If you’ve spent any time online, you’ve probably seen posts urging people to “support the Gullah Geechee community.” What you don’t see as often is how. So I made a video breaking that down.
Below is a written breakdown of everything covered in the video, so you have it as a reference.
Who Are the Gullah Geechee?
The Gullah Geechee are descendants of enslaved West and Central Africans who have kept a distinct language, foodways, and land-based culture alive along the coast from North Carolina down to Florida. Their communities face real, ongoing threats today — land loss through heirs’ property disputes, climate-driven flooding and erosion, and development pressure that pushes families off land their ancestors have held for generations.
Here’s what actually helps.
1. Support Land Retention
Heirs’ property — land passed down without a will, held collectively by descendants — is the single biggest vulnerability facing Gullah Geechee families. A single relative selling their share, or unpaid property taxes, can force an entire family’s land to auction. Organizations like the Center for Heirs’ Property Preservation do direct legal and financial work to stop this. Donating to or volunteering with groups like this has a very concrete, measurable impact.
2. Give to Organizations Run by Gullah Geechee People
A few worth knowing:
- Gullah/Geechee Cultural Community Trust (GGCCT) — protects land ownership, invests in cultural resources, and pushes for policy change in southeast Georgia and northeast Florida.
- Gullah Geechee Chamber of Commerce/Foundation — supports Gullah Geechee-owned businesses, seafood-industry traditions, and environmental advocacy.
- Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission — a federally designated National Heritage Area that runs a sub-grants program funding cultural preservation, education, community development, environmental stewardship, and festivals across the four-state corridor.
3. Buy From Gullah Geechee Businesses
Seafood, sweetgrass baskets, art, tours — money spent directly with Gullah Geechee-owned businesses keeps wealth in the community, instead of going to outside businesses that market “Gullah culture” without compensating the people who created it.
4. Visit Respectfully
Book tours led by Gullah Geechee guides. Attend heritage festivals. Buy sweetgrass baskets from the actual weavers along Highway 17 rather than imported knockoffs. Tourism dollars that reach community members directly — rather than outside developers — make a real difference.
5. Advocate Locally
Much of this fight happens at the county level — zoning decisions, land development codes, and comprehensive plans determine whether coastal land gets protected or rezoned for resorts. Groups like GGCCT have pushed county commissions to revise these codes specifically to conserve Gullah Geechee land and culture. Showing up to public comment periods, or writing to local officials in support, carries real weight.
6. Amplify Without Extracting
If you’re sharing Gullah Geechee culture — food, language, craft — in your own content, credit the community, avoid flattening it into aesthetic content, and point people toward Gullah Geechee-led sources rather than positioning yourself as the expert.
None of this requires a grand gesture. Picking even one or two of these and following through consistently does more than a general show of support ever will.
Watch the full video here, and let me know in the comments if you know of other organizations doing this work.