence from outsiders. This period of calm lasted well into the 20th century.
Since the 1960s however, on-going development of the Sea Islands has threatened the Gullah people and they have fought, through public awareness and government intervention, to retain the land that they have owned since the Emancipation Proclamations of 1862 and 1863.
In 2005 a 20-year project was, at last, completed and the New Testament – translated into the Gullah language – was made available. In 2006 a ground-breaking initiative was made real when the U.S. Congress passed “The Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Act” that guarantees over 10 million dollars directed toward the preservation of, and research into, historic Gullah sites.
But now we return to Sapelo Island, the settlement of Hog Hammock (on the National Register of Historic Places) and a future that is looking increasingly bleak for the Gullah/Geechee culture there.
The inhabitants of Sapelo have fought fiercely to prevent their home from becoming similar to over-developed “vacation areas” such as Hilton Head and St. Simons Island. But now, staggering county tax increases caused by a fluctuating economy and bureaucratic incompetence may prove to be a fight that they cannot win. (The people of Hog Hammock own the only private land left on Sapelo, almost 97% of which is owned by the state).
Consider the case of Jasper Watts: her 73-year-old mother still owns the three-room house that she grew up in. Last year she paid $362 in property taxes for the acre she lives on. This year, McIntosh County wants $2,312 – an increase of nearly 540%.
(The county has approximately 14,000 permanent residents and thousands more with vacation homes. It has put off reviewing its taxable property and the last evaluation was in 2004. In fact, during a June meeting, Paul Griffin, the chairman of the Board of Tax Assessors, called the work “very, very sloppy”).
Senator William Ligon has suggested that residents file a lawsuit if they do not find relief. But, until then, what of the people of Hog Hammock who face massive tax bills? Is this ancient culture to be wiped out by the stroke of a tax assessor’s pen?
Please contact Senator Ligon. Something must be done to right this grievous wrong.
And now the Gullah/Geechee community on Sapelo Island is being threatened.Visiting Sapelo (a 16,000-acre barrier island) is like taking a step back in time – a time before high-rise condos, malls, traffic lights and the clamour of “civilization.” The Island’s natural beauty is stunning – from the seemingly endless stretch of the (usually) deserted beach to the regal live oaks draped with Spanish moss.
The island community of Hog Hammock includes a general store, bar, two churches and some small businesses. Most inhabitants of the town (pop. 47) are members of the Gullah/Geechee community, and have been living on the island for generations. The residents bring over all supplies from the mainland or purchase them in the small store on the island while the children of Hog Hammock take the ferry to the mainland and take a bus to school.
The Gullah/Geechee culture has persevered along the South Carolina and Georgian Sea Islands since its roots in the early 1700s. (Although the wider society itself is comprised of the same mixture of West Africans, Gullah has come to represent those of South Carolina while Geechee refers, specifically, to the Georgian inhabitants).
Modern day researchers consider the stretch of land from Sandy Island, South Carolina to Amelia Island in Florida the “Gullah Coast” – the locale of the people who’s labor created some of the richest plantations in history – and work assiduously to explore and preserve these diminishing remnants of a turbulent and often painful past.
A Board of Trustees established Georgia in 1732, primarily as a method of providing land for impoverished British citizens while supplying England with much-needed agricultural products. Though the colony, in 1735, enacted an anti-slavery law this ban was lifted in 1750 when the need for labor became crucial. It was thought that the peoples of the West African coast would be well suited for the challenging climate and, as the rice economy grew increasingly powerful, so too did the lucrative slave trade.
Plantation owners sought the men and women of the Windward Coast of West Africa, specifically Senegal, Sierra Leone and Liberia: an area already deeply involved with the indigenous rice, indigo and cotton crops. Over the centuries that followed these displaced and isolated peoples recreated their home cultures – retaining, blending and adapting – until the whole became known as “Gullah” (a word that is thought to be a variation of “Angola”, though its true genesis remains unclear).
The Gullah language itself is a monument to survival and adaptability for it merges the various terms and words of the diverse West African peoples with the English language of their new (enforced) surroundings. Many aspects of the language bear great similarities to the patois of the Dominican Creole, The Bahamian dialects and others created through the blending of cultures. The result is a fascinating amalgam of past and present: a reflection of two worlds that collided, causing the tragic loss of one and the success of the other.
The music of the Gullah/Geechee culture has been studied extensively for it gives deep insight into the language, traditions and spirituality of these extraordinary people. “Praise houses” served as safe locations for the celebration of the soul and this continuation of the religious community supported, united and nourished an enslaved culture. “Ring shouts”, a rapid, rhythmic, hand clapping accompanied by spiritual songs while dancing counterclockwise, are intimately connected to the “old ways” of the West African coast.
Though few elders remain who know the songs and movements, there are groups such as The Macintosh County Shouters of Georgia who strive to keep the traditions alive today. These are echoes that reach out across the time and tide: that create a bridge between the people who were torn from their land, transported and enslaved and those who followed. The notes weave though generation after generation, creating a living memory of shared heritage.
