July 27 to August 4, 2013 has been declared “Gullah/Geechee Nation Appreciation Week” in Beaufort County. The Town of Bluffton presented a proclamation to Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation, at their town hall meeting on Tuesday, July 16. She also received one at the Beaufort County Council meeting on July 22. The mayors of Beaufort and Port Royal will be presenting their proclamations at the Gullah/Geechee Nation International Music & Movement Festival™ 2013 which will be the culmination of the week of celebration.
“Gullah/Geechee Nation Appreciation Week” was launched in the City of Charleston last August and a proclamation was presented to Queen Quet during the Charleston Riverdogs baseball game where she also through the first pitch for “Gullah/Geechee Nation Appreciation Night at The Joe.” That evening was followed by a week filled with tours, an heirs property workshop, and people supporting Gullah/Geechee restaurants, galleries, and businesses in that city and closed with the festival, as will be the case this year.
The Gullah/Geechee Nation launched a site with Gullah/Geechee businesses and historic sites to support from their website and blog at www.gullahgeecheenation.com on Tuesday, July 24 following Queen Quet’s public celebration at the new St. Helena Branch Library. Queen Quet made an official announcements of the week’s activities following a histo-musical presentation entitled “Gullah/Geechee: Celebratin Who WEBE!”
The St. Helena library adjacent to the Penn National Landmark Historic Register District will be the site of the Gullah/Geechee Reunion Day for the“Gullah/Geechee Nation International Music & Movement Festival™ 2013” as well. The overall theme of this year’s festival, “Emancipation een de Gullah/Geechee Nation” will be brought to life through tours, exhibits, Gullah/Geechee fish frys, and Gullah/Geechee community engagements on Hunting Island, St. Helena Island, and in the incorporated townships of the county that are all a part of “Gullah/Geechee Nation Appreciation Week.”
Many events are free and open to the public, but advance tickets for the festival can be obtained at http://gullahgeecheemusic.eventbrite.com. For information about the week of celebration, email the Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition at GullGeeCo@aol.com or call 843-838-1171. Or go online to www.queenquet.com or visit www.gullahgeechee.info.
Queen Quet says, “Cum fa jayn de Gullah/Geechee famlee een wha gwine on whey webe!”
