Dear Neighbors,
Coup-o-meter Update
The coup-o-meter is now updating every day with Trump/Musk actions, reactions, retractions and more.
One of my constituents visited the office with a pin he had made of the coup-o-meter.
Not Necessarily the News
Last week was school vacation week and the Senate wasn't in formal session, so I went to visit my sister Carolyn at her rented condo on St. Simon Island, Georgia. I thought I'd share a few things I learned there, some relevant to Black History Month.
Georgia on my Mind
There were fewer Trump signs than in New Hampshire. Maybe because it's a tourist place? But at a health food restaurant we saw two men wearing "Make America Healthy Again" hat and shirt. The shirt made the message clear on the back: "Robert F. Kennedy Jr."
Largest Black-Water Swamp in the US
On a boat tour of Okefenokee Swamp, we saw many alligators and learned that you can drink the black water, colored by tannins from the peat. Here, Carolyn looks at an alligator under the boardwalk.
The Georgia Conservancy observes that, as with the Middlesex Fells and other local treasures, "The beauty that we see today is deliberate. The Okefenokee is not a natural system singularly defying the force of progress, and it is not an untouched, unclaimed paradise waiting to be discovered - it is a place that was intentionally saved by the will of man. Concerned citizens, scientists, lawmakers and conservation groups came together, fought for and decided the fate of this national treasure. On a number of occasions, had it not been for the swift action of this coalition of stewards, the Okefenokee, as we know it, would have perished – drained, mined, cut and developed."
We saw signs saying "UNESCO out of Okefenokee." In October 2024, the Fish and Wildlife Administration proposed to add 22,000 acres to the site, which could help prevent a proposed titanium mine near the swamp. In December 2024, the Biden administration nominated the Okefenokee Wildlife Refuge to be a World Heritage Site, which would not add legal protections but increase awareness and tourism. The process has been underway for decades, but might stop with the new administration.
Ibo Landing
Tiya Miles' book, All That She Carried, has a brief reference to Igbo Landing on Saint Simons Island. (Ibo is also spelled Igbo and Ebo.) The story is that in 1803 people from Nigeria were captured and brought to the United States. On landing, they walked into the water and drowned, choosing death over slavery.
I wanted to see the site of this moving event, which resonates with the song, "Oh Freedom:" "And before I'd be a slave, I'd be buried in my grave, and go home to my lord and be free."
There are several versions of what happened; Wikipedia says the people had overthrown the crew at sea, but then waded into the water on landing. A painting at the Harrington School shows people in shackles wading into the water. Chika Odua wrote more on Medium.
It was not until 2022 that students at a local high school did research in primary sources and raised money to put up this marker. It's not near the location on Dunbar Creek, which is now private property and a waste treatment site.
Gullah Geechee
The Gullah Geechee people are descendents of enslaved Africans who still live on islands along the southern Atlantic coast. They are preserving and reviving their traditions and language. At an African American History Festival at Fort Frederica we got to see crafts, and a young woman read us a portion from a Gullah Bible.
A librarian from the Library of Congress has been working with seventh-generation Gullah Geechee Griffin Lotson to trace the origin of songs like "Kumbayah" and "There is More Love Somewhere" to recordings Alan Lomax made on St. Simons in 1959. She and Mr. Lotson talked about their research and introduced the Gullah Geechee Ring Shouters, who carry on a 300-year-old tradition.
Gullah Geechee people have also restored the 100-year-old Harrington School, one of the Rosenwald Schools funded by Sears Chairman Julius Rosenwald for rural African American communities. Apparently Georgia was not supporting such schools at the time.
Harrington was once a close-knit African American community, but in the 1990s developers started buying up properties. People who wanted to preserve their community put up signs "Don't Ask, Won't Sell," but that wasn't enough. I'm going to start sending that sign to the developers who call, write and email offering to buy our house. Many of you have told me of such offers.
One Harrington homeowner donated her land to the St. Simons Land Trust so the SSLT and Glynn County could purchase and preserve from developers the one-room school house and 12 surrounding acres. Some people here are planning to will their homes to a land trust to preserve relatively affordable housing.
Show of the Month
The Globe highlighted our daughter Wendy's company's performances of Conference of the Birds in Cambridge this week and next. "ANIKAYA DANCE THEATER The company’s fantastical “Conference of the Birds” brings together a cast of dancers from around the world to evoke the journey of 100 birds who trek through seven symbolic valleys in search of a mythical Phoenix-like creature. Inspired by a 12th-century Persian poem and choreographed/directed by Wendy Jehlen, the work also calls to mind themes of immigration, tolerance, and belonging. Feb. 27-March 9. $25-$65. Arrow Street Arts, Cambridge. www.arrowstarts.org"
Songs of the Month:
Oh Freedom, sung by Sweet Honey in the Rock
Georgia on My Mind, the official state song, sung by Ray Charles, written by Hoagy Carmichael