Monday, November 21, 2016

Water is Life: Climate Change and Cultural Strife





What countries did our ancestors come from to the current land mass that is the Gullah/Geechee Nation? 
You will need to purchase “The Legacy of Ibo Landing: Gullah Roots of African American Culture” to look at the charts and maps that we have listed in that regard. Go to http://www.gullahgeechee.biz

There is also a Gullah/Geechee Diaspora. So, we have people in various parts of the world for different historical reasons. This has and will continue to be covered on Gullah/Geechee TV (www.gullahgeechee.tv) and in books that you find at the aforementioned link.





Together We Can Make a Difference: Stop the Violence Vigil
by Gullah/Geechee Nation




Please come out and support this event that is being sponsored by "Seeds of Greatness."

Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation (www.QueenQuet.com) will lead the community unity circle at 5:30 pm on Saturday, December 10, 2016 in Washington Park at the corner of Washington and Newcastle in Beaufort, SC in the Gullah/Geechee Nation.  Please bring your own chair and candles.

We can heal our own community if we come together in unity!



Celebrate the Holy Days in Gullah/Geechee Ways!
by Gullah/Geechee Nation

Cum fa jayn de Gullah/Geechee famlee een sum fun and ting fa de Holy Days!  Satdee, December 3, 10 &17 from 10 am-5 pm een Marion Square Park een Chastun, SC gwine be "Gullah/Geechee Day."   Cum fa support de Gullah/Geechee bizness wha dey dey.

Afta hunnuh dun shop een Chastun, mek hunnuh way doung and shop wid de famlee at de Martin Luther King Park pun St. Helena Island, SC Satdee, December 10 frum 9 am ta 2 pm.  E gwine be de "Holiday Craft Fair."  So, hunnuh gwine wan git een dere.


Ef hunnuh ain gwine nyam pun de fry fish dey or hunnuh wan mo Gullah/Geechee ting fa naym pun, hunnuh kin tek de famlee ta "MJ's Soul Food" pun St. Helena fa a lil bit fa nyam pun and den shop sum mo een de Corners area stores or de Welcome Center at Penn Center while hunnuh dey dey.

 Cap off de ednin Satdee, December 10th at "Gullah Night on de Town" at de St. Helena Branch Library pun St. Helena Island, SC at 4 pm.  Cum yeddi Delores Nevil sharin frum e book fa de chillun while de chillun wok pun sum holidee crafts and ting.  Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation (www.QueenQuet.com) gwine crak e teet wid de famlee bout how we celebrate de Holy Days de Gullah/Geechee Way!



Hunnuh kin bring a dish fa de potluck meal we gwine nyam pun.

 All a disya FREE!  Juss shop a lil bit wid de Gullah/Geechee Famlee!
Water is Life: Climate Change and Cultural Strife
by Gullah/Geechee Nation
by Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation (www.QueenQuet.com)

In 1999, I had my first opportunity of going before the United Nations to insure that they were well aware of the human rights violations that had perpetuated against my people on the Sea Islands and in what is often referred to as the "Carolina/Georgia Lowcountry" and northeastern Florida.  The speech that I made before the Human Rights Commission led to global attention coming to and being sustained for what came to be the Gullah/Geechee Nation in 2000 when I was enstooled as the official head pun de boddee fa de Gullah/Geechee.

In 2000, I had no idea that while we were along the shoreline of Sullivan's Island where over 40 percent of all Africans enslaved in North America came through, that our kinsfolk on the shorelines of Nigeria from which many of our ancestors had been taken were also fighting to take a stand for their human rights.   The Labour, Health and Human Rights Development Centre (LHAHRDEV) was established in 2000, as a-not-for-profit, non-governmental organization, working to secure economic and social justice through human rights.



LHAHRDEV seeks to strengthen the field of human rights with special focus on economic, social and cultural rights democratic governance, indigenous issues, climate justice, and campaign against all forms of human rights abuse and violations and to further develop the tools and explore strategies for achieving their promotion, protection and fulfillment.  This year I was able to represent LHAHRDEV at the United Nations' COP22 while also continuing to represent the same NGO that first got the doors of the United Nations' opened for me-the International Human Rights Association for American Minorities (IHRAAM).

IHRAAM promotes the self-determination of a number of indigenous peoples in the Americas.  They promote public and governmental awareness of all legal instruments for human rights protection as subscribed by the United Nations and international law.  IHRAAM is a NGO with consultative status with the United Nations.

The coupling of the missions of these two NGOs during "World Water Day" and "Oceans Day" at COP22 was both a highlight of my journey and a painful reminder of all that we have to fight for as people of coastal heritage.  #WaterisLife was the theme of the day that struck me very hard since for decades I have been telling people that in the Gullah/Geechee Nation "the land is our family and the waterways are our bloodline."  Trulee fa we, wata da life fa tru!



