Georgia State University has been awarded a $500,000 grant from the Mellon Foundation to launch the Gullah Geechee Sacred Land Project.

The initiative is aimed at preserving the heritage and lands of the Gullah Geechee people. It will focus on safeguarding burial grounds and current homes, recovering spiritual and genealogical lineages, and protecting the Gullah Geechee community, according to The Guardian.

A historical marker at Penn Center, the first school in the south for formerly enslaved Africans, stands just outside the museum grounds in St Helena, South Carolina, on July 11, 2023 | Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images

Who is spearheading the project?

The program will be spearheaded by GSU assistant history professors Ras Michael Brown and Tiffany A. Player. The GGSLP will offer students a chance to research, preserve, and engage with the community through undergraduate and graduate courses.

“The Mellon Foundation’s funding allows us to strengthen our relationships with Gullah/Geechee communities and support their ongoing efforts to honor their ancestors and the legacies they left for descendants,” Brown said in a statement.

He added, “This kind of community engagement should be fundamental to university-based historical research and preservation activities, and we’re grateful to the Mellon Foundation and our community partners for this opportunity to fortify connections between the past and the present in preparation for challenges and possibilities ahead.”

This comes at a crucial time for the Gullah Geechee

The $500,000 grant to GSU arrives at a crucial moment for the Gullah Geechee community, particularly residents of Sapelo Island. For years, they have been fighting to safeguard their land against increasing threats from development and zoning changes.

Dionne Hoskins-Brown, Chair of the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission, speaks at Station Creek Landing in St Helena, South Carolina, on July 10, 2023. Isolated on islands scattered along the coast, ancestors of those in the Gullah Geechee community relied on the land and sea. They created their own culture, fed by their African heritage, and even developed their own Creole language. Hundreds of thousands of people are today part of the community -- which is threatened by climate change, gentrification, and real estate developers circling like hawks. — Dionne Hoskins-Brown, Chair of the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission, speaks at Station Creek Landing in St Helena, South Carolina, on July 10, 2023. Isolated on islands scattered along the coast, ancestors of those in the Gullah Geechee community relied on the land and sea. They created their own culture, fed by their African heritage, and even developed their own Creole language. Hundreds of thousands of people are today part of the community — which is threatened by climate change, gentrification, and real estate developers circling like hawks. | (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images

According to Courthouse News Service, since 2023, the community has been actively opposing a zoning amendment passed by the McIntosh County Commission.

“This partnership with the Mellon Foundation will enable students to conduct and access groundbreaking research and meaningfully connect with the people and histories that make up one of the most innovative learning environments in the country,” Georgia State University President M. Brian Blake said in a statement.

Over the past 20 years, the Mellon Foundation has provided substantial funding for GSU and its research programs, including grants exceeding $2.75 million.

Gullah community

Get relevant content delivered to you once a week