well, I was lucky enaough to have been invited on the trip with UNF...kinda like a chaparone, only...hum...anyway this was a life changing experience for me. Life changing may be a loaded term but the trip definetly reconfirmed what a comunal and traditional lifestyle has to offer. The Gullah Geeche have lived for centuries on these sea islands, they have been the primary cultivators and stewards to these beautiful and ecologically significant landscapes. They have given the Historical paradigms of the South as well as the plantation ideology a voice that exposes the disjuncture in tourism and representation of the fantasy South.
Three things- FOOD, SEWING (double meaning), FAMILY
It is impossible not to find these aspects in Gullah life.
God bless the Gullah Geeche Nation.
Showing posts with label St. Helena. Show all posts
Showing posts with label St. Helena. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Forgive this unfurling of thought which may or may not be but minimally connected to the course material.
It seems to me that the United States, as a location of study, is conspicuously absent from postcolonial discourse. Yes, America is and was an empire, but it was also a colony. I know I have much more reading to do, but if what I have read could be considered at least a representative sample then the postcolonial seems to be relegated to the east, the third world, and the other.
Is it because after winning independence the colonizers did not retreat? Is the US unique as a postcolonial nation? Is the native population as invisible elsewhere as they are here?
The common inheritance of postcoloniality is a Western political structure, a stratification of hybrid and native populations, and more than their share of ethnic strife brought about by the intake of foreign labor and the uneven doling of economic and political resources. America is no exception to this, but has inherited something else. What it is would take much more thought than this blog post could warrant.
The American Revolution was not so much repulsion of the colony and crown, but rather mitosis that disjoined to two without destroying either. If it written in myth it would be not unlike Romulus and Remus birthed from Zeus's imperial headache. And the process of nation-making does require the use of myth.
How does this postcolonial gaze affect the comprehension of course material and experience? Well, at this point we are all postcolonial subjects. Are the problems experienced by the Gullah communities on Wadamlaw, Sapelo, and the other Sea Islands caused by a nested coloniality that operates transparently? The development of "plantation" communities are like colonies themselves. They disrupt the original communities ability to subsist self-sufficiently, forcing the native Sea Islanders into menial wage labor, while also opening up new markets to national and international corporations.
The sense of community on St. Helena was impressive in its implementation of cosmology to adapt and maintain itself. The bartering of resources and talent to accomplish tasks so that money can be used toward the increasing land taxes, the pooling of money by families to purchase their lands, the physical layout of those family compounds; all show how the West African circle cosmogram represents continuity and interconnection between the individual, the family, and the community.
It seems to me that the United States, as a location of study, is conspicuously absent from postcolonial discourse. Yes, America is and was an empire, but it was also a colony. I know I have much more reading to do, but if what I have read could be considered at least a representative sample then the postcolonial seems to be relegated to the east, the third world, and the other.
Is it because after winning independence the colonizers did not retreat? Is the US unique as a postcolonial nation? Is the native population as invisible elsewhere as they are here?
The common inheritance of postcoloniality is a Western political structure, a stratification of hybrid and native populations, and more than their share of ethnic strife brought about by the intake of foreign labor and the uneven doling of economic and political resources. America is no exception to this, but has inherited something else. What it is would take much more thought than this blog post could warrant.
The American Revolution was not so much repulsion of the colony and crown, but rather mitosis that disjoined to two without destroying either. If it written in myth it would be not unlike Romulus and Remus birthed from Zeus's imperial headache. And the process of nation-making does require the use of myth.
How does this postcolonial gaze affect the comprehension of course material and experience? Well, at this point we are all postcolonial subjects. Are the problems experienced by the Gullah communities on Wadamlaw, Sapelo, and the other Sea Islands caused by a nested coloniality that operates transparently? The development of "plantation" communities are like colonies themselves. They disrupt the original communities ability to subsist self-sufficiently, forcing the native Sea Islanders into menial wage labor, while also opening up new markets to national and international corporations.