In the early 1930s renowned ethnomusicologist, Lorenzo Dow Turner, recorded the voice of islander Amelia Dawley as she sang a song that her mother, Octavia “Tawba” Shaw (a slave) had taught to her. Dawley then taught the song to her own daughter, Mary Moran who would become the final individual in the United States to guard the ancient words and rhythms.
In 1989 this song was traced to Benju Jabati of Senehun Ngola, Sierra Leone who was the last person in her village to know the piece. Moran and Jabati were introduced and, together, performed what was revealed to be a Mende funeral song. The past and the present were finally reunited in one extraordinary moment of cultural truth and honor.
After the American Civil War, the rice planters of the mainland gradually abandoned their farms for the freed blacks were, for the most part, unwilling to work in the cruel conditions of the rice fields. With the exodus from the Sea Islands, the Gullah/Geechee peoples were increasingly isolated in remote areas of the Low County and were free to continue their religious, social and cultural traditions with little influence from outsiders. This period of calm lasted well into the 20th century.
Since the 1960s however, on-going development of the Sea Islands has threatened the Gullah people and they have fought, through public awareness and government intervention, to retain the land that they have owned since the Emancipation Proclamations of 1862 and 1863.
In 2005 a 20-year project was, at last, completed and the New Testament – translated into the Gullah language – was made available. In 2006 a ground-breaking initiative was made real when the U.S. Congress passed “The Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Act” that guarantees over 10 million dollars directed toward the preservation of, and research into, historic Gullah sites.
But now we return to Sapelo Island, the settlement of Hog Hammock (on the National Register of Historic Places) and a future that is looking increasingly bleak for the Gullah/Geechee culture there.
The inhabitants of Sapelo have fought fiercely to prevent their home from becoming similar to over-developed “vacation areas” such as Hilton Head and St. Simons Island. But now, staggering county tax increases caused by a fluctuating economy and bureaucratic incompetence may prove to be a fight that they cannot win. (The people of Hog Hammock own the only private land left on Sapelo, almost 97% of which is owned by the state).
Consider the case of Jasper Watts: her 73-year-old mother still owns the three-room house that she grew up in. Last year she paid $362 in property taxes for the acre she lives on. This year, McIntosh County wants $2,312 – an increase of nearly 540%.
(The county has approximately 14,000 permanent residents and thousands more with vacation homes. It has put off reviewing its taxable property and the last evaluation was in 2004. In fact, during a June meeting, Paul Griffin, the chairman of the Board of Tax Assessors, called the work “very, very sloppy”).
Senator William Ligon has suggested that residents file a lawsuit if they do not find relief. But, until then, what of the people of Hog Hammock who face massive tax bills? Is this ancient culture to be wiped out by the stroke of a tax assessor’s pen?
Please contact Senator Ligon. Something must be done to right this grievous wrong.
United States Federal Agencies Know YOUR Rights Forum
on Sapelo Island, McIntosh County, Georgia, U.S.A. --- Saturday, July 14, 2012
McIntosh County Press Conference
Monday, July 16, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 15, 2012
Media Contact:
1 (912) 601-3000
Email: [email protected]
McINTOSH COUNTY, GEORGIA CITIZENS HOLD PRESS CONFERENCE TO COMMUNICATE TO McINTOSH COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS TO VOTE NO TO SOLID WASTE FEE RESOLUTION No. 2012-9
McINTOSH COUNTY, Georgia – McIntosh County Board of Commissioners have proposed a Solid Waste Fee Resolution No. 2012-9. If the Resolution passes and becomes law, a new era of Public Policy destruction could cause irreparable damage McIntosh Countywide and especially on Sapelo Island.
No official Public Hearing on Resolution No. 2012-9 Solid Waste Fee was held. The absence of Public Engagement in this matter with the residents and stakeholders of McIntosh County could cause massive Public Policy deprivation for generations.
The purpose of this Press Conference is to deliver a communication to the McIntosh County Board of Commissioners to vote NO to Resolution 2012-9 Solid Waste Fee.
This Public Policy was designed with no input from the public and blatant disregard for the principals of Equity in Governance.
This press conference demonstrates the commitment of neighborhood, community, faith and small business leaders to have the same access to governance as lobbyist, special interest groups and corporations.
We must use this blatant act of disrespect as a call to action for all McIntosh County residents. Let us gather
ourselves in discussion and meeting to address this abominable issue on July 16, 2012 at 2:30PM in front of the
McIntosh County Board of Commissioners Office Building in Historic Downtown Darien.
###
McINTOSH COUNTY, Georgia – McIntosh County Board of Commissioners have proposed a Solid Waste Fee Resolution No. 2012-9. If the Resolution passes and becomes law, a new era of Public Policy destruction could cause irreparable damage McIntosh Countywide and especially on Sapelo Island.
