Sankofa
(pronounced SAHN-koh-fah)
Sankofa (SAHN-koh-fah) is an word in the Akan Twi and Fante languages of Ghana that means to "retrieve". It literally breaks down into san - go back and get or to return; ko - to go; fa - to fetch, to seek and take.
A Sankofa symbolizes the need to remember to be mindful of the past so that you can improve the future.
Luana M. Graves Sellars
A true in New Yorker in all senses of the description, although once Luana Graves Sellars moved to Florida, she realized that she had always been "a mis-placed Floridian" who knew that snow and nor’easter’s were not meant for her, especially after her first semester at her alma mater, Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.
Her double degree in Journalism and Black History with a minor in Business from SIU was the beginning of what she calls her "potpourri career" that included working as a national media buyer for A list clients, a conference speaker on how to achieve Urban radio dollars, in the music industry doing promotions and artist management, a top account manager in radio sales and most recently as the owner and administrative director of two large capacity preschools in Florida.
As a South Carolina Gullah Geechee, she is a community activist, cultural influencer, and preservationist. Her passion for the culture has led her to use her skills as a writer to document, educate and inform others about the significance of the culture. The divorced mother of two daughters, Luana has traveled the world extensively, yet spent most of her life coming to Hilton Head for holidays and where has always considered home.
What does Sankofa Communications do?
Learning From the Past to Improve the Future
Through presentations and speaking engagements, Sankofa Communications shares facts and information on the Gullah community and by utilizing various sources and assets, Sankofa Communications is considered a cultural umbrella which inspires and informs others about this richly significant culture and community.
As a cultural influencer and preservationist, I provide a level of expertise and credibility as a speaker. Through my body of work, I share information in a way that is factual and more creatively delivered. By offering online and social media access in this niche area, my services are unique, and I am unaware of anyone delivering information in this format or on the scale and reach that I have established.
Having written and documented over 300 articles on Gullah history, culture, and traditions, as well as, individuals and families, I have amassed a following and reputation as a cultural authority.
Over the past six years, I have established myself as a subject matter expert and have shared my work and knowledge through teaching two popular local OLLI classes, From Slavery to the Lowcountry Gullah and The First Families of Hilton Head. Both courses have had enrollments of up to 150 people, which is among OLLI’s largest attendance numbers.
In addition to writing articles and snippets on the culture, I write, produce, voice, and direct documentaries and short form videos that highlight the cultural in a visual format. In addition to creating several video shorts, I produced three popular documentaries: Freedom Day | The Historic Families of Mitchelville, Juneteenth | The Birth of Freedom and Harriett Tubman | From the Railroad to A Spy.
My experience and expertise, makes me uniquely qualified to fill a void for information and knowledge about the culture.
Preserving Gullah Geechee History and Culture
Telling the Gullah Geechee Story
Even with a degree in Journalism and a minor in Black History from Southern Illinois University, Luana M. Graves Sellars was not prepared to live on Hilton Head Island, one of the most culturally rich and historic areas of the South.
A random encounter enabled Luana to return to her roots as a writer, enabling her to become a contributing writer for Local Life Magazine and Hilton Head Monthly and Bluffton Monthly magazines. Since she began her Lowcountry Gullah writing in 2015, her focus has been on Gullah culture, history, people and native island issues. Through the website, www.lowcountrygullah.com, she has researched, documented and published cultural legacies through hundreds of articles in an effort to document and preserve the culture.
My writing and research has lead me to discover that, not only am I a Gullah American with a rich culture and heritage, but there are probably countless Black Americans who are not aware of their cultural foundation. It's for that reason that telling the Gullah Geechee story is an important one.
Spreading Gullah
As part of my focused writing on the Gullah and efforts to educate and share the rich contributions of the culture, I also do speaking engagements and teach classes. For years, I have taught Osha Life Long Learning Institute (OLLI) classes on The Stories of the Hilton Head Gullah to hundreds of people who are interested in increasing their knowledge about the culture through stories from my First Families of Hilton Head series of articles. The newest class, From Slavery to Lowcountry Gullah spans from the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade through the Civil War, Reconstruction, and lifestyles of the Gullah.
