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By WENDY JEFFCOAT CRIDER, T&D Features Editor
"Africa. West Africa.
"Africa. West Africa.
"There's a connection deep down in my spirit
"With Africa. West Africa."
So begins "Gullah Branches, West African Roots," the newest book by St. Helena Island native Ronald Daise, whose more than two-decade career has sought to celebrate, elevate and validate South Carolina's sea island heritage through books, recordings and performances.
Using original poetry, prose, songs and creative nonfiction, the Lowcountry author has connected Gullah heritage to its roots halfway around the world in "Gullah Branches" (Sandlapper Publishing, $24.95, July 2007).
Daise, who currently serves as vice president for creative education at Brookgreen Gardens in Murrells Inlet, said his newest release is a sequel to his first book, "Reminiscences of Sea Island Heritage" (Sandlapper Publishing, 1986). While "Reminiscences" used oral histories and lore to explore Gullah, "Gullah Branches" focuses on Daise's personal journey to discover the origins of the culture in which he was reared to enlighten generations to come.
In it, Daise shares his discoveries and thoughts as he travels to the African nations Sierra Leone and Ghana in search of Gullah's, and his own, roots. What he finds is documented through Daise's words, his unique storytelling through poetry, spirituals, photography and fiction.
Daise said he was struck by the similarities between Gullah people and those of Sierra Leone and Ghana.
"There was a 14-year-old Ghanian boy (Carlos Muta) who looked as though he could be my son, or younger brother," Daise said, adding that a photo of the two is included in the book, as is a picture of Daise with his Sierra Leonean look alike, Dr. Chernor A. Jalloh, minister of tourism and culture. In his book, Daise said there were many instances in which African natives could have passed for his extended family members.
In addition to similar physical features, Daise said rituals, such as dietary practices and spiritual beliefs, link West Africa to Gullah heritage.
In "Gullah Branches," Daise documents what he calls moving experiences he had while in the African nations -- for example, seeing the slave castle in Sierra Leone from which many Africans left their homeland and slave prisons that held Africans captive prior to their being shipped across the Atlantic.
"I used the tune of spirituals to explain my experience in Africa," he said, rewriting such anthems as "Day Is Done," "Great Change Since I Been Born" and "Feel Like Journey On," just to name a few. "There are photographs in the book, traditional spirituals and spirituals that I wrote, as well as memoirs telling my experiences in both countries, poetry and historical fiction."
"I think readers will find the book an experience," Daise said, adding that people who have read it have said "Gullah Branches" "brought about a range of emotions for them."
Just as "Reminiscences" used lines from a poem to designate chapters, "Gullah Branches" takes stanzas from one of Daise's original spirituals to mark the beginning of each chapter. This original work, "There's A Connection," is sung to the tune of "I Don't Mind," Daise said. Sources for his book include oral histories, interviews, books, newspaper articles and his personal travels.
Above all, "Gullah Branches," Daise said, is a memoir.
"I would like readers to gain an appreciation of Gullah heritage, to get an understanding that Gullah heritage is rooted in West African heritage. There is so much about West African heritage many of us don't know," he said, adding that many people who grew up on the sea islands of South Carolina and neighboring Georgia were ashamed of their African roots and viewed Africans as uneducated and poor.
"But the forbearers of Gullah and Geechee people come from countries in West Africa," and the knowledge and experience they brought with them "accounted for success in the economy of South Carolina and Georgia in the 1700s and 1800s," he said.
Daise said it is important to continue reaching out and educating people about Gullah heritage and customs. In the forward of Daise's book, U.S. House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn, D-S.C., recommends "Gullah Branches" as a "must read" for South Carolina students.
In response, Daise said he has developed a teacher's guide for middle and high school-age students, which is expected to be released by his publishing company, G.O.G. Enterprises, in mid-October.
"For so many years, we were taught to be ashamed of our culture, be ashamed of our heritage," he said. "But it makes us unique. There are aspects of our culture that will not change, no matter how we change ourselves."
Quoting "There's A Connection," Daise said, indeed, "There's a connection deep down in my spirit with Africa. West Africa."
A 1978 graduate of Hampton University in Hampton, Va., Daise and his wife, Natalie, starred in the Nick Jr. TV's award-winning children's series, "Gullah Gullah Island," along with their children, Sara and Simeon. Daise is the author of "De Gullah Storybook," "Little Muddy Waters," "A Gullah Folk Tale," and two Simon & Schuster sticker books, "Mr. Bradley's Day of Surprises" and "Let's Go to the Gullah Gullah Island Market."
Daise and his wife have been awarded, individually, the Order of the Palmetto and, collectively, the S.C. Legislature's Folk Heritage Award for their work validating Gullah heritage. Daise is a charter member of The Sea Island Translation Team and Literacy Project, which translated the Bible into Gullah, and a board member of the developing International African American Museum in Charleston. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the first printing of "Gullah Branches" will be donated to the International African American Museum.
Daise resides with his family in Beaufort. He currently leads a Gullah/Geechee Program Series at Brookgreen Gardens every Wednesday; for more information on the program, call 843-235-6000.
For more information on Daise, visit www.gullahgullah.com.
T&D Features Editor Wendy Jeffcoat Crider can be reached by e-mail at wjeffcoat@timesanddemocrat.com or by telephone at 803-533-5546. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.