No official Public Hearing on Resolution No. 2012-9 Solid Waste Fee was held. The absence of Public Engagement in this matter with the residents and stakeholders of McIntosh County could cause massive Public Policy deprivation for generations.
The purpose of this Press Conference is to deliver a communication to the McIntosh County Board of Commissioners to vote NO to Resolution 2012-9 Solid Waste Fee.
This Public Policy was designed with no input from the public and blatant disregard for the principals of Equity in Governance.
This press conference demonstrates the commitment of neighborhood, community, faith and small business leaders to have the same access to governance as lobbyist, special interest groups and corporations.
We must use this blatant act of disrespect as a call to action for all McIntosh County residents. Let us gather
ourselves in discussion and meeting to address this abominable issue on July 16, 2012 at 2:30PM in front of the
McIntosh County Board of Commissioners Office Building in Historic Downtown Darien.
###
Federal officials hold meeting on Sapelo Island
Published: 6/11 6:10 pm
Updated: 6/12 8:22 am
Reported by: Rob Macko
Email: [email protected]
Representatives from the Department of Justice spent Saturday on Sapelo Island hearing concerns from residents and local officials. The six-hour long meeting was held at the Sapelo Island Senior Citizens Center. The D.O.J.’s Community Relations Service works to resolve racial tensions.
The Geechee-Gullah people on the island have been battling developers, McIntosh County officials, and the state on a number of issues including land rights and tax issues. They claim the state took land their ancestors purchased years ago. There are also allegations of racial discrimination.
The D.O.J. says it will continue to work with all parties to address tensions on the island.
Copyright 2012 The Coastal Source
Updated: 6/12 8:22 am
Reported by: Rob Macko
Email: [email protected]
Representatives from the Department of Justice spent Saturday on Sapelo Island hearing concerns from residents and local officials. The six-hour long meeting was held at the Sapelo Island Senior Citizens Center. The D.O.J.’s Community Relations Service works to resolve racial tensions.
The Geechee-Gullah people on the island have been battling developers, McIntosh County officials, and the state on a number of issues including land rights and tax issues. They claim the state took land their ancestors purchased years ago. There are also allegations of racial discrimination.
The D.O.J. says it will continue to work with all parties to address tensions on the island.
Copyright 2012 The Coastal Source
U.S. Dept. of Justice to hold meeting on Sapelo Island
Posted: Jun 08, 2012 3:56 PM EDT
Updated: Jun 08, 2012 4:04 PM EDT
By Alex Bender - email
A group from the U.S. Department of Justice is holding a public meeting Saturday on Sapelo Island.
The Justice Department was asked by a Sapelo Island group to step in and help facilitate some land development issues.
The meeting will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Hogg Hummock Historic District Senior Citizens Center.
Copyright 2012 WTOC. All rights reserved.
Updated: Jun 08, 2012 4:04 PM EDT
By Alex Bender - email
A group from the U.S. Department of Justice is holding a public meeting Saturday on Sapelo Island.
The Justice Department was asked by a Sapelo Island group to step in and help facilitate some land development issues.
The meeting will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Hogg Hummock Historic District Senior Citizens Center.
Copyright 2012 WTOC. All rights reserved.
Charges of Discrimination and Conspiracy Cited - Commissioner Charles Jordan Meets with Sapelo Island Residents June 12 article June 20, 2012 Newspaper; read the story @ http://thedariennews.net/editionviewer/default.aspx?Edition=ce0e96a0-e549-4275-a2a6-b77891cdbe3d
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Sapelo Island Community Forum Justice Department Coming to Sapelo June 9 Concerning "explosive powder keg" article June 6, 2012 Newspaper; read the story @ http://thedariennews.net/editionviewer/default.aspx?Edition=aafaad88-65d2-40ae-8f18-46d24420e57a
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Slave descendants fight for wildlife refuge
watch news coverage @ http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/slave-descendants-fight-wildlife-refuge/nN_7b7/
Another Gullah/Geechee community in McIntosh County faces similar fight to that of Sapelo Island descendants.
Coincidence or conspiracy?
Posted: 3:19 p.m. Wednesday, May 16, 2012
By John Pruitt
MCINTOSH COUNTY, Ga. --
A battle has been brewing for 70 years over what some locals consider one of the most magical places in Georgia.
Some people also call Harris Neck in McIntosh County one of the state's most historicplaces, and that history will go before Congress next year to determine who actually owns the land.
The story begins in 1865, when plantation owner Margaret Ann Harris freed her slaves and gave them the land. The families lived off the land, fishing, farming and hunting. The sustainable community prospered until 1942.
During World War II, the federal government needed Harris Neck for an airstrip to protect the U.S. coast from U-boats. It gave each family $27 an acre and told them to leave.
Many of the descendants remember the day well.
"They came by, gave us two weeks' notice," said Mary Moran, who was pregnant at the time. "'Get out or we'll burn you out.' Some of them did get burned out."
