Dear Reader:

On a recent episode of Kardea Brown’s cooking show ( filmed on Edisto Island) she was planning a family gathering to be held on another sea island, close by, James Island wherein lies Mosquito Beach, or as islanders call it ” Skeeter” Beach.

It was one of six beaches available to African-Americans during Reconstruction and the Jim Crow era… most popular during the Civil Rights movements of the fifties and sixties.

Kardea is a descendant of the Gullah-Geechee culture … a distinct group of African-Americans living in the coastal areas of South Carolina and Georgia. They still preserve much of their West-African language, culture, and cuisine.

The intent of ” Mosquito Beach” was to give African-Americans a place to enjoy themselves by visiting friends, listening to music, dancing, enjoying freshly prepared seafood and ‘soul food.’ People could put aside the pressures and negativity associated with racial inequality and simply enjoy life.

Today Mosquito Beach ( mainly an area of pluff mud and a tidal creek) is one of the last recreational areas of its kind that is still active and largely intact. Most of the other five African-American properties fell prey to developers and ” wheeler-dealers.”

In 2019 Mosquito Beach was finally added to the National Register of Historical Landmarks.

With federal funding now… the famous landmark-The Pine Tree Hotel was to be fully restored and renovated… until a fire in April of this year damaged certain sections of it… but much was saved and the perseverance and determination of the committee and community are fighting for more funding to hopefully complete it.

So until tomorrow… I love it when well-known media personalities bring to light the history behind their genealogy and spearhead publicity to everyone interested in preservation of communities that tell a story of one people’s ancestral contributions to our country-made stronger by diversity!

Today is my favorite day… Winnie the Pooh

If nothing else… Winnie the Pooh taught us about the strength of diversity-he surrounded himself with all diversified friends… everyone was different-it is what made them great and memorable!

It is 3:00 mid-afternoon… and as if right on cue… here comes the thunderstorms… or as Linda Carson calls it -” Our drought and drown” summer cycle! 😉

Winnie seems to sense Eva Cate is leaving and is spending more time under the couch.