The Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission is hosting the following Black History Month programs:
Film Screenings & Discussion: "Beyond Barbados: The Carolina Connection"
Saturday, Feb. 22 at 3 p.m.
John’s Island Regional Library
Rhoda Greene of the Barbados & Carolinas Legacy Foundation hosts a free afternoon of documentary films that will help you better understand how the experiences of both the enslaved and slave owners on British colonial plantations in the Caribbean shaped and informed the successful cultivation of Indigo, rice and other cash crops in South Carolina and Georgia. Presented as part of the series, "Indigo: The Color that Changed the World" hosted by the Charleston County Public Library.
Films "Beyond Barbados: The Carolina Connection": a new, one-hour documentary film exploring the history and cultural connections between Barbados and South Carolina. Shown courtesy of South Carolina ETV.
"Blue Alchemy: Stories of Indigo" is an independent, feature-length documentary about the history, culture and revival of the blue dye. It’s also about remarkable people around the globe who are using indigo in projects intended to improve life in their communities, preserve cultural integrity and bring beauty to the world.
Awakening the ancestors
Sunday, Feb. 23 at 4 p.m.
Wesley United Methodist Church
2718 River Road, Johns Island
Join us for a free, live performance of the traditional music of the Gullah Geechee people of the South Carolina Lowcountry. We'll sing, learn the "Gullah clap" and make music together as we learn from our host Christal Heyward about the music of our local Gullah Geechee communities and churches. Presented in partnership by Wesley United Methodist Church of John’s Island, Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission, Soulfully Creative Kids, The Progressive Club of John’s Island and the International African American Museum. Free and open to the public. All ages.
Dance Matters: Coming to monuments
Tuesday, Feb. 25 at 6:30 p.m.
Main Library
Join us during Black History Month for a free evening with Charleston-based dance company, Dance Matters, who will perform contemporary dance pieces inspired by the recent and ongoing controversies across the South related to Confederate monuments. The work is set to music by Charleston poet laureate Marcus Amaker and it presents educational vignettes from local history − from the Reconstruction Era through the integration battles of the Civil Rights Movement − weaving in audio recordings and other primary sources, historical material. The performance will be followed by a discussion moderated by historian Damon Fordham with civil rights icon Dr. Millicent Brown and poet laureate of Charleston Marcus Amaker.
For more information visit gullahgeecheecorridor.org.