"We were definitely wronged," said Kenneth Dunham. "They didn't have to take it. Why take it? We weren't bothering anybody."
"The government took the land," said Olive Smith. "And promised that when the war was over, they would return the land back. That was the promise."
After the war ended, the federal government pulled out of Harris Neck and gave it back to McIntosh County. When the county did nothing with the land, the federal government took it back in 1961 and created the Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge.
The descendants have been fighting ever since to get the land back. Now, the well-known Atlanta law firm Holland & Knight has taken up the case for free.
"Most folks who look at this are disquieted by what happened," said attorney Robert Highsmith. "They think that a wrong was done and it needs to be righted. And the Congress and the administration have the power to right it.
Highsmith plans to take the case to Congress next year.
Still, there are many in McIntosh County who oppose the land returning to the family. One is resident Jim McMahon, who has done extensive research on the subject. He said there is no proof the families were told they could get the land back.
"(The land) was taken according to federal law, right down to the wire, they were paid for the land," said McMahon. "It's a sad story, but you have to remember, it's almost been romanticized to the point of fiction."
The Harris Neck Land Trust Plan calls for four acres for each of the 72 families. Highsmith said the final details are still being worked out, but the families will be bound to protect the wildlife refuge.
"We're not trying to prepare the land for development, we're not trying to sell the land," Highsmith said.
He also said the public still would be invited to visit the wildlife refuge.
Critics think the plan will hurt the refuge.
"According to the plot plan for the Harris Neck Land Trust and their road layout, it appears that when someone enters the refuge and drives around the refuge it will be like going through a subdivision," said McIntosh County resident Richard Brown.
Brown also is worried the county will lose money if tourists stop coming to the refuge.
"Ninety thousand visitors. Even if they spend $10 in the county, that's $900,000. For a small county like we are, that's a lot of money," Brown said.
Still, the descendants believe the law is on their side. The government took the land using eminent domain.
"As I understand eminent domain, it's for the good of the public," said Harris Neck Land Trust Board Chairman William Collins. "The public is not benefiting from this for the intended use, for the reason it was taken. It was not taken away to make a wildlife refuge. It was taken to make an airfield."
The descendants said the time has come to right an old wrong, but win or lose, they won't quit.
"If Congress doesn't act this time around, we'll continue to fight and fight on," said the Rev. Edgar Timmons of the First African Baptist Church of Harris Neck. "Because right always wins. The right will win, and we'll go back home."
"Lord, I'm praying that we get it back," said 90-year-old Moran. "Even if I'm not able to build, but just to walk down and see the place where I was born and raised. I'm praying for it."
A battle has been brewing for 70 years over what some locals consider one of the most magical places in Georgia.
Some people also call Harris Neck in McIntosh County one of the state's most historicplaces, and that history will go before Congress next year to determine who actually owns the land.
The story begins in 1865, when plantation owner Margaret Ann Harris freed her slaves and gave them the land. The families lived off the land, fishing, farming and hunting. The sustainable community prospered until 1942.
During World War II, the federal government needed Harris Neck for an airstrip to protect the U.S. coast from U-boats. It gave each family $27 an acre and told them to leave.
Many of the descendants remember the day well.
"They came by, gave us two weeks' notice," said Mary Moran, who was pregnant at the time. "'Get out or we'll burn you out.' Some of them did get burned out."
"We were definitely wronged," said Kenneth Dunham. "They didn't have to take it. Why take it? We weren't bothering anybody."
"The government took the land," said Olive Smith. "And promised that when the war was over, they would return the land back. That was the promise."
After the war ended, the federal government pulled out of Harris Neck and gave it back to McIntosh County. When the county did nothing with the land, the federal government took it back in 1961 and created the Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge.
The descendants have been fighting ever since to get the land back. Now, the well-known Atlanta law firm Holland & Knight has taken up the case for free.
"Most folks who look at this are disquieted by what happened," said attorney Robert Highsmith. "They think that a wrong was done and it needs to be righted. And the Congress and the administration have the power to right it.
Highsmith plans to take the case to Congress next year.
Still, there are many in McIntosh County who oppose the land returning to the family. One is resident Jim McMahon, who has done extensive research on the subject. He said there is no proof the families were told they could get the land back.
"(The land) was taken according to federal law, right down to the wire, they were paid for the land," said McMahon. "It's a sad story, but you have to remember, it's almost been romanticized to the point of fiction."
The Harris Neck Land Trust Plan calls for four acres for each of the 72 families. Highsmith said the final details are still being worked out, but the families will be bound to protect the wildlife refuge.
"We're not trying to prepare the land for development, we're not trying to sell the land," Highsmith said.
He also said the public still would be invited to visit the wildlife refuge.
Critics think the plan will hurt the refuge.