Sankofa Productions
Starting in 2021, Sankofa Productions released several documentaries, short videos and snippets for Lowcountry Gullah that focus on the Gullah culture and experience. In 2021, Sankofa broadened their audience by expanding into visual media, and wrote, produced, directed and voiced several video shorts and cultural documentaries.
Sankofa Productions develops content that highlights and documents the richness of Gullah culture. Sit back, relax and learn about stories of the people, the history and traditions of one of America’s unique indigenous cultures.
My Stories
I AM Gullah
First Families Series
First Families Series
As a recent transplant from Florida, I’ve spent my life, like most people wondering about who I am, where did my ancestors come from and what character traits did I inherit that make me, well me. My oldest daughter began to ask some of the same questions when she became a teenager. So, to answer her questions as well as my own, we decided to start on a journey of self-discovery together. Here’s what I knew at the start.
My great grandmother’s last name was Ravanell and she was from Ravenel, South Carolina. I also had an aunt who sometimes mentioned that she was a Geechee, but no one really asked her what that meant or what she was talking about. On my father’s side, he came from Virginia and a family with grey and sometimes blue or green eyes, reddish hair and freckles. For years, I have been asked “what are you?” I have been called Caribbean, either Jamaican or Dominican. The complete answer is that I am a Nigerian from the Yoruba tribe, with Gullah roots that include Angolan, Irish, Seminole and Cherokee.
Since I have such a random combination of DNA, I decided to do some research into my family tree to discover more about my family.
With the help of several sources, ancestry.com, familysearch.org and the Heritage Library, just to name a few, I have been able to uncover more about not only what makes me into me, but some fascinating information about my relatives that came before me. It has often been said that generational habits and traits are passed down, and based on some of the stories that I have learned, that old saying is definitely true. Here are some highlights of what I’ve uncovered.
First Families Series
First Families Series
First Families Series
Hilton Head Island has the unique distinction of being the home of Mitchelville, the first black self-governing town in the United States. Stories of what happened in Mitchelville and the continued impact that it had on the Gullah community, the outcome of the Civil War, race relations and even compulsory education today are still unfolding. But little is known about the individuals and families, who after being thrust into servitude in a new land, chose to not only embrace their new surroundings, but to love, nourish and cultivate this island as their home.
My series, First Families of Hilton Head Island brings attention to the families that made Hilton Head what it is today: a breathtakingly beautiful space that invites relaxation and civility. The effects of Hilton Head can influence you before you even step foot on its soil. From the foot of the bridge to the island, you are graced with a sudden calming visual image of the expanse of the Pinckney Island marshlands.
As you cross the bridge, Hilton Head begins to change you. Residents and visitors alike see it as a special place, which is by no means an accident; over time, like many places around the world, the island could easily have been neglected and destroyed, pillaged and abused, and left to be just another place. Gratefully, that is not the case.
Gullah Ring Shout
First Families Series
Gullah Bottle Trees
Even though some of the African traditions that the Gullah maintained within the church might not continue to be consistently followed, it doesn’t mean that they are forgotten. One such African tradition is of the ring shout. In a time when slaves did not have access to instruments, the ability to make music or a beat was made from their using objects found close by or in most cases, their bodies. Drums were made from whatever raw materials that were available.
A ring shout was used in different ways. Often used as a discreet form of communicating messages to one another, eventually it became a form of worship or a “grown folks only” form of entertainment. During the shout, an individual pounds a large tree branch on a hardwood floor to enthusiastically develop a rhythmic beat joined by a chant that involves and motivates the group into participation, usually in a call and response format. The chant, prayer or song, is not dissimilar in style to a modern-day rap that is accompanied by dancing, clapping and shuffling of feet to the beat. Each ring shout has a different meaning and version of the shout. In some cases, the shout is indicative of a particular family or area.
Gullah Bottle Trees
Are You Gullah or Geechee? What's the Difference?
