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The Sapelo Island Cultural and Revitalization Society (SICARS) and the Sapelo Island Lexical Connections Conference (SILC) are organizations dedicated to the preservation of Geechee Gullah culture and the land and region known as the Sea Islands. With that interest, we present our fourth annual SILC conference, hosted on Sapelo Island and exploring other island communities, to increase knowledge and interest in Geechee Gullah heritage. The Geechee Gullah people are most understood as the people in the coastal regions of South Carolina and Georgia, including the Sea Islands like Sapelo, Dafuskie, and Tybee in Georgia; and St. Helena and Hilton Head in South Carolina.
The experience of the Geechee Gullah is distinct--rife with African retention, notably West and North African--and reflects a legacy of slave resistance and strong cultural identity. Texts that address the unique experience of this culture are, but not limited to, Gloria Naylor's Mama Day, Ntozake Shange's Sassafras, Cypress, and Indigo, and Cornelia Walker Bailey's God, Dr. Buzzard, and the Bolito Man.
For this season, SILC is looking for papers that deal with children and family, specifically as it relates to retaining Geechee Gullah culture, but also the African diaspora culture. We accept papers that deal with child-rearing, children's stories and songs, matters of relationships especially dealing with elders, lineage, and maintaining the family unit. Possible topics include:
• childbirth and midwifery
• Nicknaming
• children's stories, games, and songs
• Down by the riverside: family food, fishing, and fun
• Geechee Gullah family unit
• Childrearing
• Gullah Gullah Island
• fathers and non-traditional male guardian figures
• grandparents and elders
Because our presentations are limited to 7-10 minutes, the final conference papers should be between 2,000 and 3,000 words. Please submit abstracts of no longer than 300 words, along with a 150-word bio, to nbailey5@gsu.edu by April 20th. Accepted presenters will deliver their papers at the upcoming SILC conference on Sapelo Island; the session will be on May 19th, 2012. The conference runs from May 18-21st 2012 and includes tours, excursions, and activities throughout coastal Georgia and South Carolina.
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