This is so wonderful-- in every sense of the word. I am a Charleston native and Gullah girl. I'm really proud of my friends (most of whom are are not Gullah-Geechie) for realizing that romanticizing plantations is not cool. I will NEVER live on anyone's plantation, but I suspect that's why they tag it onto the end of every neighborhood's name. I love Charleston (I'm from Mount Pleasant, my family is from Hamlin and Sullivan's Island)but it is a torturous/bittersweet love, so I hesitate to move back. However, I feel like I NEED to go back and teach...so, I probably will. There is one museum near the market that does a good job of not romanticizing slavery and the inherent evil within the institutions of the south. It's so stark. It is near market street...very small from the outside. I cannot remember the name of it, though. I'll look next time I go home. The only reason that I am for Middleton place is for the structures themselves, not because of the tours. The tours are awful because they are so... Oh, they're just so pleasant, so sweet, so...benign? Slavery was none of that. Anyway, I'm being long-winded, again. Thank you for noticing us!
Engaging the Ethnographic Imagination: Anthropology of Gullah/Geechee
Dr. Melissa D. Hargrove
University of North Florida, Spring 2010
In 2008, I applied for a University TLO (Transformational Learning Opportunity) Grant to fund community engagement activities for a select group of students -- in order to share a handful of my own transformative experiences conducting anthropological research among the Gullah/Geechee. Join us as we visit:
CHARLESTON, SC to see first-hand how heritage politics and tourism agendas shape our common sense notions of history at the intersection of race and space;
KINGSLEY PLANTATION in Duval County FL, to vocalize the muted significance of Gullah/Geechee ancestors as the builders, creators, and repositories of knowledge that made the region rich-- using anthropological puzzle pieces to firmly situate Northeast Florida as the anchor of the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor;
ST. HELENA ISLAND, SC, just off the coast of Beaufort, to engage in dialogue and educational workshops with community leaders, elders, artisans, entrepreneurs, and musicians (and maybe even a few deer during our camping trip to Hunting Island); and
DOWNTOWN JACKSONVILLE-- into the heart of our fair city of the New South... to discover a majestic black world that only remains in pictures, songs, and scattered memories-- yet offers a fertile and deserving landscape right at our backdoor where the lessons of this journey may be of use in our efforts to learn from the past and create a better future for us all.
This is so wonderful-- in every sense of the word. I am a Charleston native and Gullah girl. I'm really proud of my friends (most of whom are are not Gullah-Geechie) for realizing that romanticizing plantations is not cool. I will NEVER live on anyone's plantation, but I suspect that's why they tag it onto the end of every neighborhood's name. I love Charleston (I'm from Mount Pleasant, my family is from Hamlin and Sullivan's Island)but it is a torturous/bittersweet love, so I hesitate to move back. However, I feel like I NEED to go back and teach...so, I probably will.
ReplyDeleteThere is one museum near the market that does a good job of not romanticizing slavery and the inherent evil within the institutions of the south. It's so stark. It is near market street...very small from the outside. I cannot remember the name of it, though. I'll look next time I go home.
The only reason that I am for Middleton place is for the structures themselves, not because of the tours. The tours are awful because they are so... Oh, they're just so pleasant, so sweet, so...benign? Slavery was none of that. Anyway, I'm being long-winded, again. Thank you for noticing us!