Curious Roots

The second part of our interview with Mr. Griffin Lotson brings us to our final episode of season two. Mr. Lotson continues his story about Kumbaya. Discussed in this episode, Drums and Shadows: Survival Studies Among the Georgia Coastal Negroes and its connection to Mr. Lotson's story about Kumbaya as well as the infamous Old Man Thorpe father to my third great grandmother Ethel "Effie" Proctor. He also shares how he became the manager of the nationally acclaimed Geechee Gullah Ring Shouters.   Image: Du Bois, W. E. B. The Georgia Negro Darien, McIntosh Co., Ga. Distribution of Negro inhabitants. Georgia Paris Darien France, ca. 1900. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2013650364/.

Rounding out the final two part episode of season two, is Mr. Griffin Lotson, Georgia Commission Vice Chair for the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission,Chief Executive Officer of the non-profit Sams Memorial Community Economic Development, Inc., and manager of the nationally acclaimed Geechee Gullah Ring Shouters.  I sat down with Mr. Lotson last year to discuss his own deep roots in McIntosh County, Georgia heritage and his work to share Gullah Geechee culture globally. He talks about being a part of the beginnings of the creation of the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission and how this culture work brought him to share the true story of the famous folk song Kumbaya.

We continue our conversation with Adolphus Armstrong of the Lowcountry DNA Project in this episode. We return once again to the issues of land, removal, heirs property, and exploited labor as those topics relate to Harris Neck and beyond.  We also talk about the book The Half Has Never Been Told : Slavery And The Making Of American Capitalism by Edward E. Baptist and how the patterns  of enslavers trafficking stolen African people across the country are seared into the DNA of Black folks today. (Image: My 3rd great grandmother Ethel "Effie" Proctor (neè Thorpe)

Researcher and genealogist Terri Ward always says all roads lead back to Coastal Georgia.  This week's guest Adolpohus Armstrong, who heads up the Lowcountry DNA Project with Ujima Genealogy, helps people trace those roads of their roots back to Coastal Georgia. Adolphus shares how he got started with the project and the many fascinating stories that have emerged from his work. Learn more about the Lowcountry DNA Project and how you can get involved. 

Season two of Curious Roots continues with the second part of our interview with Mr. Winston Relaford.  He shares the difficulties of attempting to get justice from the federal government and the struggle to find politicians who are willing to stand up and do what's right. Mr. Relaford also reminds us what it means to have Harris Neck restored both to the community and to the cultural legacy of Gullah Geechee descendants across the world. Image: Map of Mcintosh  County GA. white with black lines and colorful dots created by W. E. B. Du Bois, The Georgia Negro McIntosh County, Georgia. McIntosh County Paris Georgia France, ca. 1900. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2013650363/.

Curious Roots begins its second season with three two-part interviews with community members and descendants of Harris Neck. Our series of interviews begins with Mr. Winston Relaford  who is the Chairman of the Harris Neck Land Trust and direct descendant and son of Harris Neck. We spoke to Mr. Relaford in July of 2023 to talk about his family's deep roots in Harris Neck and the community's continuing struggle for justice. Mr. Relaford's memories of Harris Neck beautifully recall the community's deep connection to the land and how the land nourished the echoes of Indigenous West African fishing practices. He also shares his connection to Amelia's Song and how it connected Harris Neck to the tiny village of Senehun Ngola in Sierra Leone.

In the final bonus episode, we trace the roots of the current unrest in state legislatures across the country to the politics born out of the Reconstruction era.  We discuss the Tennessee state  legislature in particular and how it compares to what happened to the Georgia state legislature under Reconstruction.  Image of the Tennessee State Capitol Building is courtesy of The Tennessee State Library and Archives. This image of the building was taken during the Civil War when the city of Nashville was under Union control and  was the first Confederate capitol building to fall to the Union Army in February 1862.

Welcome to bonus episode two!  Terri Ward researcher and geneaologist from Ujima Geneaology joins me for a closer look at the legacy of Mustapha Shaw.  Terri and I unpack what instructions this ancestor left for us in his legacy of defiance and "surthrival." Image of the 33rd United States Colored Infantry Regiment in Beaufort South Carolina courtesy of the Library of Congress.  Mustapha Shaw and my third great grandfather Lester Grant both served with 33rd United States Colored Infantry.

We end season one of the podcast by uncovering the roots of the fight to return to Harris Neck and reflect on what the future may hold for this struggle.

Miss Mary tells the story of what happened in Harris Neck on July 1942 in her own voice.

In this episode we'll learn what life was like on Harris Neck from some of my ancestors and how their deep connection to this piece of land on Turtle Island makes their removal especially harmful. 

We continue to unravel the history of Harris Neck with researcher and genealogist Terri Ward of Ujima Genealogy that includes my ancestor's connection to the legendary Mustapha Shaw.

Researcher and genealogist Terri Ward of Ujima Genealogy frames the history of Harris Neck inside the larger story of Coastal Georgia. Find Terri Ward at Ujima Genealogy of Coastal Georgia: https://ujimagen.org/ Episode features 4o Acres and Mule by Oscar Brown Jr.: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sm_opzUhQj4 Music courtesy of Makaih Beats: https://makaihbeats.net/

The story of Harris Neck comes alive for me at the kitchen table of Mr. Wilson Moran and his late mother, Miss Mary Moran in the summer of 2000. Music courtesy of Makaih Beats https://makaihbeats.net/

The Curious Roots podcast digs deep in the living earth of our personal, familial and communal lives to help us understand how we exist in the world today. Season one of the podcast begins with the maternal story of my own curious roots, still buried, but breathing and holding fast in Harris Neck, Georgia.   Curious Roots is hosted by Michelle McCrary and is co-produced by Moonshadow Productions and Converge Collaborative.