Latest news with #GullahGeechee
The Guardian
3 hours ago
- Business
- The Guardian
The US food bank keeping Gullah Geechee farming traditions alive: ‘Our local food is like no other'
For the Lowcountry Food Bank (LCFB), helping to provide food access is a collaborative project. For nearly two decades, the LCFB has worked with farmers, smaller non-profits and community and church-based organizations to support the 10 coastal counties of South Carolina. The group provides food to seniors or others who, with the rising costs of living, are struggling to pay for food and groceries. The organization also works to feed children, either through schools, families or within communities. 'We meet the needs or try to support the provision of equitable access to food through a variety of different means,' said Nick Osborne, the president and CEO of the LCFB. But we're also looking at filling those gaps where there may be food deserts through other forms of access to food, whether that be through mobile distributions or other forms of partnerships as well.' The Lowcountry is one of the historic homes of the Gullah Geechee people, descendants of Africans who were enslaved in the remote, coastal Sea Islands in the US. That remoteness allowed the Gullah Geechee to retain many culturally African elements and the creation of a new culture and language. Because of climate change and gentrification, Gullah Geechee are fighting to retain their lands – lands on which their families have lived for hundreds of years. Gullah food producers, including farmers, are essential partners for the LCFB. 'The model of food banking has really evolved in the past couple of decades,' said Margaret Burn, the vice-president of strategic initiatives at LCFB. 'It's gone from a place of really just providing emergency food assistance or charitable food assistance to a multi-pronged approach, recognizing that providing food assistance isn't going to solve food insecurity.' The Lowcountry's food system is based on and built off of Gullah Geechee foodways. Much of the region's tourism industry – Charleston alone drew nearly 8 million visitors last year – is likewise based off of those foodways. From the early 1600s until the abolition of slavery, Gullah Geechee ancestors produced crops that were also prevalent in west Africa: sweet potatoes, okra, peas and other foods, according to Dr Emory Shaw Campbell, a Gullah Geechee community leader and educator. Today, many of those same foods and crops make up traditionally southern diets. 'The foodways that draw people here are the foodways that the Gullah people brought with them across the water,' Burn said. 'So it is important to preserve that for the economy, but also for the culture and the character of our communities.' Much has been written about the overdevelopment and gentrification of Gullah Geechee lands, systemic exploitation that has pushed Gullah Geechee people from their homes and islands. But the LCFB and the Gullah farmers with whom the organization partners are working to ensure that people have access to their traditional foods, foods which are typically healthier and more nutritious. 'In order for us to keep the character of our community, we need to keep those farmers on that land and we need to keep that land in the agricultural section for economic reasons and environmental reasons and cultural preservation,' Burn said. 'It's a privilege for the food bank to be able to be part of preserving those foodways.' The LCFB sources culturally relevant foods for people who use their services, people who Burn calls 'neighbors', providing them with familiar foods that their elders ate. 'When you're in a situation that you need to seek food assistance, there's usually a lot going on. There's a lot of pressure,' she said. 'Having something familiar and comforting is important. That's what local food really does for folks.' In 2005, the LCFB launched the Growing Food Locally program, which aims to help grow farmers' businesses while making the local food system more resilient. Since then, they have worked with Jackie Frazier, of Barefoot Farms on St Helena Island, and his partner to help develop relationships with other farmers. Frazier has helped educate other farmers on information from the state department of agriculture and US Department of Agriculture. They have also partnered with groups like the Coastal Conservation League to help grow farmers' business. In 2020, at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, they began thinking about sustainable food distribution in a different way – relying on food from thousands of miles away simply wasn't practical. In partnership with the Gullah Farmers Cooperative Association, the LCFB is able to offer culturally relevant Gullah Geechee foods grown by Gullah Geechee farmers, such as okra, tomatoes, squash, corn, yams and rice. Vernita Dore, general manager of the Gullah Farmers Cooperative, said that the partnership was also useful for helping the farmers stay in business and pass farming on to the next generation. Offering culturally relevant foods through the LCFB helps facilitate both passing on generational knowledge and culturally relevant foods. 