From our founder, Terry Herron

 The Story of the Gullah Latino Advisory Council

 My name is Terry Herron.  I’ve been part of the Lowcountry off and on since 1979.

Let me first make a disclaimer: I am not an academic, sociologist, historian, or politician. But, I am an involved resident of the Lowcountry community, and I have witnessed a great deal of change. Let me tell you about it.

In 1979, as a young 20-something entrepreneur I moved my business and family to the South Carolina Lowcountry with my business partner. We thought we had arrived in heaven. Coming from Michigan and Chicago, we knew about lakes and rivers, but never had seen the ocean, or bought fresh shrimp off a boat, or had lunch in a ‘Meat & Three’ restaurant serving fried chicken and 3 vegetables, with sweet tea and corn bread on the side for $5.95.  We had never heard the terms Gullah or Geechee, or knew anything about their long, amazing history, their unique language, food, religion, arts, achievements, or culture. My wife and I smiled at each other for months, whenever we thought about the incredible climate, the ocean breezes or whenever we had fresh oysters, a salad, some blue crab and collard greens. We had ‘arrived’, but we had more pleasant surprises waiting for us.

When we moved our importing business to Jasper County, we proceeded to hire a number of Gullah folks, sometimes a mom and her son, or a cousin, or brother-in-law, or second cousin. I quickly learned about large, extended Gullah families, with upwards of 100 to 300 or even 500 relatives throughout the region, and especially their close ties within families and in churches and with each other. It quickly became clear that this was indeed a “distinctive culture”, something very different, something very special, something the world should know about. This culture is fiercely independent, self-sufficient and is a significant part of both the social culture and the economic culture of the Lowcountry.

After ten years in our growing Lowcountry business, I moved to Atlanta. Then 25 years later, I re-connected with Beaufort and Jasper Counties in the late 90’s, eventually moving to Hilton Head in 2004. After settling in, I began to notice that, despite 20+ years of non-stop growth, development and prosperity in Beaufort and Jasper Counties, especially in Bluffton and Hilton Head, the Gullah community was largely left out of all the prosperity, except for holding onto their properties as best they could.  They still fight this quiet battle of gentrification by development and other factors … every day.

Soon after moving back, I called a Gullah friend and mentor and asked him point-blank “what happened?” He paused to answer and finally said “nothing”.  That word “nothing” broke my heart.  Because it was true.

I realized, that for a number of reasons, the Gullah community was not a beneficiary of, and did not participate in – the 20-year economic explosion in the Lowcountry; not in real estate development, not in terms of better jobs, in business opportunities, or better education. The 400+ year history of “Lowcountry Gullah families tied to the land” (since the late 1600’s) did not gain them any special assistance, recognition, protection, historical status, or cultural awareness, nor any help with cultural sustainability in general. It did not seem to matter that, since the late 1600’s until the Civil War as enslaved peoples, and after emancipation as freed people, they were virtually the only inhabitants of Hilton Head and other coastal islands, and much of the Lowcountry. They were amazing ‘stewards’ of these precious lands and its water ways, of wildlife, of the forests, the ponds, and the entire bundle of heritage and ecology that make this such a special place for so many others who arrived “after the bridge”.  They were the original “tree huggers” and eco-friendly peoples (before it was fashionable). I’m sure Charles Frazer learned a great deal from them.

The Gullah heritage story is just one of many. In recent history, there are other cultures that make our life here in the Low Country rich and satisfying. Latino and Hispanic people make up more than 13% of Hilton Head’s population. More than 50% of school children in Hilton Head are Hispanic-Latino. They are now part of Lowcountry heritage and culture too. Spaniards were the first European settlers in Beaufort County and in America, as early as 1555.  The Latino Community is also a critical Economic Engine in the Lowcountry, yet so many of them are still hidden and living in the shadows, away from the rest of the population. We are diverse here. Our problem is, like in so many places, that those of us who hold the purse strings, and the deeds, and the political and economic power, have lost touch with the people who have helped make this place the rich and wonderful landscape that we wanted to live in. While the Lowcountry is becoming increasingly diverse, the different cultures that live here are largely separated from one another and live mostly separate lives. But … we don’t have to continue to live separately.

In reality, the ethnic cultures or minorities in the Lowcountry are collectively a very sizeable, powerful, vibrant, resourceful Economic community that drives, leads and supports the entire Lowcountry region with their businesses, services, skills, an amazing work-ethic, their taxes and their extraordinary entrepreneurship. Their children are “our future”.

If they are asked, if proactively invited, if hired, if included in local and regional civics, planning, visioning, workshops and holding office, they would quickly generate new energy, new resiliency, and better ideas for social and economic change than we have in place now.

As well as a business owner, I have also been a singer, performer and show producer for most of my life. Music has a way of bringing people together like nothing else I know. In 2010, I met Scott Gibbs. Scott is a Beaufort native. He is a revered, well-known choir director, pianist, solo singer, and show producer, and he’s Gullah. Scott introduced me to many of the small Gullah churches and church musicians in Beaufort County. With his Fellowship Concert Choir, we started doing small concerts of Lowcountry Gospel, Blues, Mo-Town, and American Standards, and we found that when we did these concerts, we would get an audience that was as diverse as the music we were performing. It was a glorious outcome.

But as good as the concerts were, the rehearsals for the concerts were even more powerful as an experiment in Diversity. Over many weeks of rehearsals, the performers had the time to talk, interact, laugh and ‘get down’ with one another. In a short time, we had the opportunity to become true friends. There are so few venues or events here where people of different races do that on a regular basis. Our rehearsals and our shows were moments of self-discovery for everyone involved. Music is one of the things that make Diversity happen.  We need to take the initiative to create more of these opportunities.  They don’t just happen, so we have to create them and invite each other in.

Our early concerts were the inspiration for the first Diversity Weekend in 2014. Scott and I produced the show, and he directed the concert. We had a true community choir of people from both Gullah and white church choirs from around the Lowcountry. The show was at the University of South Carolina Beaufort (USCB) Center for the Arts. The theater was sold out, and it was one of the rare times that the theater had a truly mixed black and white audience. The concert lasted two full hours and not a single person left. We had 4 or 5 standing ovations in the first half! We found that there was the same thirst in other people for the unity we were searching for!

Those rehearsals inspired a series of Diversity Symposiums. Now we call them “Good Conversations”, or In 2016, they happened at St. Peter’s in Beaufort and at St. Andrew by the Sea in Hilton Head. They are about simply getting folks together and talking. Over the past 10 years, these events have become increasingly more successful than we ever expected.

In 2023, we moved to having Good Conversations with elected and appointed leaders from municipalities around the Low Country. We’ve already done a conversation with Hilton Head and Hardeeville and some changes have emerged from those conversations. We’re looking forward to doing more and to helping work on more solutions to common problems.

We’re hoping these Good Conversations will lead to a Great IDEA – that is Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access!

Watch us go … and watch us grow.

Thanks for listening.