For some time we’ve been hearing about Gullah culture. Gullah is unique to certain islands of South Carolina and Georgia, and in Georgia it is known as Geechee. It is a blend of African, Caribbean, and Old South (English) elements.
In Myrtle Beach Jamie showed us a professional DVD featuring a woman that goes by the name of Aunt Pearly Sue telling stories and singing in Gullah. We also saw a DVD of last year’s caravan, where Aunt Pearly Sue told stories and sang to the caravaners. Her dialect, our hearing, and the recording quality made her difficult to understand, but most frightening of all, she pulled people up on to the stage and made them participate, and that is definitely not my thing.
Tonight we had a good low country dinner (fried chicken, mashed potatoes, Frogmore Stew aka low country boil, coleslaw) at the Penn Conference Center a few miles from camp, followed by Aunt Pearly Sue in person. I, naturally, was in the 3rd row, as far back as I could get.
She was easier to understand in person and altogether friendlier and not inclined to put us on the slavery guilt trip I expected. She commented that there was no way that that few white people could take that many blacks, that there were also black slavers. And her songs spoke not of placing blame but moving forward. Best of all, I didn’t get pulled to the stage.
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