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The Geechee Experience Entertains and Educates in Endeavor to Preserve Geechee Culture

CHARLESTON CHRONICLE — Akua Page and Chris Cato have taken the Lowcountry by storm with their creation, The Geechee Experience. A cultural movement that fuses education with entertainment, The Geechee Experience “is a cultural platform that was created by Geechee millennials on a mission to preserve their culture and language,” the group maintains.

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By Damion Smalls

Akua Page and Chris Cato have taken the Lowcountry by storm with their creation, The Geechee Experience. A cultural movement that fuses education with entertainment, The Geechee Experience “is a cultural platform that was created by Geechee millennials on a mission to preserve their culture and language,” the group maintains.

The Geechee Experience works to dispel longstanding notions that Geechee is not a language or is a “broken” language. Those misinformed opinions have led to Geechee’s endangered importance in Black culture and an outright pursuit of erasure by the descendants of the same colonizing European Americans that enslaved Africans for centuries and now consist of the majority of the U.S. population.

“We were thinking of ways to preserve the culture and language,” Page recalls. After months of brainstorming, Page and Cato combined their efforts by launching The Geechee Experience in late 2018. Using the knowledge of Black excellence that was purposely left out of U.S. school history books and an determination to steer the undertold African-American narrative towards empowerment, Page and Cato are already well on their way to becoming catalysts of the next generation of the Lowcountry’s Black youth with their innovative venture.

“Geechee is a variation of the Gullah language. Gullah is an English based creole language that developed by enslaved Africans living in coastal regions of South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida,” the group explains.

In modern times, whites have attempted to culturally appropriate Geechee through various means, like adding the historical Geechee plant sweetgrass to the names of businesses that do nothing for or have nothing to do with the Black community, opening restaurants clearly influenced by Geechee cuisine without attributing credit or respect, redefining what Geechee actually means, or selling products that incorporate the culture while remaining ignorant of the history behind it. The Geechee Experience is trying to help more Black people embrace the culture and combat the dehumanization efforts that have derailed Geechee’s mainstream acceptance in the past.

The boomtown-like presence of Geechee Experience’s social media pages has led to its inspiring popularity in a relatively short period of time. With over 20,000 Facebook+Instagram followers and over a half-million video views reached within six months of its initial launch, it’s safe to say that an audience has been waiting in the wings for a movement such The Geechee Experience. The brand can also be found on YouTube (@Geechee X) and Twitter (@GeecheeExperie1). Exclusive brand merchandise may be purchased on geecheeexperience.com.

“Some of our people are ashamed of their culture, but the United States is Geechee,” declares Cato. In their videos and social posts, the movement discusses topics such as the difference between Gullah and Geechee, the Geechee language, Black health, literature, community building, and Black farming. They often use humor and anecdotal revelations to relate to a growing audience that has accepted their down-to-earth personalities and candor. The use of Geechee words and phrases are a common aspect of their engaging posts. Locals are seeing how their vocabularies and vernacular are closely related to Geechee culture without previously realizing it. And the people who do realize the connections are getting on board with this spirited salute to Geechee.

“Gullah is mainly spoken on the islands by elders and is on the verge of extinction. Geechee is more commonly spoken by Geechee/Gullah people across generations,” the duo defines. By spreading awareness and information for the powerful history of Geechee, the millennial pair aspire to champion their cause to instill pride and optimism within the people.

Page and Cato are sharing their culture with the world with the hope that they can prevent the Geechee language from dying. In their attempts to do so, The Geechee Experience is requesting the assistance of the local Black community. As young Blacks that respect for the contributions of Charleston’s Black leaders of the past, The Geechee Experience is looking for ways to evolve, learn everyday from history, and bridge the gap between millennials and Baby Boomers. “We are open to suggestions from the elders,” the group notes.

You can catch the Geechee Experience live in person in North Charleston Saturday, April 27 at the second annual Charleston Sol-Food Veg Fest. Taking place at the Jenkins Institute (3923 Azalea Drive) from 11am to 5pm, the event aims to connect with Black businesses, create a platform for vegans, promote healthy habits, and bring more Black people towards a plant-based lifestyle. The Geechee Experience will take part of the Sol-Food Veg Fest as a featured vendor. Visit csfvegfest.com to purchase tickets.

This article originally appeared in the Charleston Chronicle

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Oakland Post: Week of June 4 – 10, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of June 4-10, 2025

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Remembering George Floyd

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing.

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Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)
Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)

By April Ryan
BlackPressUSA Newswire

“The president’s been very clear he has no intentions of pardoning Derek Chauvin, and it’s not a request that we’re looking at,” confirms a senior staffer at the Trump White House. That White House response results from public hope, including from a close Trump ally, Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The timing of Greene’s hopes coincides with the Justice Department’s recent decision to end oversight of local police accused of abuse. It also falls on the fifth anniversary of the police-involved death of George Floyd on May 25th. The death sparked national and worldwide outrage and became a transitional moment politically and culturally, although the outcry for laws on police accountability failed.

The death forced then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to focus on deadly police force and accountability. His efforts while president to pass the George Floyd Justice in policing act failed. The death of George Floyd also put a spotlight on the Black community, forcing then-candidate Biden to choose a Black woman running mate. Kamala Harris ultimately became vice president of the United States alongside Joe Biden. Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison prosecuted the cases against the officers involved in the death of Floyd. He remembers,” Trump was in office when George Floyd was killed, and I would blame Trump for creating a negative environment for police-community relations. Remember, it was him who said when the looting starts, the shooting starts, it was him who got rid of all the consent decrees that were in place by the Obama administration.”

In 2025, Police-involved civilian deaths are up by “about 100 to about 11 hundred,” according to Ellison. Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African-American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing. During those minutes on the ground, Floyd cried out for his late mother several times. Police subdued Floyd for an alleged counterfeit $20 bill.

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