Finding Your Roots – Part 1
September 4, 2024
Want to find your roots? Listen in on why it’s a valuable and important journey to start.
african american history
My New African Name!! Nana Nyarkoa
August 25, 2024
While in Ghana, one of the local kings gave me a new African name during a naming ceremony.
In A Word | Ghana
August 25, 2024
By Luana M. Graves Sellars African Name – Nana Nyarkoa Well, it’s August 15th and
Q&A: What is Heirs’ Property?
May 21, 2024
A large part of my conversation with Luana focuses on a concept called heirs property, a form of land ownership that occurs when someone dies without a will, leaving heirs without a clear title to the property. Without definitive proof of land ownership, heirs property owners can’t get home improvement loans, farm loans, and certain kinds of insurance, among a host of other things.
In A Word | Plantations
March 5, 2024
Plantations visually, tend to be strikingly beautiful places that also embody and represent violence, pain and suffering.
Gullah Geechee Strength, Perseverance and Resilience
September 6, 2023
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.
The History and Traditions Behind Gullah Foodways
July 31, 2023
Gullah Geechee foodways is one of the oldest practices and traditions that’s still being practiced in America today. At its foundation, slavery and the foodways are deeply rooted in cultural West African ancestral ties, as well as adaptability, creativity and circumstance. The meals were and still are designed to be hearty and provide the necessary sustenance and strength to get one through an arduous and physical day.
The Lowcountry Story of Rice
June 24, 2023
By Luana M. Graves Sellars Enslaved women on a rice barge in Georgetown, SC Any
The Slave Preacher | Reverend Murchison
November 25, 2022
As the first Mayor of the Historic Town of Mitchelville, the first Black Mayor in the United States and the first pastor of Hilton Head Island’s oldest church, , Reverend Murchison, an escaped slave from Savannah, was also a significant influence on the Civil War effort and countless generations of Gullah families. After establishing the First African Baptist Church in 1862 with 120 members, all of whom were contrabands, Reverend Murchison went on to baptize and marry 1,000’s of freedmen who lived on the island’s Historic Town of Mitchelville.
The Foundation and Richness of Gullah Geechee Heritage
April 28, 2022
To the Gullah, acreage is more than just a lot that has value. It a priceless, tangible and visible daily reminder of the blood, sweat and tears that the ancestors experienced. Sure, land can be assessed and given a price tag, however, for the Gullah, because of all that went into the initial purchase of the land, the ultimate value of it is priceless. The value of which has made historic Gullah land the culture’s greatest asset.