"According to the plot plan for the Harris Neck Land Trust and their road layout, it appears that when someone enters the refuge and drives around the refuge it will be like going through a subdivision," said McIntosh County resident Richard Brown.
Brown also is worried the county will lose money if tourists stop coming to the refuge.
"Ninety thousand visitors. Even if they spend $10 in the county, that's $900,000. For a small county like we are, that's a lot of money," Brown said.
Still, the descendants believe the law is on their side. The government took the land using eminent domain.
"As I understand eminent domain, it's for the good of the public," said Harris Neck Land Trust Board Chairman William Collins. "The public is not benefiting from this for the intended use, for the reason it was taken. It was not taken away to make a wildlife refuge. It was taken to make an airfield."
The descendants said the time has come to right an old wrong, but win or lose, they won't quit.
"If Congress doesn't act this time around, we'll continue to fight and fight on," said the Rev. Edgar Timmons of the First African Baptist Church of Harris Neck. "Because right always wins. The right will win, and we'll go back home."
"Lord, I'm praying that we get it back," said 90-year-old Moran. "Even if I'm not able to build, but just to walk down and see the place where I was born and raised. I'm praying for it."
Reginald Hall Arrested; Charged with Two Felony Counts of Theft by Taking article May 2, 2012 Newspaper; read the story @ http://thedariennews.net/editionviewer/default.aspx?Edition=606596e9-6462-4c56-a654-dff9f707a80c
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Activist Arrested
watch news coverage @ http://www.thecoastalsource.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoid=3444956_
WJCL abc & WTGS Fox, Savannah, Georgia
Published: 4/24 5:30 am
Updated: 4/24 7:13 am
Reported by: Rob Macko
A Sapelo Island man fighting with the state over land rights has been arrested for felony theft. Reginald Hall is accused of stealing two vehicles from a non-profit group on the island.
Hall turned himself in at the McIntosh County Sheriff's Office Monday on two felony theft by taking charges. He’s accused of stealing two vehicles from the Sapelo Island Cultural and Revitalization Society – a 1977 Mercedes and a 1994 Chevy sport utility vehicle. Hall said he donated the vehicles to the group several years ago. He and his father are no longer affiliated with the organization.
Hall's attorney, James Yancey, Jr., advised him not to speak on camera, but Yancey said the charges appear to have no merit. “My initial investigation reveals that they are questionable,” he said.
Hall said the vehicles had been stored at his father's place on Sapelo Island. He said he never transferred the titles to the organization or took a tax deduction. Attorney Yancey said ownership will be the key issue. “The obvious question is going to be who actually owns the property. Whether or not he owns it, whether or not a third party owns it, or whether or not the folks who are seeking the warrant own it.”
The McIntosh County Sheriff's Office would not let its investigator talk to WJCL about the case or grant an on camera interview. A representative from the department said a news release will be made available on Tuesday.
Hall has been behind an effort to reclaim lands on Sapelo Island for the Geechee Gullah people from the state of Georgia. In March, Hall told WJCL, “Those lands have since been taken away illegally by the state of Georgia, by private developers, hijacking tax bills."
Hall believes his activism and politics played a role in his arrest. He posted $5,000 bond for the two charges and was released from the sheriff’s office after about three hours.
Copyright 2012 The Coastal Source
Hall turned himself in at the McIntosh County Sheriff's Office Monday on two felony theft by taking charges. He’s accused of stealing two vehicles from the Sapelo Island Cultural and Revitalization Society – a 1977 Mercedes and a 1994 Chevy sport utility vehicle. Hall said he donated the vehicles to the group several years ago. He and his father are no longer affiliated with the organization.
Hall's attorney, James Yancey, Jr., advised him not to speak on camera, but Yancey said the charges appear to have no merit. “My initial investigation reveals that they are questionable,” he said.
Hall said the vehicles had been stored at his father's place on Sapelo Island. He said he never transferred the titles to the organization or took a tax deduction. Attorney Yancey said ownership will be the key issue. “The obvious question is going to be who actually owns the property. Whether or not he owns it, whether or not a third party owns it, or whether or not the folks who are seeking the warrant own it.”
The McIntosh County Sheriff's Office would not let its investigator talk to WJCL about the case or grant an on camera interview. A representative from the department said a news release will be made available on Tuesday.
Hall has been behind an effort to reclaim lands on Sapelo Island for the Geechee Gullah people from the state of Georgia. In March, Hall told WJCL, “Those lands have since been taken away illegally by the state of Georgia, by private developers, hijacking tax bills."
Hall believes his activism and politics played a role in his arrest. He posted $5,000 bond for the two charges and was released from the sheriff’s office after about three hours.