The sense of community on St. Helena was impressive in its implementation of cosmology to adapt and maintain itself. The bartering of resources and talent to accomplish tasks so that money can be used toward the increasing land taxes, the pooling of money by families to purchase their lands, the physical layout of those family compounds; all show how the West African circle cosmogram represents continuity and interconnection between the individual, the family, and the community.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Random Blogs During Spring Break Trip!
During our recent trip to St. Helena Island SC, I encouraged students to blog when we had a few minutes--some very profound statements in these seemingly ordinary blogs...
Monday AM reflections on 1st day:
(Jasha):The first day of camping was a great success! The camp site is beautiful. I feel like everyone is getting alot closer and I have had alot of fun building a fire, setting up tents, and running into some interesting forest creatures. The funniest thing thus far has been witnessing the havoc the racoons have caused. Seeing Stonie sprint after a racoon that stole a new bag of chips, as if it were still salvagable, will forever be burned into my memory. I am so greatful that I was chosen to be apart of this experience, and I cannot wait to go into the community today and learn more about the Gullah/Geechee culture.
(Sara):There are raccoons everywhere, Super raccoons. Raccoons with plans. It is very scary.
I think everyone in my tent is going on about 4 hours of sleep. But, I think we’re all excited. The sunrise was beautiful and Jessica’s organic aerosol pancakes were delish. It was a good way to start the day!
I can see why people want to live here.
(Melon):I miss my bed. BUT! I DID see a fox! This one had FOUR legs! AND he was precious! Dr. Hargrove and I were traipsing through the forest at night, and we came upon a grey fox, watching us from under a tree. He made a little barkie noise at us, and I nearly fell over with glee. Later, I encountered him again, and his vixen was also near by! I miss Gerald. More about the rest of the day later.
Tuesday AM reflections of Monday GG tour/workshop
(Krysta):Yesterday’s tour with Queen Quet was very enlightening. Talking about heir’s property and the issues that have affected not only her family, but many others was very eye opening. These discussions connected many of the readings that we have done throughout the course of the semester and was a great way to bring everything together. What resonated the most with me was the discussion about how you can’t learn everything from a book. You have to get our and experience things on a first hand basis in order to truly understand what the struggles that members of the Gullah community face on a daily basis.
(Melon): I am still very excited about meeting Queen Quet yesterday! It’s always rather surreal meeeting famous people for whom one has a lot of respect, and I must admit I was rather tongue-tied. I was also impressed at how down-to-earth and funny she was! I was further impressed to see that the Queen of the Gullah Nation lives in such humble (and pristine) surroundings. Not to discredit Dr. Hargrove in any way, but it was also very satisfying (for lack of a better word) to hear all of these things that we’ve been discussing in class, directly from the horse’s mouth. It was rather like seeing the Eiffel Tower for the first time, reading about certain, monumental things for years, and then finally getting to experience them first hand, is quite surreal.
(Mr. Broadfoot): During our visit to the senior citizen community center, our class was fortunate enough to hear the locals sing a spiritual and conduct their morning prayer. Afterwards, someone mentioned the activities that the two student groups would be participating in. The other group of visiting students was preparing to do community work and this was mentioned after the spiritual was sung. Subsequently, the locals were thrilled to discover that there would be students helping with yardwork and other tasks. Within moments, they restarted the spiritual and, with no prior rehearsal or discussion, the entire group added this new development into the spiritual that had just been sung. Each new development that was introduced into the conversation was quickly and effortlessly adapted as lyrics which the lead singer called for and the rest of the group responded to. The lack of self consciousness on their part and the way in which their spiritual was able to take a current situation and, through group improvisation, extend the existing spiritual to reflect ongoing events was really amazing. The song was a living and organic construct which easily incorporated ongoing relevant issues without any prior planning whatsoever. This aspect of Gullah oral tradition was fascinating to me and I intend to follow this pattern of call and response as much as possible during the rest of our visit. These folks seem to have no “shame in their game” and that may be part of why they are so easily able to adopt any situation into their collective spiritual processes. The caller calls and the rest of the group responds in a way that suggests a closeness and lack of self conscious “image” that I have rarely encountered elsewhere.