'We all care about our children, and we want to make sure that they have good, healthy food choices, and we work together to ensure that happens,' she said. 'These are the types of food that we grew up on, like the dark green vegetables, greens with cabbage and our nice tomatoes and eggplant. These are really healthy food choices. 'Part of the history of the Gullah Farmers Cooperative is that we have some strong, healthy people in our communities that grew up on our local vegetables and produce that we were able to grow in the field. We feel like our children and all children deserve that same type of quality food that we enjoyed as children.' Established in 2010 by a group of small farmers with the goal of ensuring that the Gullah farming tradition continues, the Gullah Farmers Cooperative wanted to figure out a way to pay farmers well for the produce they grow. The local school district was also looking for a way to provide more nutritious, locally grown food to children. The twofold mission still motivates the cooperative, which has grown to about 22 farmers, spread out across the Lowcountry, today. When they are fulfilling larger orders, sometimes the cooperative will reach out to farmers in the middle of the state, who are within a 400-mile radius. 'They're really proud, and we're proud, too,' Dore said. 'We're really grateful for the opportunity to have started this to honor them. In a lot of ways because our farmers, I think, are the bedrock of American society – what they do, what they bring to the table and what they bring to communities, the nation: good, homegrown nutritious food that you can track. We can track where our food comes from. From every farmer, we can tell you what and exactly where that food comes from. We're very proud of that, and they're very proud of that. Our local food is like no other. It's absolutely delicious.' In working with the LCFB, the Gullah Farmers Cooperative is helping to alleviate food insecurity while providing access to high-quality foods. 'We just want to uplift the communities by providing nutritious, farm-fresh produce, because that indeed, in turn, promotes healthier lifestyles for everyone,' Dore said. 'That's our goal here at the Gullah Farmers Cooperative. Along with that, to honor our farmers, the legacy of farming, and to hopefully pay them a decent pay for the work and the toil that they do to bring us this food because there's none like it.'
The Guardian
8 hours ago
- Business
- The Guardian
The US food bank keeping Gullah Geechee farming traditions alive: ‘Our local food is like no other'
For the Lowcountry Food Bank (LCFB), helping to provide food access is a collaborative project. For nearly two decades, the LCFB has worked with farmers, smaller nonprofits and community and church-based organizations to support the 10 coastal counties of South Carolina. The group provides food to seniors or others who, with the rising costs of living, are struggling to pay for food and groceries. The organization also works to feed children, either through schools, families or within communities. 'We meet the needs or try to support the provision of equitable access to food through a variety of different means,' said Nick Osborne, the president and CEO of the LCFB. But we're also looking at filling those gaps where there may be food deserts through other forms of access to food, whether that be through mobile distributions or other forms of partnerships as well.' The Lowcountry is one of the historic homes of the Gullah Geechee people, descendants of Africans who were enslaved in the remote, coastal Sea Islands in the US. That remoteness allowed the Gullah Geechee to retain many culturally African elements and the creation of a new culture and language. Because of climate change and gentrification, Gullah Geechee are fighting to retain their lands – lands on which their families have lived for hundreds of years. Gullah food producers, including farmers, are essential partners for the LCFB. 'The model of food banking has really evolved in the past couple of decades,' said Margaret Burn, the vice-president of strategic initiatives at LCFB. 'It's gone from a place of really just providing emergency food assistance or charitable food assistance to a multi-pronged approach, recognizing that providing food assistance isn't going to solve food insecurity.' The Lowcountry's food system is based on and built off of Gullah Geechee foodways. Much of the region's tourism industry – Charleston alone drew nearly 8 million visitors last year – is likewise based off of those foodways. From the early 1600s until the abolition of slavery, Gullah Geechee ancestors produced crops that were also prevalent in West Africa: sweet potatoes, okra, peas and other foods, according to Dr Emory Shaw Campbell, a Gullah Geechee community leader and educator. Today, many of those same foods and crops make up traditionally southern diets. 