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New York Times
16 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.'
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
'If we can't it eat, it's not good enough,' says thriving Derby takeaway
The man behind a popular takeaway has spoken out about life behind the counter as they continue to move from strength to strength after more than 20 years in the same Derby street. Keeping with tradition seems to be the way forward for the team at Cavendish Kebabs at Stenson Road in Normanton, which opened its doors in 2005. The owner, who is known to most as just Kami, had spent a period of time working at 3 Chefs in Chaddesden, another prized Derbyshire takeaway, before realising he wanted to open a place of his own. "I've been in the industry since I was just 15, and my older brothers and family have also been in the business since they were just children as well," Kami said. "Working at 3 Chefs was great. The owner Sunny is like an older brother to me, and he started pushing me, showing me the ropes, and giving me the tools I needed to open my own place. So when we opened Cavendish, I knew I had to put everything into it to make it the best it could be." READ MORE: The longstanding Chaddesden takeaway where customers ask the boss to put the prices up READ MORE: Dozens of arts, crafts, food and drink stalls set for Denby Pottery Village event this weekend Cavendish remains traditional to what you'd expect in a classic British takeaway, with pizzas, kebabs, curries and burgers all in abundance, something Kami says is a major factor in Cavendish's success. "We've noticed a change in the way a lot of people do things," Kami added. "Nowadays, you see a lot of places do things like smash burgers and all these fancy dirty fries, which is fine, but we like to keep things traditional. Our customers who have visited us for years still love our food, so why change it? "We are always happy to here feedback if customers aren't happy, these things happen, but we always act on these things and make sure the customer is sorted out afterwards. At the end of the day, if we wouldn't eat the food, then it's not worth serving. "We are also the only place in Derby to stock authentic tubs of Mr Tee ice cream and desserts, which are a huge success, and it's far better than what you can get anywhere else in the city - but we also do old school puddings like chocolate fudge cakes and jam rolly polly." Cavendish Kebabs is one of three Derby takeaways to be on the shortlist for our inaugural Derbyshire Dines awards in the 'best takeaway' category. The Stenson Road site joins McTurk Kebabs in Derby city centre and 3 Chefs in Chaddesden to make the final three. Voting will close at midday on July 31. You can vote near the bottom of this article. Speaking on being named among the best in the county, Kami said: "It's just something I can't put into words, I'm so proud to have been voted as one of the best in the county. We don't even need to win, I'm just so grateful to be named. "Things like this show that you are doing something right. All those years putting everything into the business, all the bad days where things didn't go well, it's all worth it when we get recognised like this. "I feel like I'm the kind of person who never wins anything, so this is really special to me. But it's more than just about me, we have a brilliant team of staff who work so hard, and our customers have played a huge part in appreciating what we do and always coming back for more - a special thank you to them, without them it wouldn't be possible." You can vote for your favourite now from our shortlist using the form below. Votes left in the comments on social media or on our website will not be counted. The shortlist for the Best Takeaway category is: McTurk Kebabs, Morledge Cavendish Kebabs, Stenson Road Three Chefs Original, Chaddesden We will soon be revealing the winners for county's best cafe, restaurant and takeaway. Voting will close at midday on July 31.
