Latest news with #GullahGeechee
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Telfair Museum holding multiple events to start June
SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) – The Telfair Museum has announced it will be holding two events to kick off the month of June. First will be the Telfair's Jepson Center hosting a Juneteenth event on Saturday, June 7. The event will take place from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. On June 10, the Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum will partner with the Telfair Museums to present a Juneteenth lecture. It will take place on Tuesday, June 10, at 6:00 p.m. Those in attendance will learn about Gullah Geechee culture, history, and beliefs with Author, Emmy-nominated Performing Artist, and Cultural Interpreter Ron Daise. This event is free and open to the public. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
People are just realizing why Southerners paint their porch ceilings blue
Sitting under the shaded porch of a Southern home, your eye may wander and catch a blue colored ceiling above your head - a staple across the South - and people are just finding out why. The hues of the Southern porch ceiling originated in the 1800s in an attempt to ward off and confuse spirits. 'Haint Blue' was first used in Charleston and is associated with the Gullah Geechee people, descendants of enslaved Africans in parts of Georgia and South Carolina. The color was believed to repel haints, or ghosts and spirits, by tricking them into believing the ceiling was water or sky. Porches in the South continue on with the tradition - but now to keep a different kind of pest at bay. Many southerners claim the light blue colors also repel insects. One viral TikTok had a creator contemplating painting her porch blue to keep bees and spiders away. Another creator, Raguel, responded and said: 'Sometimes us Southerners know a thing or two.' He showed off his porch with the ceiling painted a light blue, and said that both his front and back porch had the color painted on with no issues with spider webs, wasps or 'anything like that'. Users who commented on the video chimed in with their own experiences, with one who said: 'As a pest control technician I tell my customers about this all the time. It isn't full proof but it does help a lot.' 'Painting it blue really does help. It's not an end all solution but it's a drastic improvement,' another wrote. 'We have done the same front and back porch learned it from Louisiana and I'm in Florida. Works well,' one said. Just as the belief that spirits would become confused by the color emulating that of water or the sky, a similar belief is held when it comes to bugs. Ellen O'Neill, the director of strategic design intelligence at Benjamin Moore, told Today: 'If an insect perceives that a ceiling is really the sky, it instinctively wouldn't nest there. 'It depends how deep you want to go into the brain of an insect... but it's not unlike how ladybugs will land on a white house. It's a visual trick.' Dr Michael Reiskind, entomology professor at North Carolina State University, told Good Housekeeping, however, that it is probably more likely that it serves as a less attractive color than a repellent. Sue Wadden of Sherwin-Williams said: 'People paint the porch ceiling blue because the color seems to emulate the natural sky and makes daylight hours feels as though they last just a little longer' 'I doubt any colors are very repellant to insects, except in very specific situations. What is more common is that there are colors that are attractive to particular insects, including some shades of blue for flies, but color repellency is not well-supported,' Reiskind said. 'Most studies that people interpret as showing color repellence are actually only relative, such that colors are not necessarily 'repellant' just not as attractive as other alternatives.' Reiskind went on to say that visual repellence to a specific color is 'likely quite rare', but that an insect may prefer certain colors for resource needs. While the paint colors repellent effects on insects is not proven, many adopt the tradition simply due to its cultural significance, aesthetic or sense of nostalgia. Sue Wadden of Sherwin-Williams told Real Simple: 'People paint the porch ceiling blue because the color seems to emulate the natural sky and makes daylight hours feels as though they last just a little longer.' But the superstitious tradition has been passed down through generations, making it a comfort to many today. 'No one would think twice about painting their porch blue, because their grandmother's and their parents' [porches] were blue,' O'Neill said. 'It's permeated into porch design.'