'The foodways that draw people here are the foodways that the Gullah people brought with them across the water,' Burn said. 'So it is important to preserve that for the economy, but also for the culture and the character of our communities.' Much has been written about the overdevelopment and gentrification of Gullah Geechee lands, systemic exploitation that has pushed Gullah Geechee people from their homes and islands. But the LCFB and the Gullah farmers with whom the organization partners are working to ensure that people have access to their traditional foods, foods which are typically healthier and more nutritious. 'In order for us to keep the character of our community, we need to keep those farmers on that land and we need to keep that land in the agricultural section for economic reasons and environmental reasons and cultural preservation,' Burn said. 'It's a privilege for the food bank to be able to be part of preserving those foodways.' The LCFB sources culturally relevant foods for people who use their services, people who Burn calls 'neighbors', providing them with familiar foods that their elders ate. 'When you're in a situation that you need to seek food assistance, there's usually a lot going on. There's a lot of pressure,' she said. 'Having something familiar and comforting is important. That's what local food really does for folks.' In 2005, the LCFB launched the Growing Food Locally program, which aims to help grow farmers' businesses while making the local food system more resilient. Since then, they've worked with Jackie Frazier, of Barefoot Farms on St Helena Island, and his partner to help develop relationships with other farmers. Frazier has helped educate other farmers on information from the state department of agriculture and USDepartment of Agriculture. They've also partnered with groups like the Coastal Conservation League to help grow farmers' business. In 2020, at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, they began thinking about sustainable food distribution in a different way – relying on food from thousands of miles away simply wasn't practical. In partnership with the Gullah Farmers Cooperative Association, the LCFB is able to offer culturally relevant Gullah Geechee foods grown by Gullah Geechee farmers, like okra, tomatoes, squash, corn, yams and rice. Vernita Dore, general manager of the Gullah Farmers Cooperative, said that the partnership is also useful for helping the farmers stay in business and pass farming on to the next generation. Offering culturally relevant foods through the LCFB helps facilitate both passing on generational knowledge and culturally relevant foods. 'We all care about our children, and we want to make sure that they have good, healthy food choices, and we work together to ensure that happens,' she said. 'These are the types of food that we grew up on, like the dark green vegetables, greens with cabbage and our nice tomatoes and eggplant. These are really healthy food choices. 'Part of the history of the Gullah Farmers Cooperative is that we have some strong, healthy people in our communities that grew up on our local vegetables and produce that we were able to grow in the field. We feel like our children and all children deserve that same type of quality food that we enjoyed as children.' Established in 2010 by a group of small farmers with the goal of ensuring that the Gullah farming tradition continues, the Gullah Farmers Cooperative wanted to figure out a way to pay farmers well for the produce they grow. The local school district was also looking for a way to provide more nutritious, locally grown food to children. The twofold mission still motivates the cooperative, which has grown to about 22 farmers, spread out across the Lowcountry, today. When they're fulfilling larger orders, sometimes the cooperative will reach out to farmers in the middle of the state, who are within a 400 mile, local radius. 'They're really proud, and we're proud, too,' Dore said. 'We're really grateful for the opportunity to have started this to honor them. In a lot of ways because our farmers, I think, are the bedrock of American society – what they do, what they bring to the table and what they bring to communities, the nation: good, homegrown nutritious food that you can track. We can track where our food comes from. From every farmer, we can tell you what and exactly where that food comes from. We're very proud of that, and they're very proud of that. Our local food is like no other. It's absolutely delicious.' In working with the LCFB, the Gullah Farmers Cooperative is helping to alleviate food insecurity while providing access to high quality foods. 'We just want to uplift the communities by providing nutritious, farm-fresh produce, because that indeed, in turn, promotes healthier lifestyles for everyone,' Dore said. 'That's our goal here at the Gullah Farmers Cooperative. Along with that, to honor our farmers, the legacy of farming, and to hopefully pay them a decent pay for the work and the toil that they do to bring us this food because there's none like it.'