CNN
3 days ago
- Business
- CNN
Meet the last woman carving mahjong tiles by hand in Hong Kong
Ho Sau-Mei, one of Hong Kong's last mahjong tile carvers, is getting old. 'My eyesight is fading, and my hands are getting sore,' she says brusquely as she chisels the intricate strokes of a Chinese character or the petals of a flower onto a piece of plastic little bigger than a postage stamp. For over four decades, Ho has been carving mahjong tiles in a tiny roadside shop in Hung Hom, an old harborside district that is now seeing the rapid construction of shiny, new residential high-rises. She started learning the craft at age 13 from her father, who founded the family's tile business, Kam Fat Mahjong, in 1962. Masters who would visit Hong Kong during its manufacturing heyday in the 1970s and 80s also shared their techniques and trained apprentices. Ho Sau-Mei carves mahjong tiles at her shop in Hong Kong. Mahjong is a game for four people similar to rummy and is hugely popular across China and among Chinese communities for which it also serves as a cultural ritual and symbol of tradition. Children learn how to play as they spend time with cousins and friends over Lunar New Year, and among the elderly it's popular all year round. Mahjong tiles are traditionally made of wood, ivory or bamboo, with tile makers cutting, polishing, carving and coloring each piece. In the 1960s, there were more than 20 mahjong tile carvers in Hong Kong — and even an association dedicated to the industry. Now most mahjong tiles are mass-produced in factories in mainland China. Mahjong tiles are stacked on a game table in Hong Kong. The craft was listed as an 'intangible cultural heritage' by the Hong Kong government in 2014, which provides funding for research into and preservation of various protected traditions. But less than a handful of mahjong artisans are still around the city, and among them Ho is the only woman left practicing the craft. Minibuses and double-decker buses zoom past the busy road across her dimly lit ground-floor shop beneath a staircase on Bulkeley Street. The store is barely two meters wide with a grimy glass case on the wall that reaches the ceiling filled with faded photographs and stacks of novelty mahjong tiles. Hovering behind Ho's work stool is a shrine that glows a gentle red hue. Ho starts to carve mahjong tiles in the morning. Pictures of Ho can be found inside her shop. Workers from nearby hardware stores and elderly people she's befriended over the years also banter with her. Pedestrians sometimes slow down to observe Ho deep in work hunched over her small working space. Ho's routine has stayed the same even as the neighborhood developed, with mahjong tiles now mostly made by big factories in mainland China. She's usually already seated at the storefront and lays out her tools for the day just before 10 a.m. At 68 years old, Ho says she only works until about noon these days, sighing that she 'doesn't have the stamina' to carve away all day anymore. She could retire if she wanted to, she says, 'but I'll get bored.' She lays out the Bakelite tiles lined neatly on a heavy wooden tray and prepares her specialized tools on the tiny glass display case that serves as her work desk. Tiles are packaged inside Ho's shop in Hong Kong. Ho uses a traditional tool to carve a tile. A complete mahjong set comes with 144 tiles, including the four suits — bamboo, dots, characters, directional winds (north, south, east and west) — and special tiles depicting flowers, dragons and the four seasons. One of Ho's tools resembles a giant corkscrew and is used to drill the concentric circles on one of the rectangles. Using other tools with varying tips and angles, she holds the blank tiles with her calloused thumb and middle finger and masterfully etches the complicated Chinese characters and flower tiles with surgical precision. Ho paints mahjong tiles inside her store. For the penultimate process, Ho brings out vintage jars of paint, their labels weathered by time. 'Don't go away, this part is fast,' Ho tells us. She brushes red, green and blue colors onto the naked tiles, carefully bringing the engraved symbols to life. A full set costs $245 and takes around 10 to 14 days to make by hand. But if you're planning to order a set from Ho, the entire process is still analogue — and somewhat haphazard. The phone rings a few times during the day with a handful of customers inquiring about the orders they've placed. But Ho doesn't really keep track of the orders. A client speaks with Ho and her assistant. Mahjong tiles are seen in front of a small house temple at Ho's shop. There's no online booking system. Everything is done either by phone or in person, and she scribbles the orders down on a notebook that's torn apart at the spine. One caller, a British man who says his wife ordered a set a couple of weeks ago, phones in to check if the set is ready. Ho asks us to help translate. A shop assistant flips through the notebook and searches for the client's phone number. Turns out, one set will be ready the next week, so that's now reserved for them, Ho says. Ho carves tiles at her shop. It takes her about 10 to 14 days to make a full set. Ho applies red paint to tiles. A complete mahjong set comes with 144 tiles. 'I can't keep up with the orders,' she says. 'It's really down to luck and timing. I'm not a machine.' After the phone calls, Ho finishes painting the tiles, layering different colors on some of the suits. Once that's done, the tiles are left to dry for the afternoon and Ho hurriedly starts to close shop. 'I'm still a woman,' she jokes. 'I have to buy groceries and keep the house running.' Back home, she'll make lunch and dinner, maybe watch a bit of TV and rest her hands that she says are giving her more and more trouble after decades of work. Ho's roadside shop is in Hung Hom, an old harborside district of Hong Kong. As Hong Kong moved from a manufacturing hub to a financial center in the 1990s, the mass production of machine-made tiles moved to mainland China. Some sets sell for just 70 Renminbi ($10) direct from wholesalers online. There's a licensed mahjong parlor a few blocks away from Ho's shop, but they buy the tiles from the mainland, according to the manager who was preparing for customers to start rolling in. Ho used to play regularly with her siblings but rarely finds time these days. Occasionally she gets invites from old friends. Tables are seen inside a dedicated mahjong room that's in the same neighborhood as Ho's store. She believes people will keep playing the game, using tiles bought online or sets that were passed down from generations. But she has no interest in training others how to make tiles the traditional way, she says, despite repeated requests she says she's received over the decades from artists and cultural organizations. 'I was just never interested in teaching,' Ho says candidly, determined to work solely at her own pace. Ho could retire if she wanted to, she said, 'but I'll get bored.' 'Every year, students and journalists come to ask me questions, making more people aware of the dying craft,' she said. 'I don't know how much longer I can do this,' she admits. 'But as long as I can still hold the tools, I can still keep doing it.' The next day, she'll be back on her stool, carving another set, one tile at a time.
