Aunt Pearlie Sue learned early in life that who she was and the importance of her culture was something to be very proud of. Now a Gullah playwright, performer, and Original Gullah Festival hostess, she's been captivating audiences through incredible storytelling and an amazing variety of ways that keeps the culture front and center.

From the hit TV show Gullah Gullah Island, to performances, to books, Ron Daise has been entertaining and sharing the richness of the Gullah Geechee story. Join in on a fascinating conversation about the motivation behind his newest book, Raptor of the Ricefields, and why we need to preserve our culture for the sake of our past, present, and future.

It's every parent's dream for their children to improve upon and go on to do and be more than they did. When a child picks up the family's traditions and culture, that's even better. For Gullah Geechee Chef Emily Megget's children, not only did they learn their way around a Gullah Geechee kitchen, they are taking their mother's legacy of sharing love and kindness through food to a whole other level.

In the DNA and ancestry.com world, just the thought of searching for your ancestors can be an exciting journey of discovery, as well as daunting, especially if your a Black American. Frustration and hitting the 1870s Slave Wall might be what happens, but it is very possible that you can build a tree well into the early 1800s. Finding documents is fabulous, but the importance of discovering the stories that bridge the paper trail can be just as powerful. So, how do you start and grow your family's branches into a blooming tree? Join in on a fascinating conversation with Barbara Cantaloni, Executive Director of the Heritage Library with step-by-step guidance on how to get started.

In the Black Panther movie, Killmonger said "Just bury me in the ocean with my ancestors who jumped from ships, 'cause they knew death was better than bondage." It's a powerful statement and concept that we don't think or about how enslaved people didn't easily submit to their circumstances and simply accept enslavement. Incredibly, resistance came in many forms.

Living day-to-day within the culture is one thing, but making sure that our children understand why we do, what we do culturally is quite another thing. Sharing and teaching cultural traditions, that include langauge, food, and even hoodoo, don't mean anything if they aren't continued by future generations, so that they can understand, and most of all appreciate where they came from.

From DNA to inherited traits, incredibly strong enslaved women endured and survived so many potentially insurmountable experiences. Regardless of what they experienced, they made a way from no way and had the wherewithal to ensure that they also passed down resistance, strength, generational skills and traditional elements that enabled the culture to survive and thrive.

Going to Georgetown, SC and digging into my ancestral lineage opened up my eyes to so many new experiences......and VERY strong emotions that I wasn't prepared for or expecting. From rice fields to slave cabins to slave cemetaries, understanding and deepening my respect for the ancesters is only the beginning of my Georgetown takeaways.

Unless you have been living under a rock, you know that slavery was a significant part of American History. Unfortunately, history books have glossed over alot of the dirty details. Most southern cities were "slave societies" that often dominated every aspect of the area's economy. Let's talk about the business of slavery, from the middle passage experience to slave auctions and how large some of them were, as well as how each of the "players" were that kept slavery operating for centuries in a lot of port cities along the east coast.

If you know Gullah music, yes, you know her name and have heard her amazing voice. What you might not know about is how deep she is rooted in Gullah culture and the incredible work that she does by giving back everytime she steps off of the stage from performing with Ranky Tanky.

You never know where that cultural spark will come from. For some, it might be from a class assignment. For others, it might be that nagging feeling of curiousity and the desire to just know more. Either way, once you decide to do the research, the more you learn about your roots, can be the beginning of an incredibly fascinating journey of discovery.

For most Black people, we don't know anything about our past. Not our lineage, nor our origins. That's why capturing the stories of our ancestors so that we can understand where we come from has so much value. Only rarely can we learn about those amazing glimpses behind the curtain of our past and connect them all the way to Africa. For those who can, it's a treasured story that deserves to be shared in the hope that everyone else can understand the collective experiences of our ancestors.

So, what really is Black History Month? Where did it come from and why do we celebrate it?

The Gullah Seminole connection is something that most people don't know about but, pockets of communities can be found in Bracketville, Texas, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Mexico, and several Caribbean Islands. Find out their incredible history, where they came from, how they got their name, their traditions and more!

Yep, that's who I am! And PROUD of it! Funny, I get asked alot if I am Gullah and who's behind Lowcountry Gullah. So, here's the story behind the work and why it's become my life's mission and purpose.

Today taking time to celebrate the holidays has become tradition. For enslaved people, the coming new year might have been a time of fear, dread or the anxious time that they've been waiting for to escape.

For generations, celebrating Kwanzaa from December 26th to January 1st has been a end of the year holiday tradition that's becoming more widely known and practiced. So what is Kwanzaa and why are the seven prinicples so important to our daily living? Intrigued? Here's a deep dive into this valued African American holiday that's based on family, empowerment and economic development.

For generations, celebrating Kwanzaa from December 26th to January 1st has been a end of the year holiday tradition that's becoming more widely known and practiced. So what is Kwanzaa and why are the seven prinicples so important to our daily living? Intrigued? Here's a deep dive into this valued African American holiday that's based on family, empowerment and economic development.

The Watch Night Service is a tradition the grew out of slavery, yet still is an important part of how, for many African Americans, is the only way that a new year should be brought in. The practice, called “Freedom Night” or named the Watch Night Service, began in 1862, when anxious slaves were waiting on confirmation of their freedom based on the Emancipation Proclamation. Today, the service continues in the church with prayers of gratitude for another year and blessings over what’s to come.

The Watch Night Service is a tradition the grew out of slavery, yet still is an important part of how, for many African Americans, is the only way that a new year should be brought in. The practice, called “Freedom Night” or named the Watch Night Service, began in 1862, when anxious slaves were waiting on confirmation of their freedom based on the Emancipation Proclamation. Today, the service continues in the church with prayers of gratitude for another year and blessings over what’s to come.