A Lowcountry community is giving back to honor Gullah Geechee members

NORTH CHARLESTON, SC (WCSC) – The Sapelo Island incident sent sound waves from Georgia to here in Charleston, as well as from other countries to the Igala Kingdom in Nigeria.

The North Charleston Community Resource Center is giving back to honor those who died in the Sapelo Island incident a week ago.

“When they fell off that plank, they didn’t have a chance,” said Louis Smith, executive director of the Community Resource Center.

On Cultural Day 2024, a celebration of Gullah Geechee, twenty people went into the water after a dock collapsed and seven died – all elders in the community:

-Carlotta McIntosh

-Charles Houston

-Queen Welch

-William Johnson Jr.

-Isaiah Thomas

-Cynthia Gobbs

-Jacqueline Crews Carter

“These elders did not die in vain. They were truly loved, not only by their families, but by the broader culture,” Smith said.

The resource center returned school supplies and groceries to people in the community because Smith says humanity is part of their culture.

The local representative for the Igala Kingdom in Nigeria, Lori Johnson, also spoke on behalf of the king and the ambassador this evening.

“Wherever we are, we are one. We are absolutely one family. And no matter what happens to someone, no matter where that person is, it concerns all of us as a Gullah family,” Johnson said.

She said she wants to educate people about their history as if she were growing up.

Although she was born in New York, her parents and grandparents were from the Lowcountry, so she spent summers learning how to embrace her Gullah Geechee culture.

“We know that the Sapelo Seven will do their utmost to help open the eyes of our people. And not just our people, but anyone who wants to know more about the Gullah community,” Johnson said.

Her hope for this return is that others can be proud of where they come from, knowing the weight and history it carries.

“And that’s what the culture of the Gullah people is: helping, giving and empowering each other,” Johnson said.