Monday AM reflections on 1st day:
(Jasha):The first day of camping was a great success! The camp site is beautiful. I feel like everyone is getting alot closer and I have had alot of fun building a fire, setting up tents, and running into some interesting forest creatures. The funniest thing thus far has been witnessing the havoc the racoons have caused. Seeing Stonie sprint after a racoon that stole a new bag of chips, as if it were still salvagable, will forever be burned into my memory. I am so greatful that I was chosen to be apart of this experience, and I cannot wait to go into the community today and learn more about the Gullah/Geechee culture.
(Sara):There are raccoons everywhere, Super raccoons. Raccoons with plans. It is very scary.
I think everyone in my tent is going on about 4 hours of sleep. But, I think we’re all excited. The sunrise was beautiful and Jessica’s organic aerosol pancakes were delish. It was a good way to start the day!
I can see why people want to live here.
(Melon):I miss my bed. BUT! I DID see a fox! This one had FOUR legs! AND he was precious! Dr. Hargrove and I were traipsing through the forest at night, and we came upon a grey fox, watching us from under a tree. He made a little barkie noise at us, and I nearly fell over with glee. Later, I encountered him again, and his vixen was also near by! I miss Gerald. More about the rest of the day later.
Tuesday AM reflections of Monday GG tour/workshop
(Krysta):Yesterday’s tour with Queen Quet was very enlightening. Talking about heir’s property and the issues that have affected not only her family, but many others was very eye opening. These discussions connected many of the readings that we have done throughout the course of the semester and was a great way to bring everything together. What resonated the most with me was the discussion about how you can’t learn everything from a book. You have to get our and experience things on a first hand basis in order to truly understand what the struggles that members of the Gullah community face on a daily basis.
(Melon): I am still very excited about meeting Queen Quet yesterday! It’s always rather surreal meeeting famous people for whom one has a lot of respect, and I must admit I was rather tongue-tied. I was also impressed at how down-to-earth and funny she was! I was further impressed to see that the Queen of the Gullah Nation lives in such humble (and pristine) surroundings. Not to discredit Dr. Hargrove in any way, but it was also very satisfying (for lack of a better word) to hear all of these things that we’ve been discussing in class, directly from the horse’s mouth. It was rather like seeing the Eiffel Tower for the first time, reading about certain, monumental things for years, and then finally getting to experience them first hand, is quite surreal.
(Mr. Broadfoot): During our visit to the senior citizen community center, our class was fortunate enough to hear the locals sing a spiritual and conduct their morning prayer. Afterwards, someone mentioned the activities that the two student groups would be participating in. The other group of visiting students was preparing to do community work and this was mentioned after the spiritual was sung. Subsequently, the locals were thrilled to discover that there would be students helping with yardwork and other tasks. Within moments, they restarted the spiritual and, with no prior rehearsal or discussion, the entire group added this new development into the spiritual that had just been sung. Each new development that was introduced into the conversation was quickly and effortlessly adapted as lyrics which the lead singer called for and the rest of the group responded to. The lack of self consciousness on their part and the way in which their spiritual was able to take a current situation and, through group improvisation, extend the existing spiritual to reflect ongoing events was really amazing. The song was a living and organic construct which easily incorporated ongoing relevant issues without any prior planning whatsoever. This aspect of Gullah oral tradition was fascinating to me and I intend to follow this pattern of call and response as much as possible during the rest of our visit. These folks seem to have no “shame in their game” and that may be part of why they are so easily able to adopt any situation into their collective spiritual processes. The caller calls and the rest of the group responds in a way that suggests a closeness and lack of self conscious “image” that I have rarely encountered elsewhere.
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