Visiting Professor Speaks on Role of Rice in Coastal Regions during National Rice Month

September 17, 2020

September is National Rice Month!! Visiting Professor for the GS Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, Amir Touré, speaks on the significant role rice has played in coastal Georgia and the lowcountry – as historian and founder of the museum and cultural center Geechee Kunda located in Riceboro, GA.

“Geechee refers to the African-based culture that is deeply entrenched here in Coastal Georgia, and the people who live here. Kunda is Sarakole [a West African Mande ethnic group] [meaning] ‘compound’ and ‘home of hope’. The Kunda is located on lands where the very brutal rice, cotton, and indigo producing ‘Retreat Plantation’ once stood. This is where we suffered, died, resisted, and held on for this day. This is sacred land, the spiritual center for Africans in America… a place for all to come for Empowerment, and Liberation.”

Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, the Geechee Kunda Museum and Cultural Center is temporarily closed.

To view the video interview and more information, see the WTOC news story written by Sarah Stone.