Fox News
3 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Obama and Democrats don't get it: Masculinity is not the problem. Erasing it is
On the recent IMO podcast, former President Barack Obama, alongside Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson, claimed young men "don't need sports" but instead need "gay mentors" and shouldn't strive to be providers. While the comment was dressed in intellectual language, let's call it what it is: the latest in a series of assaults by the radical left on masculinity, tradition and biology. This isn't just another misguided soundbite. It's part of a broader social re-engineering campaign, one that aims to redefine manhood by ignoring everything history, nature and civilization have taught us. If we allow it to continue, the outcome is not enlightenment. It's collapse. Masculinity is not designed to rob femininity of anything. Its purpose is to protect it. This truth is ancient, biological and essential. Sports Don't Make the Man. But They Forge One. Sports are not about entertainment. They are education. For millions of boys, sports are the first training ground for discipline, humility, teamwork and resilience. Athletic competition teaches them how to take a hit and get back up, how to sacrifice for the team, stay composed under pressure, and lose with grace and win with humility. These aren't outdated values. They are the very qualities that built civilizations, won wars and raised good men. Since ancient Greece, physical competition and camaraderie prepared men for responsibility and leadership. Spartans didn't sit in safe spaces. They wrestled. Eliminate that structure and you don't get more emotionally aware men. You get more aimless boys. Masculinity Isn't Fragile. But It Must Be Forged. Mentorship matters. But let's stop pretending boys need to be reimagined. They need to be raised with structure, challenge and accountability. That's why civilizations created rites of passage. These weren't just traditions. They were tests to turn boys into men. The military understands this. The backbone of every warrior isn't brute strength. It's mentorship through tough love. A drill instructor or coach doesn't coddle. They refine. That is how we raise men who can face chaos and stand firm. Yes, character matters more than orientation. But let's not pretend masculinity is optional. Biology disagrees. Testosterone isn't a social construct. It's a design feature. Men as Providers and Protectors Isn't Patriarchy. It's Biology. For 99% of human history, men fulfilled one essential role: protect and provide. This isn't a political stance. It's evolution. Men built shelters, fought enemies, hunted and sacrificed to ensure the survival of their tribe. Today, over 90% of combat roles and 95% of high-risk trade jobs like construction, electrical work and firefighting are still held by men. Why? Because men are biologically wired to face danger and serve others through sacrifice. Providing is not about power. It's about responsibility. It's about duty. When you tell boys not to provide, you are telling them they don't matter. That is the real danger – not masculinity, but the vacuum left when it's erased. You Can't Re-Educate Biology Let's stop pretending we can lecture testosterone out of existence. Men are wired to protect, compete and provide. These are not stereotypes. They are evolutionary truths. Strip that away and you don't create progress. You create confusion. History tells us what happens when societies neuter masculinity. Civilizations weaken. Crime rises. Enemies advance. Ask the Romans how it worked out when their men lost their edge. You Destroy Masculinity. You Destroy Stability. The infrastructure we depend on, the wars fought to keep us free, the law and order we enjoy – built, maintained and defended by men grounded in traditional masculine values. This movement isn't about inclusion. It's about erasure. If we keep erasing masculinity, we won't just lose our identity. We'll lose our ability to defend what we value. It's not toxic to be strong. It's toxic to tell men strength is shameful. Masculinity, when properly forged, doesn't oppress. It uplifts. It does not dominate. It defends. The moment we stop reminding young men who they are and why that matters, societal values erode. Why Democrats Continue Losing Men The left's obsession with redefining manhood isn't just morally bankrupt. It's politically disastrous. In