The League celebrated the 2025 Season on December 9 with special luncheon guest Omolola (“Lola”) Campbell, Board Chair of Historic Mitchelville Freedom Park, at Frankie Bones, Bluffton.
Lola is a sixth-generation native Hilton Head Islander, deeply rooted in her family’s legacy and the rich Gullah* Culture. She eloquently shared with us how growing up Gullah has enabled her to be the accomplished mother, entrepreneur (Binyah Boutique) , attorney and cultural preservationist that she is today.
First, Lola defined *Gullah: a derivative of the naming of Africans who originally populated Angola and other West African nations. After their capture, transportation to and enslavement in America, the “Gullah” people in the Low Country created a unique culture that included their West African languages, spirituality, cooking, value systems blended with the European parallels they were exposed to in America.
Lola traced her ancestral history background beginning in the 1820’s with an enslaved person named Campbell, through generations of Cambells and others through intermarriage in the Spanish Wells area of the Island. Generations of Campbells have contributed to the growth and prosperity of Hilton Head Island through applying their skills, labor and intelligence in careers including teaching, farming, boat building, and carpentry – building the original homes in the area of what are now Singleton and Burles Beaches. In summary, Lola said that “My roots run deeper than the tides.”
We learned that Lola’s ancestors were among the original residents of Mitchelville on HHI, a town established as a model for self-governing by formerly enslaved people during he Civil War. It was here that the for the first time in America, education was made compulsory for children ages 12-18 years. Lola’s ancestors were among those openly teaching freed Black children. She continues the legacy of her uncle, Emory Campbell, who served as the director of Penn Center on St. Helena Island, from 1980-2002. Penn was originally opened to educate formerly enslaved people and today serves as a center to preserve the history and heritage of the Gullah culture.
Through stories learned from her elders and her own personal experiences growing up, we learned that the four guiding characteristics of the Gullah culture that have enabled the original enslaved people to grow “from being owned to owning” are lessons for all humans and social groups today. Those characteristics are:
- Putting fear aside
- Not normalizing harmful behaviors
- Having a strong faith in God and self
- Expressing gratitude for and utilizing talents, skills and resources
Living these and valuing working together led Gullah people to know that a community thrives when we work together. These were values practiced before voting was granted as a means to participate in creating change.
Today as League members we recognize that voting is the voice and responsibility that every citizen possesses that will create a meaningful and lasting legacy.
Voting is Gullah.
~Margaret Johnson, League Member, 5th Generation Gullah (Frazier-Jones)