Copyright 2012 The Coastal Source
RACKETEERING CONSPIRACY ON SAPELO ISLAND
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The Old Boy Letter" is an assault on the efforts of the truth. It was posted on a bulletin board at Marsh Landing on
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Georgia State Senate Natural Resources & the Environment Committee
Tuesday, March 13, 2012 3:00PM
Room 450 of the State Capitol
Room 450 of the State Capitol
Press black button to view Senate Resolution 727
Senate Resolution 727
By: Senators James of the 35th, Jackson of the 2nd, Ramsey, Sr. of the 43rd, Jones of the 10th, Harbison of the 15th and others
A RESOLUTION
1 Creating the Senate Preservation of Sapelo Island Study Committee; and for other purposes.
2 WHEREAS, Greater Sapelo Island of McIntosh County, Georgia, is this state’s fourth largest
3 barrier island and the home of important endangered wildlife, treasured historical structures,
4 and the vanishing culture of a significant community consisting of the Geechee Gullah
5 people; and
6 WHEREAS, approximately 97 percent of Sapelo Island is owned by the State of Georgia and
7 is managed by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, while the remaining 3 percent
8 of the island under private ownership; and
9 WHEREAS, the island also consists of the Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research
10 Reserve, the University of Georgia Marine Institute, and the Reynold’s Mansion State Park;
11 and
12 WHEREAS, the Geechee Gullah people are the direct descendants of the slaves of Thomas
13 Spalding who was the original landowner of Sapelo Island, and following the conclusion of
14 the Civil War, ownership of designated lands of the island were legally transferred to these
15 original freed men; and
16 WHEREAS, in 1983, Georgia law established the Sapelo Island Heritage Authority for the
17 purpose of preserving the culture in the endangered historical areas of Sapelo Island; and
18 WHEREAS, a severe erosion of Geechee Gullah culture and heritage has continued to the
19 point that it is in a state of near extinction; and
20 WHEREAS, extensive, unregulated commercial development of the island, without ethical
21 review or oversight, threatens not only the Geechee Gullah people but also the island’s
22 beautiful natural resources and wildlife; and
S.R. 727
- 1 -
23 WHEREAS, such development has been for the personal, private gain of the few at the
24 expense of all of Georgia’s citizens; and
25 WHEREAS, title to lands of the island is a matter of legal dispute, and the state’s current
26 ownership may be the result of unjust enrichment at the expense of the Geechee Gullah
27 people; and
28 WHEREAS, the island has an abundance of historical property that is in need of state
29 funding for renovation and promotion as tourist attractions; and
30 WHEREAS, much of the island is composed of natural areas which need to be protected as
31 habitats for wildlife, nesting birds, and turtles in order to protect the beauty and tranquility
32 of this special state resource; and
33 WHEREAS, many concerned citizens, environmentalist groups, business and property
34 owners, and the original Geechee Gullah residents are gravely concerned about the future of
35 this beautiful island and the survival of its native people; and
36 WHEREAS, before it is too late and the important environmental and historical heritage of
37 the island is lost forever, the State of Georgia needs to immediately undertake an extensive
38 study and proposal development regarding the funding, governance, and future of Sapelo
39 Island.
40 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE that there is created the Senate
41 Preservation of Sapelo Island Study Committee to be composed of seven members of the
42 Senate to be appointed by the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall
43 designate one of the members to serve as chairperson of the committee. The committee shall
44 meet at the call of the chairperson.
45 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the committee shall undertake a study of the conditions,
46 needs, issues, and problems mentioned above or related thereto and recommend any actions
47 or legislation which the committee deems necessary or appropriate. The committee shall
48 review the following matters in particular:
49 (1) Building codes and zoning codes that may be needed for the protection of the
50 environment and the historical heritage of the island;
51 (2) The need for ethical oversight, ethical statutory provisions, and conflict of interest
52 restrictions relating to the governing and development of the island;
S.R. 727
- 2 -
53 (3) The need for greater input or control in the public policy and governance of the island
54 by the residents;
55 (4) The fairness and equality of property tax evaluations and assessments; and
56 (5) Access by and fair representation of the Geechee Gullah people in government public
57 policy effecting the island.
58 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the committee may conduct such meetings at such
59 places and at such times as it may be deem necessary or convenient to enable it to exercise fully
60 and effectively its powers, perform its duties, and accomplish the objectives and purposes
61 of this resolution. The members of the committee shall receive the allowances authorized
62 for legislative members of interim legislative committees but shall receive the same for not
63 more than five days unless additional days are authorized. The funds necessary to carry out
64 the provisions of this resolution shall come from the funds appropriated to the Senate. In the
65 event the committee makes a report of its findings and recommendations, with suggestions
66 for proposed legislation, if any, such report shall be made on or before December 31, 2012.
