Government and the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor National Heritage Area in South Carolina have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to promote enhanced bilateral relations in tourism and culture.
The signing ceremony took place recently in the Cabinet Office Conference Room, at Government Headquarters, Bay Street, St. Michael. Minister with responsibility for Culture, Senator Dr. Shantal Munro-Knight, signed on behalf of Government, while Executive Director of the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor National Heritage Area, Victoria Smalls, represented Gullah Geechee.
The MOU promotes the exchange of information and experts in the areas of film, visual arts, audio-visual, fashion, genealogy, and cultural organisations and heritage. It also allows for tourism promotion, marketing, development, investment, and planning.
Minister Munro-Knight stated that as Barbados continues to evolve as a new republic, emphasis will be placed on “valuing the creative energies of our people”, and “charting the path forward based on friendship and partnerships”.
“It’s a particularly poignant moment for me because I think everybody who’s worked with me knows that I am one that like a lot of outputs. And I remember when we were gathered in another space in October 2022.
“So, we have committed ourselves to this MOU and it has happened a little less quickly than I would have liked, but we are here perhaps one year later, but still very important, in order for us to solidify our partnership and working relationship together in a structured way,” the Minister said.
Senator Munro-Knight further stated: “There’s still more for us to do…more for us to chart, and there’s still more for us to uncover and I’m so very happy that we are doing this today and together as a family.”
Meanwhile, Ms. Smalls thanked Government for the partnership and the shared commitment to the preservation of the culture and history, which she described as a “testament to the enduring power of unity”.
“We look forward to a future of collaboration, cultural exchanges, and deeper understanding for learning scholarship of the Gullah Geechee people and the Bajan people together,” she stated.
Barbados’ Honorary Consul to South Carolina, Rhoda Greene, noted that Barbados’ position in the Western Hemisphere and the world cannot be underestimated given its past ties to slavery, and spoke to the significance of reaching out to form linkages.
“We were forced to shoulder such a responsibility to be the stewards of a history that changed the world. And little by little, step by step, we have the opportunity to reach out and embrace the connectivity of a people who represent a very, very horrendous, horrific past, but our ancestors survived and we are evidence of that….
“Right now, it is great to be in a place where we are able to link our arms; we are able to put on the shoes of our ancestors. We are able to claim the agency that has been left and to create a legacy for generations to come….,” Mrs. Greene insisted.
The Honorary Consul stressed that the black race should not see themselves as victims but as victors and added that Barbados stood to benefit by reaching out to the diaspora and beyond. “So little by little, we accrue the benefits that are there for us to garner and it’s my privilege to be a small cog in that machinery going forward…,” she said.
The Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor National Heritage Area was established by the United States Congress to recognise the unique culture of the Gullah Geechee people. They have traditionally resided in the coastal areas and sea islands of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.