As I had time to ponder this theme while sitting in a session led by partners that the Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition and the Gullah/Geechee Nation have at the Union of Concerned Scientists and US/ICOMOS, they stated how cultural heritage is a source of resiliency.  However, in the climate change discussion, people have been looking at how to protect cultural heritage without also realizing that would mean that you need to focus on the continuation of cultural practices.  They were looking more at where do you build a building or how to maintain the built environment.  Now, people realize that they need to look at the living patterns of the cultural groups that are actually sitting on the assets.  The unfortunate thing is that many of these groups are not leveraging those assets.

I thought of how the Gullah/Geechee Nation does recognize the assets that we have and how the battle is under way and has been for quite some time regarding who has the right to leverage these assets.  We documented this in my book, "WEBE Gullah/Geechee: Cultural Capital & Collaboration Anthology."



The questions of how to translate "water language" into policy given the fact that climate change is the biggest threat to cultural heritage sites and coastal cultural communities in the future arose as part of the discussion and I questioned why one presenter did not have the culture and the people listed as informing policy on her chart.  However, she stated that it should have been there.  This oversight at such a critical event and critical time spoke volumes to the very thing that this panel was seeking to present.  Those that study situations and do not live on the front shorelines of it often miss critical aspects of what is essential to the matter and to the communities affected.  This can make a major difference in what is translated and what interpretations are conveyed.

Fortunately, GOD had it that we were joined in the room by a brother from Nigeria that was living the very issue that we were here to discuss.  Prince Goodlove provided an overview of the fighting and civil strife that was taking place in his country and how this has replaced the harmony in Nigeria because the water is gone in several places.  The people of the north that no longer have water are now going south and doing hostile takeovers of lands where the water is still flowing.  When he used these geographic terminologies, I again could only nod and agree because the Gullah/Geechee Nation's onslaught came through people attempting to occupy the waterfronts and that has contributed to many of the extreme negative impacts on the water quality of our area and the loss of cultural heritage continuation of some sea work practices.  This onslaught has come via those from the north coming south as well.  As Prince Goodlove said, "Those from the north now come south to take the land that the people of the south need to sustain themselves." I could barely remain calm.





I gave thanks for being in this space representing my homeland and the Motherland.  I felt it was Divine Order that Prince Goodlove and Queen Quet Goodwine would connect here.  When I spoke to him, he immediately asked "When are you coming back here?  We need you here!"  I felt the sincerity in his statement and I in my soul I knew that my people needed me here and that is why the Gullah/Geechee Nation sent me, but is was not a coincidence or accident that it would be the Nigerian family that made this opportunity possible for me.   As is African tradition, the elected and enstooled royalty were here to get into the flow of this moment and represent the lives of our people.  The leaders of the living traditions must teach the others of the world how water is truly life and not simply a hashtag for a day.


As we departed this session, a question that the Gullah/Geechee Sustainability Think Tank members bring forth in numerous arenas lingered as one to be addressed in the policy making and the implementation plans-"How do you measure the non-economic value that a community suffers in reference to its culture?"  At that moment, I wanted to be able to distribute "WEBE Gullah/Geechee: Cultural Capital & Collaboration Anthology" to everyone in the room that wanted the answer and I gave thanks that we were already ahead in seeking the answer to this question.  May folks now come to those that live the cultures of the coast for the answers.  Hunnuh need fa yeddi we and be paat ob CULTURE IN ACTION wid de people ob de sea!

Given that we already realized decades before this day that #WaterisLife and without it, there would be hardship and strife, it is not a surprise that we would be able to inform the global community of what we need to seek to do in this regard.  Now, let's see how the global community will flow together in healing the earth and changing the climate in a positive way and not just celebrating a hashtag for a day.

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Read of the entire Queen Quet COP22 Journey:





Be a part of history and contribute to the journey:



















List of Pan African, Black Nationalist, and Traditional government fundraisers



Supporting all these worldwide fundraisers would cost about 50 U.S Dollars. Give as much as you can, it all goes to support infrastructure for African American communities.
Our main donation page at OyoTunji African Village. 

OAV Partners.
Oyotunji African Village Partners, Kingdom Investors and Online Patrons provide us with generous contributions that allow us to stay afloat. Because of them we have the resources to continue to fulfill our commitment to our community by expanding as the premier institution for Yoruba culture and education in North America. Become an OAV Strategic Partner today and contribute to the building of America's oldest authentic African Village. Email us today.

See below for the entities and individuals that have helped to sustain our community.