67 The committee shall stand abolished on December 31, 2012.
S.R. 727
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By: Senators James of the 35th, Jackson of the 2nd, Ramsey, Sr. of the 43rd, Jones of the 10th, Harbison of the 15th and others
A RESOLUTION
1 Creating the Senate Preservation of Sapelo Island Study Committee; and for other purposes.
2 WHEREAS, Greater Sapelo Island of McIntosh County, Georgia, is this state’s fourth largest
3 barrier island and the home of important endangered wildlife, treasured historical structures,
4 and the vanishing culture of a significant community consisting of the Geechee Gullah
5 people; and
6 WHEREAS, approximately 97 percent of Sapelo Island is owned by the State of Georgia and
7 is managed by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, while the remaining 3 percent
8 of the island under private ownership; and
9 WHEREAS, the island also consists of the Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research
10 Reserve, the University of Georgia Marine Institute, and the Reynold’s Mansion State Park;
11 and
12 WHEREAS, the Geechee Gullah people are the direct descendants of the slaves of Thomas
13 Spalding who was the original landowner of Sapelo Island, and following the conclusion of
14 the Civil War, ownership of designated lands of the island were legally transferred to these
15 original freed men; and
16 WHEREAS, in 1983, Georgia law established the Sapelo Island Heritage Authority for the
17 purpose of preserving the culture in the endangered historical areas of Sapelo Island; and
18 WHEREAS, a severe erosion of Geechee Gullah culture and heritage has continued to the
19 point that it is in a state of near extinction; and
20 WHEREAS, extensive, unregulated commercial development of the island, without ethical
21 review or oversight, threatens not only the Geechee Gullah people but also the island’s
22 beautiful natural resources and wildlife; and
S.R. 727
- 1 -
23 WHEREAS, such development has been for the personal, private gain of the few at the
24 expense of all of Georgia’s citizens; and
25 WHEREAS, title to lands of the island is a matter of legal dispute, and the state’s current
26 ownership may be the result of unjust enrichment at the expense of the Geechee Gullah
27 people; and
28 WHEREAS, the island has an abundance of historical property that is in need of state
29 funding for renovation and promotion as tourist attractions; and
30 WHEREAS, much of the island is composed of natural areas which need to be protected as
31 habitats for wildlife, nesting birds, and turtles in order to protect the beauty and tranquility
32 of this special state resource; and
33 WHEREAS, many concerned citizens, environmentalist groups, business and property
34 owners, and the original Geechee Gullah residents are gravely concerned about the future of
35 this beautiful island and the survival of its native people; and
36 WHEREAS, before it is too late and the important environmental and historical heritage of
37 the island is lost forever, the State of Georgia needs to immediately undertake an extensive
38 study and proposal development regarding the funding, governance, and future of Sapelo
39 Island.
40 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE that there is created the Senate
41 Preservation of Sapelo Island Study Committee to be composed of seven members of the
42 Senate to be appointed by the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall
43 designate one of the members to serve as chairperson of the committee. The committee shall
44 meet at the call of the chairperson.
45 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the committee shall undertake a study of the conditions,
46 needs, issues, and problems mentioned above or related thereto and recommend any actions
47 or legislation which the committee deems necessary or appropriate. The committee shall
48 review the following matters in particular:
49 (1) Building codes and zoning codes that may be needed for the protection of the
50 environment and the historical heritage of the island;
51 (2) The need for ethical oversight, ethical statutory provisions, and conflict of interest
52 restrictions relating to the governing and development of the island;
S.R. 727
- 2 -
53 (3) The need for greater input or control in the public policy and governance of the island
54 by the residents;
55 (4) The fairness and equality of property tax evaluations and assessments; and
56 (5) Access by and fair representation of the Geechee Gullah people in government public
57 policy effecting the island.
58 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the committee may conduct such meetings at such
59 places and at such times as it may be deem necessary or convenient to enable it to exercise fully
60 and effectively its powers, perform its duties, and accomplish the objectives and purposes
61 of this resolution. The members of the committee shall receive the allowances authorized
62 for legislative members of interim legislative committees but shall receive the same for not
63 more than five days unless additional days are authorized. The funds necessary to carry out
64 the provisions of this resolution shall come from the funds appropriated to the Senate. In the
65 event the committee makes a report of its findings and recommendations, with suggestions
66 for proposed legislation, if any, such report shall be made on or before December 31, 2012.
67 The committee shall stand abolished on December 31, 2012.
S.R. 727
- 3 -
The People Express their Concerns about Sapelo Island Issues to State Officials article March 8, 2012 Newspaper; read the story @ http://thedariennews.net/editionviewer/default.aspx?Edition=4fb2e7a8-43f8-42a7-b7be-dfdc6ac64712
Battle Brewing on Sapelo Island
watch news coverage @ http://www.thecoastalsource.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoid=3320835
WJCL abc & WTGS Fox, Savannah, Georgia
http://www.thecoastalsource.com/news/local/story/Battle-brewing-on-Sapelo-Island/NxUeVbHNNE2o56whn-w8ew.cspx
Published: 3/01 7:04 pm
Updated: 3/02 7:24 am
Reported by: Rob Macko
There's a battle brewing on Sapelo Island over land rights. The island is home to the Geechee Gullah people. They say the state claimed some of the land their ancestors bought years ago.
