Gullah Days

Fresh off the heels of W. Kamau Bell’s profile, The Gullah of South Carolina on CNN’s United Shades of America comes this fascinating look at the history of Gullah people on Hilton Head Island. Many readers will recognize Hilton Head as a golf and beach resort and so may be intrigued at its history as stronghold of the unique Gullah culture. This book will be popular all along the mid-Atlantic coast, where Gullah people reside on the many sea islands. The CNN programming also indicates a national interest in this culture and people. Written in a riveting narrative style, this book should appeal to a broad range of folks. Though grounded in solid research, it is full of first-person accounts, anecdotes, photos, illustrations, and lively quotes in the Gullah language that will appeal to general readers as well as history buffs. The authors, all descendants of generations of Gullah people, write with authority and an intimate knowledge of the subject. Several of their ancestors turn up in the narratives, along with family photos and documents. The book will be handsomely designed with maps, photos, and illustrations, and will include sidebars to the historical narrative with topics about Gullah life, culture, and arts. Authors will appear at multiple festivals and events along the East Coast and at other South Carolina cultural events. Despite the growing interest in this subject, there are few books on the subject, the most prominent being Gullah Culture in America, a Blair backlist title that sells briskly more than a decade after publication.