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Help save Gullah Gee Chee land. Fighting hard for African liberation since the 17th century, descendants of Angola, the Gullah Gee Chee people, managed to preserve some of their native tongue, their ancestry culture and pride. From slave revolts to freeing other slaves, civil rights struggle, Pan-Africanism, many of the members of the famed, "Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church" of Charleston are Gullah Gee Chee descendants. Because of the low state of economy of South Carolina's Low Country, government seizure of their lands and vicious taxation, many Gullah people are losing their lands. Support the Gullah Gee Chee Traditions school that teaches youth vocational skills and trades, from blacksmithing, fishing, construction, gardening, shopkeeping, basketweaving, artistry, and more! Give to help with the Gullah Gee Chee African traditions. Here is their GoFundMe page: https://www.gofundme.com/panafricanfamilyem 
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Dr. Umar Johnson Fredrick Douglas Marcus Garvey Academy- A school for boys and girls modeled after the original Tuskegee Institute under Dr. Booker T. Washington

He is raising $5 Million dollars hopefully from supporters that are willing to give $5.00 a month, preferably by mail. But you can donate online here now: 

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Also support the Collect Black People Movement. They have a .27 a cent day, $8.10 fundraiser a month, they already have a thousand people signed up. Click here: http://www.cbpm.org/neweconomicplan.html
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Much love for my believers on the Nation of Islam they also have a fundraising that's set at .30 cents day, about $10.00 a month. They are shooting for 16 million people, trying to raise about 250 million in a year. Click here: http://www.economicblueprint.org/
For more info: http://noimoa.com/
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Empire Washitaw De Dugdahmoundyah. The Nation of ancient American Mound Builders they came before Columbus from Africa on Egyptian boats. Africans were sailing the seas for thousands of years. The Washitaw are ruled over, like the Gullah, by a Queen Mother, Her Highness Devine: Empress Wendy Farica Washitaw. Please show your support for their nation. We are only as strong as our weakest link as African Diaspora. The Washitaw donation page: http://empirewashitaw.org/index.php?p=1_15_Make-a-Donation ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please support all these Black Nationalists efforts to provide true economic freedom and total liberation for all African Diaspora. The hand has five fingers and they all must be strong, work in coordination, to build a stronger Diaspora.
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This Economic Venture is headed by Dr. Marimba Ani and Baba Baruti  




ULU is an acronym for Us Lifting Us Economic Development Cooperative, LLC, a global business organization designed to change the way we do business with and among ourselves and with others. Our primary objective is to put in place successful business models that give us the capacity to gain significant control of the economics of our communities and nations, and to help free us from the current state of economic domination and exploitation by multiple forces in the world.

ULU represents the leading edge of a new and exciting movement to integrate large-scale cooperatively owned business enterprises into the economic landscape of Black communities. This strategic innovation is vitally necessary and has proven to be effective in other communities globally.

 How Does ULU Work? 

1). ULU, as a For-Profit Member Owned Cooperative, with the capacity to attract thousands of members, pools its considerable base of resources, both intellectual and financial.

2). ULU then uses these resources to open and operate for-profit co-op businesses that provide needed goods and services, that create jobs and that generate profits. Profits are used for expansion and for rewarding its’ Members/Owners with a direct monetary return.  

3). All ULU Co-Op Businesses are owned by the general Membership, but each Co-Op Business is managed by the Member/Owners who work at that particular location. This arrangement helps to insure that ULU Businesses perform exceptionally well and that they contribute to the security and welfare of their communities. 

These methods provide ULU with a practical way to capture and redirect massive resources to build and sustain our communities and to stay the hands of those who seek to dominate and exploit our people.   
  
*ULU takes the strong position that significant economic advancement is impossible with traditional entrepreneurship and business ownership alone. Radically different approaches are required. The ULU Cooperative Economic Empowerment Plan adds the otherwise missing and vitally necessary element.

 Why should you consider joining ULU?

 Millions of our people sincerely desire a stronger and more vibrant economic foundation for our communities. And there is widespread frustration with our failure to make better use of the large sums of economic resources that flow through our collective fingers. If you count yourself among these numbers, join with ULU and help to build the machinery of real and lasting economic power for our people. We need you.
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Henry Garnett said, "If we are to bleed, then lets bleed all at once.
Those who have it to give should give large amounts. In the upper ranges of $250.00 one time. If we can get 10,000 people to give $250 that would be $2.5 Million to complete , His Royal Majesty Oba Adefunmi II's 7 year plan, all in month. So give now! Up you Mighty Nation-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Queen Mother of Africa, Her Royal Highness the Nnabagereka (Queen) of Buganda, Sylvia Nagginda Luswata. Please give $1.00 per household member and show your support for women and children of Africa. As we know women suffer the greatest on the weak political platform of Africa and children die in record numbers. The Queen Mother makes 3/4th of the Africa world, women and children, her first priority. Her example must be followed worldwide, Her Royal Highness the Nnabagereka (Queen) of Buganda, Sylvia Nagginda Luswata, is bringing is the change of Africa. Donate: http://www.nnabagereka.org/en/
Our goal is $1 Billion, raised by all Africans worldwide, all languages and all ethnic groups.

Put $100.00 in a Black Bank for Jan, 2017. 

If you have a passport you can put money in a West African or East African bank or even Caribbean. You must be applying for your passport as of yesterday, this is very important! 

  Here is a list of Black Banks near you! 





The Plane Earth and the Primordial Waters 







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