The land has been farmed for generations, but it's being lost to climate change.
Gullah Geechee, descendants of some of the first African slaves in the U.S., have lived and farmed South Carolina's Sea Islands for generations but persistent flooding is threatening their identity.Joseph Fields' family has farmed the same land on the South Carolina Sea Islands for over a century.
But now Fields' land, his family legacy and many others like him are facing a new threat: Rising sea levels, eroding coastline and weakened infrastructure caused by climate change are endangering an entire identity of people defined by a connection to the ocean.Fields is Gullah Geechee -- people who have traced their history to the founding of the United States.
"I am a little worried about that because you have to think about the rising temperatures around the world and how it gets harder to grow plants, especially sustaining moist soil," he said."And then with rising waters, this is already low land, and we're this close to the ocean." "Of course, people can move, but so much of who we are and what we are as people is connected to a sense of home, a sense of place," George said."So, to say that we would be the same without the land is not understanding who Gullah Geechee people are."According to George, the high-density development projects in the community are taking the already bad situation of rising sea levels and putting"it on steroids" by increasing the flooding.
"If you poison the water, you poison the culture, you poison the culture, there's no cultural heritage called Gullah Geechee," she said."We were the richness that poured in our knowledge base, that poured in our spirituality, that poured in our tradition into the foundation of America."Queen Quet knows the importance of connecting generations. Her family has lived on the same plot of land since 1862. The land is her ancestral home.
"When I say that the land is our family, I literally mean that you are talking about the blood, the sweat and the tears of my ancestors being in here. When I sweat, my sweat drops on top of their sweat that was already there," she said."If you say to me, you want to buy my land, you are asking me to sell you my family. So you're telling me, put my family back on the auction block.
Ireland Latest News, Ireland Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
South Carolina man sentenced to 28 years in prison for leaving 19-month-old daughter to die in burning carA South Carolina man was sentenced to 28 years in prison after he fled from a burning car and left his 19-month-old daughter to die in the blaze in order to escape a police chase, according to a news release from the Spartanburg County Solicitor's Office.
Read more »
Dawn Staley makes good on promise to share South Carolina's 2017 women's NCAA championship netTo make good on her promise of passing along her accomplishment to another, Dawn Staley decided ahead of this season to send a piece of her 2017 title net to every Black woman who holds the position of head coach in Division 1 women's basketball.
Read more »
F.W. de Klerk, South African President Who Helped End Apartheid, Dies at 85The last leader of South Africa’s white-minority government, who formed a prickly relationship with the country’s first black president, died in his home in Cape Town following a struggle with cancer. He was 85.
Read more »
F. W. de Klerk, South Africa’s last apartheid president, dies at 85F.W. de Klerk, who shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Nelson Mandela and as South Africa’s last apartheid president oversaw the end of the country’s white minority rule, has died aged 85, spokesperson for the F.W. de Klerk Foundation says.
Read more »
FW de Klerk, South Africa's last apartheid leader who freed Nelson Mandela, dies at 85Former South African president and Nobel peace prize winner FW de Klerk has died at 85, the FW de Klerk Foundation said on Thursday.
Read more »
South Africa's last apartheid president F. W. de Klerk diesF.W. de Klerk, who shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Nelson Mandela and as South Africa’s last apartheid president oversaw the end of the country’s white minority rule, has died at the age of 85.
Read more »