Recognition of the Gullah Geechie Culture and the Origins of “Kumbaya”

WHEREAS, on April 17, 1926, Mr. H. Wylie an African American of Gullah-Geechee Heritage, was the first to record the song now known as "Kumbaya"; and

WHEREAS, the Gullah-Geechee culture is birthed out of a determination of enslaved persons and their descendants, who lived in the Sea Islands of Georgia and South Carolina, to retain aspects of their various African cultures, language, and traditions; and

WHEREAS, in 2006 Congress designated the area between Wilmington, NC and St. Augustine, FL as the Gullah-Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor; and

WHEREAS, these Gullah-Geechee cultural practices and traditions have been preserved by descendants throughout the United States; and

WHEREAS, the song Kumbaya was popularized and earned national significance in American history, music, and culture during the modern civil rights movement of the 1940s-1970s.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ("NAACP") calls the United States National Park Service to include information on cultural origin and significance of the song "Kumbaya" into each of its markers along the Gullah-Geechee corridor; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the NAACP shall demand that the United States Congress fully fund the Gullah-Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission, which works to preserve the heritage and area.