BLACK HISTORY MONTH
CULTURE AND LAND KEEPERS: Gullah Geechee Heritage in Brunswick County By Wendy Kaplar
E
nslaved Africans knowledgeable in rice farming were brought to the Southeast coast in the 18th and 19th centuries. Slaves from the “Rice Coast” or “Windward Coast” were preferred because they had been cultivating rice for 3,000 years. After the abolition of slavery, American descendants of those Africans—the Gullah Geechee people—settled in remote villages along the southern coastal swath, where, because of their relative isolation, they formed a unique culture that has endured. They created a culture with deep African roots, with distinctive arts, crafts, foodways, music, and language.
Beatty and the Rice Festival Community leader George Beatty is passionate about keeping the living history of rice culture alive. He is chairman of the North Carolina Rice Festival, scheduled for March 2-4, 2023. Historic and cultural preservation is at the core of Beatty’s mission. He is working to restore, celebrate, and teach the story of Brunswick County’s African American culture, whose roots are intertwined with the Gullah Geechee people of the coastal areas and Sea Islands. Rice crops played a central economic and social role within the coastal town of Navassa, where Beatty grew up and took a boat to attend school. “I’m very proud of my education,” Beatty says. A North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University graduate in electrical engineering who worked on nuclear energy projects in conjunction with NASA, he attributes his education and achievements to his cultural upbringing, in which one had to be
14
creative, innovative, and industrious with the tools given. “You couldn’t just run to a store if something was broken or needed a part. You had to be thoughtful about how to fix or repair an item around the farm,” Beatty says.
Preserving Reaves Chapel George Beatty, along with his brother Alfonso Beatty, actively advocates for preserving Reaves Chapel, a 100-year-old African American church in Navassa. They aim to collect a barn, Rosenwald School, juke joint, and shotgun houses around the site, so educators, students, and the public can explore and learn firsthand about Gullah Geechee and African American rice culture. Jesica Blake is stewardship and community conservation director for the Coastal Land Trust and guides the monitoring and development of conservation properties. Blake says, “On a personal
NORTH CAROLINA RICE FESTIVAL EVENTS March 2: “Ancestor Reveal” Event in conjunction with AfricanAncestry.com March 3: Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Gala Leland Cultural Arts Center, 6-10 p.m. March 4: IndoorOutdoor Rice Festival Events 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. Free to public Brunswicktown/Fort Anderson Historic Site, Winnabow Learn more at northcarolinaricefestival.org/
The Coastal Buzz
WINTER 2022-23