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘I want everybody to know Gullah belongs to all of us': V.P of Gullah Festival
BEAUFORT S.C. (WSAV)– The 40th annual 'Original Gullah Festival' that is full of culture and history offered kicked off day one of three. Gullah Geechee culture comes from the people who are descendants of enslaved Africans that were then brought to the coastal regions of Georgia and South Carolina. Thats why the founder of Low Country Gullah, Luana Graves Sellars said it is important for the low country to have events like this. 'It's important to know about the history of our area, because we all love it here and the land has been protected for generations because the Gullah love the land,' Sellars said. 'That's why it's important to not only know about the history that's here, but also to know about the contributions that the Gullah people have given to the area.' The festival hosted workshops that people can sign up for, which include doll making, basket weaving, quilt making and etc. 'For us of African American descent, Gullah Geechee descent to be able to celebrate our rich cultural heritage,' Patrice Cole, teacher at the doll making workshop said. 'You know, that's why even within the doll making using the traditional African textiles, it's just it makes our spirit sing.' This event is going on from May 23-25 with a full schedule each day starting at 10 a.m. and is located at the Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park in Beaufort. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Celebrity chef Kardea Brown has grand-opening celebration for first restaurant
CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD)—Food Network star and beloved Charleston Chef Kardea Brown has officially opened her first restaurant, which is located in Charleston International Airport. Kardea Brown's Southern Kitchen, backed by hospitality company Delaware North, is now bringing the flavors of Gullah Geechee culture to travelers passing through the airport. Brown grew up on Wadmalaw Island among the Gullah community, learning how to cook from her single mother and grandmother. In her mother's kitchen, she honed her culinary talent, which has propelled her to success. 'There's a reason and there's a story behind every single item on this menu and so to be standing here in front of you all today at this grand opening of a restaurant that I've seen in my vision as a young child it's surreal,' she said at Thursday's ribbon cutting. The southern kitchen menu features a mix of Gullah and Lowcountry cuisine, such as the fried 'fush' plate, Lowcountry-style deviled eggs, shrimp and grits, Brown's famous mac and cheese, and more. 'At one point in life, I was selling pimento cheese out of the trunk of my car. There was a point in my life where I was homeless,' she recalled with tears in her eyes. 'So, to be here in front of you all with a restaurant in my namesake with my grandmother, my grand aunt, my father, and my family, everyone's here. It just it means the world to me.' In addition to her recent entrepreneurial endeavor, Brown hosts the Food Network show 'Delicious Miss Brown,' co-hosts 'Kids Baking Championship,' and is the author of a New York Times bestseller. The interior of Brown's southern kitchen is meant to reflect Charleston charm with bold colors and cultural pieces spotlighted. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
St. Helena Island land protection upheld by Beaufort County planning commission
ST. HELENA ISLAND, S.C. (WSAV) — Will the Pine Island development benefit the future of St. Helena Island, or is it something that will destroy the culture and natural beauty? Citizens on both sides made sure their voices were heard before it fell into the hands of the county's planning commission. One St. Helena Island native turned to the folks attending Beaufort County's planning commission meeting to make sure her point was heard. 'Do you know what the word preserve means? It means leave it alone!' Emotions were high in the room for many island natives and surrounding community members. It was a pretty even divide for and against the developers' new plans for 49 homes with a golf course. The original proposal called for 145 homes. 'You allow one golf course,' said one citizen in opposition to the development. 'Everybody's going to come with the same package, and you got to give it to everybody. And then Saint Helena will look exactly like every other island that's absolutely disappeared from the Gullah culture.' Developer, Elvio Tropeano, said the new model fits into the islanders' wants and needs, and the counties standards for smart growth. He asked that the property be removed from the cultural protection overlay, which has protected the land from resort development, golf courses, and gated communities since 1999. 'Pine Island was never owned by Gullah Geechee for over 160 years. It was owned by a family that we all knew was not Gullah Geechee,' said one citizen who backed up Tropeano's move toward removing the property from the CPO. But another citizen argued that Tropeano is no exception to the overlay. 'One guy comes along and wants to say, it doesn't apply to me. I'm going to come in here and take these 500 acres and I'll do what I please with it.' Tropeano explained that the new proposal for the development was changed to benefit the residents and natives of St. Helena. It was something he said came from talking and working with the people living on the island. He said one of the goals of the development would be to give jobs and economic wealth to folks on the island. 'The CPO has become a cultural straitjacket. It freezes our people in place economically, while outsiders write grant reports about preserving the soul of St. Helena, as if culture exists without people,' said one citizen backing Tropeano's development. But another citizen said you can't put a price tag on the St. Helena Island culture. 'No one has said tonight the value of our lives because it's priceless. There's no number you can place on that. There's nothing that you can give us to sell us again, like our ancestors were once sold. But the wisdom that emits from that land came to our people in the 1990s.' The planning commission voted unanimously against the project. One board member said they know this is not the end of the developers' push to bring in the 49 homes with the golf course, but at this time couldn't support it because it goes against the CPO. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSAV-TV.
