From staff reports
In the newest initiative of The Help Save Gullah Geechee Land Campaign, 20 free sets of the six-volume “Lucy’s Kids and Money” Series were presented to Beaufort County Library Director Amanda Brewer Dickman on Friday, Sept. 10 at the Hilton Head Island Branch Library.
Making the presentation on behalf of the Pan-African Family Empowerment & Land Preservation Network (PAFEN) was founder and CEO Theresa White, PAFEN Executive Vice Chair Stephen A. McHayle, and “Lucy’s Kids and Money” author and businesswoman Lucille Tyler-Baldwin of Bluffton.
“PAFEN views the presentation of “Lucy’s Kids and Money” children’s financial literacy books as a critical step in ensuring that the next generations of Gullah Geechee taxpayers will be well-equipped to handle the financial end of sustaining ownership of the ancestral homes and land being passed down to them,” White said in a release.
White also noted that since 2015, PAFEN has prevented the loss of Gullah Geechee land assessed at more than $15-million– primarily by paying delinquent property taxes in eight of the nine South Carolina counties included in the federal Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor.
“Juggling limited financial resources has long been a challenge for many land-rich, but cash-poor Gullah Geechee families,” White observed. “But Lucille Tyler-Baldwin has done a remarkable job of translating important financial literacy terms into simple to understand language that can be shared by entire families of all races.”
The “Lucy’s Kids and Money” series retails for $95 per set online. Tyler-Baldwin – who recently joined the PAFEN Advisory Board – made a generous $7,500 in-kind contribution to The Help Save Gullah Geechee Land Campaign by allowing PAFEN to purchase 125 sets of her books at the publishing cost.
“We definitely appreciate her efforts to support our mission of saving property owned by people of African descent!” White added.
In August, PAFEN distributed 40 sets of “Lucy’s Kids and Money” books – covering the topics Credit, Basic Taxes, Saving, Credit Cards, When I Grow Up, and Financial Mumbo Jumbo – to Gullah Geechee elementary, middle, and high school students participating in the Marshview Community Organic Farm Tutorial Program, the DeGullah Way Tutorial Program, and the New Life Deliverance Temple Academy Tutorial Program on St. Helena Island. The tutorial programs were funded through grants written by Sara Reynolds Green, Owner of the Marshview Community Organic Farm, on behalf of the both the S.C. Coastal Community Development Corporation and New Life Deliverance Temple.
Plans are in the works to distribute free copies of “Lucy’s Kids and Money” to the libraries of local Title I public schools, among other organizations that educate and empower youths.
Tyler-Baldwin unveiled her “Lucy’s Kids and Money” series at the Zen Den’s Bookfest 2021, which was held in partnership with the Pat Conroy Literary Center on May 29.
Adult financial literacy books authored by Tyler-Baldwin include “Sick and Tired of Being Broke: One Woman’s Journey on the Road to Financial Empowerment,” “In the Driver’s Seat,” and “Women of Color Handling Their Business and Creating Wealth.”
