By
Luana M. Graves Sellars
When we think about slavery, we don’t usually consider the day to day or the gory details. The general knowledge of captivity, hard labor and cruelty are the basics, but for the most part, the actual experience that enslaved people went through are forgotten. Slavery inflicted generational trauma in so many different ways; fear, uncertainty, humiliation and mental and physical stressors.
Enslaved people must have been very confused about the uncertainty of where they were going, why and what their future would be. The Middle Passage, which took months, depending on the destination, was in a word, horrific. The image above demonstrates how ships maximized the space to accommodate as much human “cargo” as possible. Not only was the space cramped, it severely restricted their movement. Food was limited and most were malnourished. The area at the bottom of the ship was dark and the voyage was rough. Spacing forced them to defecate and expel bodily functions upon one another. Sickness, disease and death were common. Most ship captains only allowed them above deck every few days and so if someone died next to you, the body might not be removed for several days. Being sprayed to wash off was random and probably only once a week. Fresh air and sunshine were also limited, which attracted bugs and made the ship’s pungent odors so awful, that the ship could be smelled from a significant distance from the shore as it came into port. Yet, the Gullah Geechee survived the arduous voyage.
Captivity stripped away individuality. Enslavers forced new “Christian” names and traditions upon them. No longer did their African names, language, roots or customs matter. They were to be English speakers who followed the religious and American traditions of the land that they were forced upon. Yet, through resilience, the Gullah Geechee created their own language and maintained their African traditions for generations.
One of the primary casualties of slavery was the permanent separation of families. It started in Africa and was continuously repeated time and time again. Entire families were separated. Women who were being bred to be mothers were often separated from their children. Separation was used as a punishment, which made showing affection towards others taboo, out of the fear that it could be used against them. Yet, the Gullah Geechee race and their families persevered.
The physical stress that was placed upon enslaved people was far above inhumane. It was back breaking forced labor in extremely hot or cold weather, usually with light torn clothing (if you could call it that) and no shoes. They labored from “can see to can’t see” or until they were told to stop. Usually they were only provided one meal and in some cases, they were required to work before the sun rose. During the Civil War Combahee River Raid, it is documented that the enslaved were working in the rice fields at 4 am.
The forced labor was often above normal productivity and usually pushed them beyond their physical limits and capabilities every.single.day. The expectation was that they were forced to labor everyday. Some had Sundays off, usually when they were owned by Christian families who took them to church. Most were not able to speak to each other, but they were able to sing work songs, which helped with focusing on the music as they worked and allowed them to move in sync with each other through the fields. The songs were made to match the rhythm of what they were doing. If they were hoeing the field and planting, the beat or lyrics of the song went with the strike of the hoe, picking the plant or the dropping of seeds. Yet, the Gullah Geechee found the strength to wake up every day and persevere.
Fear was a common element of enslavement. Fear of doing wrong or even the suspicion of wrongdoing. Any misstep, even a look, could result in cruelty or a horrible beating. Some enslavers enjoyed instilling malicious treatment, founding gruesome ways to torture and beat the enslaved into submission, compliance or as a prevention from running away. Yet, the Gullah Geechee survived.
Regardless of all of the unbelievable experiences that they had, the Gullah Geechee forgave. It’s a powerful thing to achieve collectively for so many people. Of course, it may not have been 100% of all of the enslaved but, significant numbers of them eagerly tried to assimilate into American society and sought acceptance as citizens.
When the Civil War broke out, they were among the first to enlist even though, initially, they were not welcomed into the military ranks. They wanted to become soldiers and began fighting anyway, often risking their lives and the freedom that they were afforded under the protection of the Union Army.
After emancipation, the Gullah Geechee experienced the cruelty of racism and Jim Crow laws in a land that they had for generations, adopted as their own. Many left the South during the great migration North, but a lot stayed behind. The land that they lived on, the sea islands, was considered to be garbage land. Most white people didn’t want it and didn’t want to live there. It was undesirable land that no one wanted because it was too hot, humid, marshy and bug infested, which led to disease. Yet, even though the Gullah Geechee started with nothing but the clothes on their backs, they found the resilience necessary to endure. They used what they had, made lives for themselves, bought land and raised their families.
In the Gullah culture, there are several reasons to be filled with pride. As a descendant of slaves who inherited land that was purchased as a result of the blood sweat and tears of an ancestor, is usually a common source of pride and a respect for such an accomplishment. To most people, land has a fixed value that can be appraised. For the Gullah, the land is priceless. There’s no amount of money that can replace the pride of ownership that comes from land that was purchased by someone who spent their life enslaved, became free and with literally only the clothes on their backs, and worked hard enough to earn enough money to buy land. The land might have been bought for roughly $200 at the time, but the pride in providing their descendants a legacy and something to inherit, is just that, priceless.
West African enslaved people, despite everything that was thrust upon them, found the strength, resilience and perseverance to survive. Today’s Gullah Geechee are their direct descendants who continue to stand upon the shoulders of their powerful ancestors. The ancestors left land for their descendants, because not only was their blood in the soil, they knew that land equaled prosperity. Land is as valuable to a culture as its language and traditions. It is tied directly to the customs and the community that practices and celebrates them. Unfortunately, today, the Gullah Geechee are experiencing an incredible amount of land loss.
Here’s some examples:
On Sapelo Island, in Georgia at one point, there were 800 Gullah Geechee residents. Today, only 29 Gullah Geechee remain.
On Hilton Head Island, in South Carolina, in 1956, roughly 3,500 acres were Gullah owned. Today, that number is around 700-800 acres.
Community by community and island by island, the Gullah Geechee are fighting to hold on to their land. Losses to developers, raising taxes, municipality regulations or codes and heir’s property, are affecting them every day. Yet, the Gullah Geechee have the resilience to continue to fight to hold on to the heritage and legacy that the ancestors left, so that they would have generational wealth and a place to call home.
Josephine Wright is one of those fighters. In the CNN video below is the most recent news piece about her story. It is a perfect example of how the Gullah Geechee have the perseverance to hold on to what’s theirs.
I’ve produced a few podcasts that you can listen to that focus on specific elements of slavery like torture and the role and treatment of women. To listen in, click here.
To read more individual stories of Gullah Geechee courage, perseverance and survival, click here.
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