Part One: Rich Connections

Curious Roots

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. He also shares a very personal story about how he altered the patterns of his cultural speech to meet the violent expectations of assimilation to “buckra culture" and how proud he is to see so many returning and reclaiming the culture as he did many years ago.” Music in this episode is courtesy of the Free Music Archive from Makaih Beats “Reflection” (licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License) and Igaghi Anwu by Ugo Mbaise is licensed under a Attribution 4.0 International License. 'Come by Here,' aka 'Kumbaya sung by Henry Wylie, Recorded by Robert Winslow Gordon in 1926 is courtesy of The Library of Congress.