New York Times
12 hours ago
- New York Times
Class and Identity in Hilton Head: The Gullah v. Wealthy Landowners
When Galen Miller wants to visit the South Carolina cemetery where much of his ancestry is buried, he must get permission to enter Hilton Head Plantation, a private, gated community on the north end of Hilton Head Island, where the wealthy jostle for tee times between trips to the beach and sips of gin and tonics. On a recent July morning, a guard waved Mr. Miller through the gate. He meandered past multimillion-dollar homes and lush green fairways to the Talbird Cemetery, now squeezed between a scenic creek and a luxury condominium. 'To be able to come here and visit my family from time to time, it really touches your heart,' Mr. Miller said. 'It also saddens you to see what's happening.' Mr. Miller is Gullah Geechee, a community descended from enslaved West Africans who were forced to work the cotton and rice plantations of the Carolina Lowcountry. The Gullah Geechee are now struggling to preserve sacred traditions as wealthy northerners swallow up valuable waterfront property. A lawsuit filed this spring is accusing the mostly white newcomers, spilling out of gated golf havens in the original Hilton Head developments, of impeding access to burial grounds in a clash of tradition vs. economic development, with racial undertones that date back centuries. 'Oh my God, we went through enough,' said Arlene Covington, 67, a plaintiff in the lawsuit. 'Now we can't even get to the cemetery. What else do you want?' For decades, Mary Mack, 73, would visit the Big House Cemetery on St. Helena Island, S.C., home to one of the region's largest remaining Gullah populations. But in 2023, a newly arrived local resident, Theresa Aigner, placed a gate around her property, blocking access to Everest Road, which leads to the cemetery. Ms. Aigner provided a gate access code to the Gullah and to funeral homes that needed to get to the Big House Cemetery. But in May 2024, when several Gullah families arrived for the annual Mother's Day cleanup, the code had been changed, according to the lawsuit, filed by the Bailey Law Firm and the Center for Constitutional Rights, on behalf of Ms. Mack and several other Gullah. 'It was kind of shocking,' Ms. Mack said. The Gullah tried, to no avail, to persuade Ms. Aigner to give them access. 'So if I want to go see my mom back there I have to talk to you?' Ms. Covington asked rhetorically. 'I'm not a child.' The tipping point came later that month, when five local Black residents died in a car crash. With their families unable to reach the cemetery, some of them were interred 20 miles away. The public and private acrimony that followed captured a larger debate over land use and gentrification raging on St. Helena Island as developers look to expand beyond an almost saturated Hilton Head. In one email exchange between a land preservation activist and Ms. Aigner, the new landowner referred to the local Gullah Geechee as 'a bunch of ungrateful, ungracious, self entitled, hard headed and ignorant people' to whom she owes nothing, according to the legal complaint. The lawsuit, filed April 30 in the gracious old city of Beaufort, S.C., also names two other defendants, Robert Cody Harper and Walter Robert Harper Jr., who erected a gate on property that abuts the cemetery. Ms. Aigner has said that she put up the gate to protect her property after a funeral procession left it damaged. 'I'm so tired of being villainized,' she told The Island Packet, a local outlet, last year. She also insisted that there were other ways to reach the cemetery besides going through her property, including through property owned by a plaintiff in the case. Indeed, her attorney, Gregg Alford, filed a motion on July 18 to dismiss the lawsuit. The motion states that the individual plaintiffs already 'have direct platted and judicially protected access to the cemetery parcel which they claim to own and control.' (Sheila Middleton, another plaintiff, owns the property on which the cemetery sits, according to the lawsuit.) Mr. Alford also argued that Everest Road was not the most convenient route to the cemetery. 'We look forward to resolving this matter,' said Mr. Alford, who also represents the Harpers. 'We want them to be able to honor their ancestors.' While not a part of their official legal complaint, lawyers for the Gullah descendants say county officials are trying to prevent the types of cultural clashes exemplified by this lawsuit. 'Beaufort County, which includes St. Helena Island, has actually enacted provisions as part of its cultural protection overlay that prohibits putting up fences and gates around communities to block access to the cemeteries on the island,' said Emily Early of the Center for Constitutional Rights. These gates can disrupt generations-old practices of visiting and caring for burial grounds, preventing families from performing important spiritual and memorial traditions. For Black South Carolinians, the Lowcountry is a place of unfulfilled promises. Its land fell under Gen. William T. Sherman's Jan. 15, 1865, Special Field Orders 15, made famous by the pledge of 40 acres and a mule to freedmen. The order 'reserved and set apart for the settlement of the negroes now made free,' as a result of the Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation, 'the islands from Charleston, south, the abandoned rice fields along the rivers for thirty miles back from the sea, and the country bordering the St. Johns River, Florida.' Before that year was out, President Andrew Johnson had pardoned the region's white landowners, who then kicked Black people out. During the Civil War, St. Helena became a staging ground for Reconstruction. In 1861, Union troops occupied the Sea Islands, and enslavers fled. A group of idealistic Harvard-educated Bostonians arrived to educate the formerly enslaved and prove they could thrive as free people. It was known as the Port Royal Experiment. The freedmen 'worked these same fields as enslaved people, and they came to own these lands during the Civil War,' said Robert L. Adams Jr., director of the Penn Center, a cultural site on St. Helena in what was once a school for the formerly enslaved. But in the 1950s, a developer named Charles Fraser had a vision for Hilton Head Island as a top tourist destination. It would become a developer's paradise. Through a combination of underpriced sales, property tax hikes and unfavorable property inheritance rules, the Gullah lost most of their land. Gullah families once owned more than 3,500 acres on Hilton Head Island, according to the nonprofit Lowcountry Gullah. They now own less than 700. Dr. Adams said he sees the Gullahs' fight as part of the larger battles over race, identity and wealth that are roiling the country. 