Gullah/Geechee Collaboration

During summer and fall 2019, CREATE Scholars Nfamara K. Dampha and Emma DeVries worked with Gullah/Geechee Nation Representative Glenda Simmons Jenkins to examine historical and ongoing racialized dispossession of Gullah/Geechee lands. You can read more about their collaborative research process in this blog post. This work builds on a longstanding research partnership between Gullah/Geechee Chieftess Queen Quet, Representative Jenkins, and CREATE co-director Kate Derickson, with significant contributions from CREATE Program Coordinator Kaleigh Swift. 

1. Stormwater Retention Ponds in Nassau County: Towards a Mixed-methods Analysis of Pond Impacts on Gullah-Geechee Residents
   This report launches a collaborative research process into the economic, cultural, and environmental  impacts of stormwater retention ponds (a common side effect of development) on Gullah-Geechee lands in Nassau County, FL. It emerged as a result of initial data gathering through remote geospatial data analysis, policy research, as well as site visits and consultation with community members on a trip to Nassau County in July 2019.  
2. Home Value: Social & Economic Analysis of Black Wealth in Florida
   Using a cost-benefit analysis (CBA) approach to assess and quantify the net present values of several homeownership scenarios, this report presents findings on the social and economic value of black (Gullah/Geechee) wealth in homeownership in Nassau County, FL. Data were mainly derived from the American Community Survey, Zillow, and relevant websites. Gullah residents were also consulted through survey administrated during a community meeting held in July 2019. CBA findings estimate total black wealth in Nassau County homeownership at US$1.2 billion by 2050. 
3. This video offers a synopsis of findings from the Home Value report above, assessing Gullah/Geechee land wealth on the eastern coast of the United States in South Carolina and North Florida. Here, Nfamara K. Dampha reflects back important wisdom shared by Gullah/Geechee members on the importance of land to self-determination and identity. In doing so, he contextualizes land loss and explains the mechanism through which the state and corporate interests have systematically expropriated this land.