Sapelo Island, which is part of McIntosh County, is Georgia's fourth largest barrier island. It’s remote and isolated. You have to take a seven mile ferry ride to get there.
It’s also home to the Geechee Gullah people. They are the descendants of slaves brought here from Sierra Leone in the early 1800s. At one point there were more than 1,500 Geechee Gullah people on Sapelo Island. Today that number has dwindled down to 46.
The make-up of Sapelo Island is changing. Vacation homes are popping up amongst the Geechee Gullah buildings. Many Geechee Gullah believe developers have ignored zoning rules.
“We are trying to stop or prevent it. It's not good for the island,” said Fran Drayton about the development on Sapelo Island. Her great grandmother was a slave on the island.
The state of Georgia owns 97 percent of the island. The Geechee Gullah say their ancestors had deeds to some of that land, and feel it should be returned to them.
Reginald Hall, the chief operating officer of the Raccoon Hogg Community Development Corporation, is fighting to preserve the Geechee Gullah culture. “Those lands have since been taken away illegally by the state of Georgia, by private developers, hijacking tax bills."
Charles Hall grew up on the island. His parents owned a grocery store here more than fifty years ago. He said the island had 13 Geechee Gullah communities at one time. There’s now just one. "There's lands that are rightfully due to the descendants that the state is claiming through a quick claim deed from R.J. Reynolds Foundation,” Hall said. “Well we know this is not right."
Georgia state senators Lester Jackson and Donzella James are sponsoring legislation to create a committee to research land issues. “If some of the residents have legitimate claims to the land that is not occupied by the state, if they have legitimate claims, quite naturally it should be transferred back if the constituents so desire,” Senator Jackson said.
The senators are hosting a town hall meeting on the island Friday night (3/2) at the island's senior center. That’s a possible first step in what could be a long process for the Geechee Gullah people.
The meeting will be held Friday (3/2) from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the Hogg Hummock Senior Center on Sapelo Island. The ferry leaves the mainland at 5:30 p.m. and departs the island at 9:30 p.m.
On Saturday (3/3) the Department of Natural Resources is holding a meeting at the senior center from 10:00 a.m. until 12 noon. The ferry departs the mainland at 8:30 a.m. and returns at 12:30 p.m.
Copyright 2012 The Coastal Source
Sapelo Island, which is part of McIntosh County, is Georgia's fourth largest barrier island. It’s remote and isolated. You have to take a seven mile ferry ride to get there.
It’s also home to the Geechee Gullah people. They are the descendants of slaves brought here from Sierra Leone in the early 1800s. At one point there were more than 1,500 Geechee Gullah people on Sapelo Island. Today that number has dwindled down to 46.
The make-up of Sapelo Island is changing. Vacation homes are popping up amongst the Geechee Gullah buildings. Many Geechee Gullah believe developers have ignored zoning rules.
“We are trying to stop or prevent it. It's not good for the island,” said Fran Drayton about the development on Sapelo Island. Her great grandmother was a slave on the island.
The state of Georgia owns 97 percent of the island. The Geechee Gullah say their ancestors had deeds to some of that land, and feel it should be returned to them.
Reginald Hall, the chief operating officer of the Raccoon Hogg Community Development Corporation, is fighting to preserve the Geechee Gullah culture. “Those lands have since been taken away illegally by the state of Georgia, by private developers, hijacking tax bills."
Charles Hall grew up on the island. His parents owned a grocery store here more than fifty years ago. He said the island had 13 Geechee Gullah communities at one time. There’s now just one. "There's lands that are rightfully due to the descendants that the state is claiming through a quick claim deed from R.J. Reynolds Foundation,” Hall said. “Well we know this is not right."
Georgia state senators Lester Jackson and Donzella James are sponsoring legislation to create a committee to research land issues. “If some of the residents have legitimate claims to the land that is not occupied by the state, if they have legitimate claims, quite naturally it should be transferred back if the constituents so desire,” Senator Jackson said.
The senators are hosting a town hall meeting on the island Friday night (3/2) at the island's senior center. That’s a possible first step in what could be a long process for the Geechee Gullah people.
The meeting will be held Friday (3/2) from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the Hogg Hummock Senior Center on Sapelo Island. The ferry leaves the mainland at 5:30 p.m. and departs the island at 9:30 p.m.
On Saturday (3/3) the Department of Natural Resources is holding a meeting at the senior center from 10:00 a.m. until 12 noon. The ferry departs the mainland at 8:30 a.m. and returns at 12:30 p.m.
Copyright 2012 The Coastal Source
Press blue button to view Sapelo Island Town Hall meeting e-vite.
Press black button to view Senate Resolution 1064
Study of Sapelo Conditions, Needs, Issues and Problems of Sapelo sought by Senator article February 23, 2012 Newspaper; read the story @ http://thedariennews.net/editionviewer/default.aspx?Edition=2698175b-aa1a-4dda-935d-30628c0bbf16
