Rice, cotton, indigo, and sugarcane were produced by enslaved Africans on Sapelo.
Play: Sapelo Island (3min)
Jelly and Yoshi meet J.R. Grovner at the ferry dock, two hours south of Savannah. J.R. is a tour guide and resident on Sapelo Island. Jelly and Yoshi have to board his speed boat in order to get to the sea island.
Activity: Resiliency Poster (45 - 60min)
The Hog Hammock community on Sapelo Island is the "last intact Geechee/Gullah Community" on the Sea Islands of Georgia. However, there are many Black settlements all over the US and Canada that are still thriving today despite racism and the legacy of slavery.
In this clip, Jelly and Yoshi talk about the ways in which enslaved Africans and African Americans were able to make "nothing out of something" despite their state of being in bondage.
Even though the cast feels so much more should be done to honour this historic site, they are impressed with the innovation of folks on that land to build structures, still standing to this day, out of oyster shells, water and sand.
Everyone has a story and at some point in our lives we have had to overcome obstacles or challenges to become the people we are today. Like the Jamaican proverb, "Wah nuh kill yuh, fatten yuh!" – What doesn’t kill you, fattens you... What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger.
Share video clips and poster samples from the Crystals As Crowns, Black youth resilience campaign.
The Crystals As Crowns, Black youth resilience campaign, features 10 youth influencers from 10 diverse communities across the Greater Toronto Area and Hamilton and highlights their stories of resilience and how they’ve overcome barriers and life challenges. Through poster ads on the Toronto Transit Commission, videos on social media and radio PSAs, this campaign has reached over 530,000 people from diverse communities across southern Ontario.
Students will now have the opportunity to make their own resiliency poster.
Steps to make a resiliency poster.
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Take or draw a strong picture of yourself.
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Share a story about a challenge or barrier in life that you have had to overcome. Nothing is too small or too big!
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Use art supplies, google slide presentation template or free graphic design app like Canva to jazz up your posters.
Share and Reflect (30 - 45min)
Have students share letters and/or video/audio presentations.
SAPELO ISLAND
Sapleo Island
Sapleo, Island, GA
Duration: 1hr 20min - 2hrs
Objectives:
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To learn about Sapelo Island and the Geechee community
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To examine themes on honouring and celebrating resilience
Materials Needed:
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Video clips and poster samples from the Crystals As Crowns, Black youth resilience campaign
Introduction (2min)
Sapleo is a sea island off the Atlantic Coast of Georgia. It’s home to the Hog Hammock community, a small Geechee/Gullah community of about 45 people who live and work on the island. They are direct descendants of the enslaved people that worked on the island. Geechee or Gullah refers to a distinct African-American culture that developed primarily along the Sea Islands of Georgia and South Carolina. The culture is sometimes called "Geechee" in Georgia, and "Gullah" in South Carolina.
The Chocolate Plantation (2min)
The Chocolate Plantation, built around 1819 by the enslaved people that lived and worked on the Island, is part of a collection of tabby ruins on Sapelo Island. The Chocolate Plantation got its name from one of the Guale Native villages on the island, named Chucalate.
Europeans first arrived on Sapelo in the 17th century. The Spanish brought African slaves with them and setup missions on the island. Soon after, the plantation was bought and sold by many European men.
An American Congressman reportedly made some of highest profits off of African labour on the plantation. Thomas Spalding brought enslaved Africans to the island in 1802 mostly from West Africa and the Caribbean Islands. Spalding and his family enslaved 500 Africans on Sapelo and in nearby counties.
The original slave cabins and farm house still stand there. Their thick walls of tabby have held up since the 1800's.