Gullah Bottle Trees
Yard after yard, in the front of Gullah homes, variations of beautifully colored bottle trees dot the neighborhood. Today, it’s considered a Sea Island decoration that symbolizes good luck and a bountiful harvest or garden. The use of bottle trees, however, is another spiritual Gullah tradition with African roots that dates back centuries. Originally created by capping the end of crape-myrtle tree branches with bottles, the tree was especially significant to slaves dating as far back to the Old Testament, symbolic of freedom.
The bottles, which are mostly a rich cobalt blue, which can also be tied on, are meant to capture evil spirits prior to entering one’s home. The haints or spirits, who travel in the night, once captured, become stuck in the bottles. If wind blew across the bottles causing it to hum, it is believed that it was from a spirit’s efforts to escape by swirling within the bottles. With the rising of the morning sun, the captured spirits would be destroyed.
What is Haint Blue?
Are You Gullah or Geechee? What's the Difference?
Are You Gullah or Geechee? What's the Difference?
Sometimes called robins egg blue or carolina blue, haint blue is more than just a popular Lowcountry color. Used on porch ceilings or a home’s front entrance, haint blue is rooted in Gullah tradition and represents a deeper spiritual meaning.
Based in African culture, the Gullah spiritual tradition uses the color to ward off evil or unwanted spirits, called haints or boo hags, that might want to spread chaos. The haints were thought to be distracted or tricked by the color, which prevented them from crossing a porch or entering a home. The shade of blue, derived from the indigo plants that were grown throughout Lowcountry plantations, it is believed, was similar to the sky or of water, which the spirits could not cross.
The Gullah tradition of painting entries haint blue, became a Lowcountry favorite on plantation houses that continues today.
Are You Gullah or Geechee? What's the Difference?
Are You Gullah or Geechee? What's the Difference?
Are You Gullah or Geechee? What's the Difference?
My Auntie Helen, with hands-on-her-hips used to proudly say, that she was a Geechee. As a child and as an adult, until about 5 years ago, I had no idea what that meant. What I’ve learned since then, neither do a lot of Black people. Including those who call themselves Gullah, a Geechee or a Gullah Geechee. So what’s the difference?
When African slaves were brought to the US coastline from several different countries, they brought with them a variety of languages and cultures.
In an effort to communicate, the slaves developed a Creole based language that combined English and a variety of African words from the various countries. The language was multi-purposed. It enabled the slaves to communicate amongst themselves, without sharing the conversation with the slave owners, also providing them the opportunity to give ‘coded’ information or directions to each other in secret.
To the slave owner, the language, because of its sound and somewhat similarity to broken English, came across as ignorant and an inability to adapt to a proper way of speaking. The language, however, was quite genius.
Sankofa Video Production Library
Harriet Tubman | From the Railroad to a Spy
2022 marks the 200th anniversary of Harriet Tubman’s birth, as well as the memory of one of America’s most profound figures. Tubman was one of the nation’s leading human rights activists who assumed many roles, including that of an Underground Railroad conductor, army scout, nurse, and women’s rights champion. Little is known about Tubman’s work outside of the Underground Railroad. During the Civil War, she was in Beaufort County, South Carolina assisting in Union Army operations behind, as well as on the front line of battle. Among Tubman’s most notable wartime feats was that of June 2, 1863, where she participated in the planning and led Union troops from the 2nd South Carolina Infantry on a raid along the Combahee River. The operation was a pivotal and strategic victory for the Union Army and freed more than 750 enslaved people, making it the largest emancipation event of the Civil War. Colonel James Montgomery, commander of the regiment, later noted Tubman as “a most remarkable woman, and invaluable as a scout.” Harriet Tubman | From the Railroad to a Spy is an epic documentary that tells her complete story. Journey through the events and details of her incredible life story that are seldom told; from the underground railroad, to her work as a Union Army scout and spy in military campaigns from South Carolina to Florida.
Running time: 57 minutes
Harriet Tubman | From the Railroad to a Spy
Speaking engagements coupled with screenings of the documentary are available for educational institutions, groups and local independent theatres. Reach out for more details.