'Democracy is not just about who has the most money,' he said. 'Too often, public policy has relegated African Americans to being placeholders of land. So we occupy land that's considered unuseful' until 'people find a way to make it useful again, or they can buy it really cheap.' Earlier this month, Taiwan Scott, 49, who has a real estate license but considers himself more of a Gullah activist, gestured to a set of beachfront houses on Hilton Head Island. 'Pretty much where all these oceanfront homes are was all Black land,' he said. 'They used to have a couple nightclubs down here.' Many of the Gullah who were once there now live inland in neighborhoods dotted with trailer homes. But Mr. Scott has complicated feelings about development. Newcomers on Hilton Head Island are increasingly professing their own anti-development sentiment, he said, pulling up the drawbridge just as Gullah people are becoming aware of their property rights and how to make money from the few plots of land they still own. Efforts are underway to educate more Gullah about land rights, said Alex Brown, a Gullah who sits on the Hilton Head Island Town Council, so that if development does come to the islands surrounding Hilton Head, such as St. Helena, they can take advantage. For instance, instead of selling their land outright, Mr. Brown recommended that Gullah with valuable waterfront property lease it to developers and share in the profits. Mr. Brown recently stood in the middle of the 18th fairway at Harbour Town Golf Links on Hilton Head Island under a blazing high-noon sun. The 18th is the final hole of the RBC Heritage Classic, a PGA Tour event held the week after the Master's tournament in Augusta, Ga. The fairway sits less than 100 yards from a Gullah gravesite. Newcomers arrive with little understanding or respect for the island's deep Gullah cultural roots, he said, which are the 'heart and soul' of the island. Some residents are unaware that Gullah people even exist on the island. 'Unless it's us, from the Gullah culture, telling the story,' Mr. Brown said, 'there's no mention of the significance of a burial ground that goes back two centuries.' But others still question how any development would benefit the Gullah. They've been burned before. 'Many of our new neighbors come in, and they're about the friendliest group of people you'll ever want to meet until they get settled,' Ms. Mack said. 'And as soon as they're settled in, in come the gates and the locks, and they don't want to speak to you anymore.' She added, 'Enough is enough.'
Al Arabiya
18-07-2025
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Slave Descendants Still Fighting for Georgia Court to Hear Discrimination Claims From 2023
Black landowners from a tiny island community returned to a Georgia courtroom Friday, urging a judge to let them move forward with a lawsuit that accuses local officials of illegally weakening protections for one of the South's last Gullah-Geechee communities founded by freed slaves. Residents and landowners of Hogg Hummock on Sapelo Island have yet to see a judge weigh the merits of their discrimination case nearly two years after they first sued McIntosh County. They say county commissioners targeted a mostly poor Black population with 2023 zoning changes that benefit wealthy white land buyers and developers. So far, the case has been bogged down by technicalities. A judge last year dismissed the original lawsuit, citing legal errors unrelated to its alleged rights violations. On Friday, a lawyer for McIntosh County asked a judge to also throw out an amended version of the suit, saying it failed to state a legal conflict within the court's jurisdiction and missed critical deadlines set by state law. Residents fear unaffordable tax increases. The zoning rules being challenged doubled the size of homes allowed in Hogg Hummock, one of a dwindling number of small communities started by emancipated island slaves – known collectively as Gullah or Geechee in Georgia – scattered from North Carolina to Florida. Scholars say these people's separation from the mainland caused them to retain much of their African heritage, from their unique dialect to skills and crafts such as cast-net fishing and weaving baskets. Hogg Hummock's few dozen remaining residents and their advocates say the changes will bring unaffordable tax increases, threatening one of America's most historically and culturally unique Black communities. 'We're in limbo,' said Richard Banks, who owns the Sapelo Island home of his late father, built on land passed down in his family for generations. 'You don't know what decisions you have to make in regard to your property.' The lawsuit by the Southern Poverty Law Center asks a judge to declare the zoning changes violate the landowners' constitutional rights to due process and equal protection by discriminating against them on the basis of race. It also accuses the county of violating Georgia laws governing zoning procedures and public meetings. County lawyers say the lawsuit was filed too late. McIntosh County's lawyers deny commissioners violated anyone's rights, but they argue the lawsuit should be dismissed without getting into those claims. They say fears of hypothetical tax increases don't present a valid legal conflict for a judge to decide. 'There's no allegation that existing businesses must close,' attorney Patrick Jaugstetter said in court Friday. 'There's no evidence that any current use of a property must cease.' Jaugstetter also said the refiled lawsuit came too late, well beyond Georgia's 30-day deadline for challenging zoning decisions and its six-month deadline for alleging violations of the open meetings law. Malissa Williams, a lawyer for the Black landowners, said those deadlines were met by the original lawsuit filed in 2023. 'They should be allowed to challenge the (zoning) amendments because they will have a ripple effect on every aspect of their lives,' Williams said. Discrimination case is one of two pending lawsuits by Black residents. Senior Judge F. Gates Peed did not rule from the bench Friday. He asked both sides to submit proposed orders by the end of August. A second legal battle between Sapelo Island residents and county officials is pending before the Georgia Supreme Court. A decision is expected by mid-November on whether residents can attempt to repeal the 2023 zoning changes by forcing a special election. A scheduled referendum last fall was halted by a lower court judge who ruled the vote was illegal.