the 2024 election, male voters abandoned the Democratic Party in droves. Exit polls showed men favored Donald Trump 55 to 43, a seismic shift from 2020. Young Black men dropped support by 10 points. Latino men by 16. Why? Because slogans like "The Future is Female" and identity politics left many men feeling alienated and disposable. As one Democrat strategist put it, the left spent too much time lecturing and too little time listening. Now they're scrambling. The DNC launched a $20 million program called "SAM," Speaking to American Men, to try and win back voters they pushed away. But men don't need a focus group. They need purpose. This radical effort to erase traditional masculinity is not just wrong. It is suicide. If we want a stable, secure and prosperous nation, we don't need to reinvent manhood. We need to restore it.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Man Cuts His Sister Off After She Takes the Jewelry His Mom Gifted to His Wife
A newlywed gave his mother's gold jewelry to his wife, just as she'd wished. When his sister demanded it instead, the fallout tore the family apart A man turns to the Reddit community for advice following a heated family fallout that erupted just weeks after his wedding. In a post on Reddit's "Am I the A------" forum titled 'AITA for giving my wife's jewelry to my sister and cutting her off from my life,' he recounts how gifting his mother's gold jewelry to his bride led to severed ties with his sister. 'My wife and I got married a month ago,' he begins, explaining that during the wedding ceremony, he presented his mother's gold jewelry to his new wife in front of everyone. 'My mom had told me that she wanted me to have them and wanted me to give it to my wife so I did.' But not everyone in the family supported the gesture. His younger sister felt blindsided and immediately took issue with the decision, insisting that the jewelry should have gone to her instead. 'My sister kept saying that our mom's jewelry belongs to her, especially the necklace and bangles,' he writes. He and his mother tried to reason with her, explaining that in their culture, a mother-in-law's jewelry traditionally goes to the daughter-in-law. Still, his sister stood her ground. Eventually, in an effort to resolve the tension, his wife made a surprising offer. 'After a lot of arguments my wife said that she's willing to give our mom's jewelry to my sister,' he shares. After talking about it with his mother, he ultimately decided to let his sister have the jewelry. 'I called my sister and told her that she can have whatever she wants,' he recalls. His sister came to collect the pieces and was visibly thrilled. 'She was happy and laughing and she said she wanted our mom's jewelry ever since she was a child,' he says. Though he allowed her to take it, the decision came with a finality he made clear. 'I said that she can have them but we all disagree. It's not yours to begin with, it's our mom's and I want her to stay away from us because I'll replicate the same jewelry for my wife and it's going to hurt her,' he writes. Since then, both he and his mother have completely cut ties with the sister. 'Me and my mom have stopped talking with my sister and every time she tries to talk to us we ignore her,' he says. Despite his sister offering to return the jewelry, their stance remains unchanged. 'She even offered to return it but we don't care,' he adds. The man's wife appears to have a different perspective on the matter, though her opinion doesn't seem to carry much weight in the family's final decision. 'My wife has a different opinion but to be honest her opinion doesn't really matter to us,' he admits. Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. In the comments, Reddit users had strong reactions to the situation. One writes, 'Your lovely wife gave up the jewelry to keep the peace, but it was all in vain because there is no peace.' Another user questions the mother's role in the conflict, pointing out that the daughter may have felt neglected. 'Why on earth did your mom give her jewelry to her DIL when she knew her own daughter wanted at least some of it?' the commenter asks. The family conflict appears far from resolved, with emotions still running high on all sides. For now, the jewelry remains with the sister — but the family connection may be the true cost of the gift. Read the original article on People Solve the daily Crossword