Seeking | Gullah Religious Traditions
Joining the church, at one time, was an ancestral African tradition called seeking. The practice was based in the thought that since God and the ancestors communicated through dreams, the interpretation of the dream, represented achieving spirituality. The practice of seeking eventually stopped as recently as the early 1970s.
Freedom Day | Exploring the Families of Historic Mitchelville
Freedom Day | Exploring the Historic Families of Mitchelville is an epic documentary the follows the journey to freedom with the Hilton Head Island families who experienced it from the past into today. Learn about their daring escapes towards freedom as well as their incredible contributions as United States Colored Troop soldiers. In addition to the formally enslaved Gullah who established their independence, learn about all of the famous people, including Harriet Tubman and Clara Barton who helped the Union Army win the Civil War.
Juneteenth | The Birth of Freedom
The holiday Juneteenth, commemorates the end of slavery and is the oldest and longest nationally celebrated holiday in the US. June 19th, otherwise known as Juneteenth or Black independence day marks the birth of freedom.
The Story of USCT Soldier Ceasar Ravenel
It's not very often that we can learn about the stories of US Colored Troops. It can also be rare for them to get shared. The Story of USCT Soldier Caesar Ravenel, is among the few that not only have been found, but also has a great story to tell that provides a peek around the curtain of the past, our past; a place and time that we can't always see behind.
Preserving the History of Hilton Head Island
Most tourists think of Hilton Head Island as a great place to golf or to spend the day at the beach. What most people don't know is, that Hilton Head Island played a significant role on our nation's history. The island is filled with incredibly rich historic assets, from the Revolutionary War through the Civil War. From shore to shore, every inch on the island has a great and important story to tell.
Awards and Recognitions
Press / Media & Magazine Exposure
The History of Being Black - June 2022
Bilingual In America Podcast - March 2022
Bilingual In America Podcast - March 2022
Host J's very first great is network mate and host of the podcast Lowcountry Gullah, Luana M. Graves Sellars.
Bilingual In America Podcast - March 2022
Bilingual In America Podcast - March 2022
Bilingual In America Podcast - March 2022
Preserving Gullah Geechee Culture: An Interview with Luana Graves Sellars
Hosted by Suzanne Lasser and Yarina Sencion
Local Life Magazine - February 2022
Bilingual In America Podcast - March 2022
Local Life Magazine - February 2022
Featured Article on Preserving Gullah Culture
Hilton Head Monthly - January 2022
Hilton Head Monthly - January 2022
Local Life Magazine - February 2022
Featured Article on Nonprofit Work and Giving Back to the Community
WSAV - The Bridge
Hilton Head Monthly - January 2022
Hood Scout Podcast February 2022
Spreading Gullah Culture and Upcoming Sankofa Productions
Hood Scout Podcast February 2022
Hilton Head Monthly - January 2022
Hood Scout Podcast February 2022
Talking about the history of the Gullah Geechee people as well as the culture, food, and it's impact in America.
Hosted by DeAnthony Thompson
TV - Coastal with Kathryn
Heritage Library Series - Our Storied Island
TV - Coastal with Kathryn
The History of the Gullah Geechee, a Walk Around Historic Mitchelville Freedom Park with Luana Graves Sellars.
The Heritage Observer
Heritage Library Series - Our Storied Island
TV - Coastal with Kathryn
March 2021 Edition
Heritage Library Series - Our Storied Island
Heritage Library Series - Our Storied Island
Black History Month Edition - February 2016
Sharing my connection to Hilton Head Island in the Heritage Library series Our Storied Island
Black History Month Edition - February 2016
Black History Month Edition - February 2016
Black History Month Edition - February 2016
Wrote the entire 20 page Black History Section of six articles
Black History Month Edition - February 2016
Black History Month Edition - February 2016
Black History Month Edition - February 2016
Wrote the entire 20 page Black History Section of six articles
Contact
Let's Talk!
Sankofa Communications
Email | writesankofa@gmail.com Phone | 843.715.3506