Washington Post
18-07-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Slave descendants still fighting for Georgia court to hear discrimination claims from 2023
DARIEN, Ga. — Black landowners from a tiny island community returned to a Georgia courtroom Friday urging a judge to let them move forward with a lawsuit that accuses local officials of illegally weakening protections for one of the South's last Gullah-Geechee communities founded by freed slaves. Residents and landowners of Hogg Hummock on Sapelo Island have yet to see a judge weigh the merits of their discrimination case nearly two years after they first sued McIntosh County. They say county commissioners targeted a mostly poor, Black population with 2023 zoning changes that benefit wealthy white land buyers and developers. So far, the case has been bogged down by technicalities. A judge last year dismissed the original lawsuit, citing legal errors unrelated to its alleged rights violations. On Friday, a lawyer for McIntosh County asked a judge to also throw out an amended version of the suit, saying it failed to state a legal conflict within the court's jurisdiction and missed critical deadlines set by state law. The zoning rules being challenged doubled the size of homes allowed in Hogg Hummock, one of a dwindling number of small communities started by emancipated island slaves — known collectively as Gullah , or Geechee in Georgia — scattered from North Carolina to Florida. Scholars say these peoples' separation from the mainland caused them to retain much of their African heritage, from their unique dialect to skills and crafts such as cast-net fishing and weaving baskets. Hogg Hummock's few dozen remaining residents and their advocates say the changes will bring unaffordable tax increases, threatening one of America's most historically and culturally unique Black communities. 'We're in limbo,' said Richard Banks, who owns the Sapelo Island home of his late father, built on land passed down in his family for generations. 'You don't know what decisions you have to make in regard to your property.' The lawsuit by the Southern Poverty Law Center asks a judge to declare the zoning changes violate the landowners' constitutional rights to due process and equal protection by discriminating against them 'on the basis of race.' It also accuses the county of violating Georgia laws governing zoning procedures and public meetings. McIntosh County's lawyers deny commissioners violated anyone's rights. But they argue the lawsuit should be dismissed without getting into those claims. They say fears of hypothetical tax increases don't present a valid legal conflict for a judge to decide. 'There's no allegation that existing businesses must close,' attorney Patrick Jaugstetter said in court Friday. 'There's no evidence that any current use of a property must cease.' Jaugstetter also said the refiled lawsuit came too late, well beyond Georgia's 30-day deadline for challenging zoning decisions and its six-month deadline for alleging violations of the open meetings law. Malissa Williams, a lawyer for the Black landowners, said those deadlines were met by the original lawsuit filed in 2023. 'They should be allowed to challenge the (zoning) amendments because they will have a ripple effect on every aspect of their lives,' Williams said. Senior Judge F. Gates Peed did not rule from the bench Friday. He asked both sides to submit proposed orders by the end of August. A second legal battle between Sapelo Island residents and county officials is pending before the Georgia Supreme Court. A decision is expected by mid-November on whether residents can attempt to repeal the 2023 zoning changes by forcing a special election. A scheduled referendum last fall was halted by a lower court judge, who ruled the vote was illegal.
