LESSONS IN THE LAND

Landscapes and Portraits: Wadmalaw Island

WRITTEN BY AND PHOTOS BY WGS ADMINISTRATIVE COORDINATOR, PRISCILLA THOMAS ‘07 (she/her)

Wadmalaw Island is known for its rural serenity, with kudzu-tangled vistas, moss-draped oaks, and lush maritime forests. This island is where WGS’s inaugural Community Leader-in-Residence, Tamika “Mika” Gadsden (she/her), led a study-away day trip for College of Charleston students, faculty, and staff. Mika described this immersive educational experience as “a journey through communal and personal history on this unique body of land.”

The study-away was a family affair with Mika’s father, Benjamin (he/him), co-leading the tour. At 84 years young, Benjamin grew up on Wadmalaw Island. His childhood memories recall boyhood adventures framed within the iniquities of systemic racism. Benjamin’s experiences came to mind when Mika agreed to host this event. She explains, “Concerning the Land, Body, History series, my experiences as a Gullah descendant fueled my passion for amplifying marginalized narratives and challenging dominant historical narratives.” She continues, “That’s partly why I asked my dad to help give a tour of his native Wadmalaw Island. By drawing on my personal and local Lowcountry history, we’re better able to understand the past more clearly. Thus, we can work to dismantle oppressive structures, including vestiges of what my family has had to contend with.” A facet of these oppressive structures is the land where these histories take place.

The group’s history lesson began on a dirt lot outside of Historic P.M. King’s, now reincarnated as HUM Grocery. Just shy of the Rockville town line, this small-town store greets patrons with a rustic storefront. Two faded yellow Sunbeam bread signs bookend the store’s name. Other handmade signs hang from the roof’s eaves to entice visitors with “BEER & ICE,” “BBQ,” and “LUNCH.”

Current owners Natalie and Andrew Humphrey outline the mart’s mission “to share hometown hospitality while providing high quality, local, and seasonal foods to feed our community.” This mission continues the plight of the original owner and founder, Preston King. With no grocery store nearby in Rockville, King opened the store in 1947. It remained a family business until about 2009. Nine years would pass before the Humphreys would come along to revitalize the historic site to once again serve the island community.

This store serves as a different landmark for Mr. Gadsden. A few yards from the HUM’s lot, Maybank Hwy and Cherry Point Rd intersect. When he was younger, this was considered a boundary line. Going past this intersection meant nearing Rockville town lines, where only white folks lived. In addition, much of the island didn’t provide certain services to Black people. Oftentimes, Mr. Gadsden would go into the city, especially when he needed items like a new suit. Decades later, Mika moved to the island with her family while in high school. By then, Jim Crow laws were gone, but the remnants of their effects on the community and its people remained.

Reflecting on the impact of Mr. Gadsden’s experiences, WGS Executive Committee member and Assistant Professor of History Elisa Jones (she/her) says, “As he shared the indignities of traveling to school and work on the island that came along with racial segregation, he mentioned that he has still never been to Folly Beach

because he was not welcome there when he was young.” She adds, “His experience of the geography of Charleston is charged with his lived experience of its history. Where Black bodies were not welcome are empty places in the mental map of his home. History is

not ‘past’; it is felt and constantly present.” History never rests. It’s a constant presence that not only resides in the mental maps of individuals but also within the community consciousness, where generational histories can haunt the land.

Visiting spaces where social inequities and injustices have occurred provides a more profound understanding than merely reading words in a book can. WGS affiliate faculty and Chair of Political Science Hollis France (she/her), shares her thoughts on this, “The study away experience on Wadmalaw Island offered a unique opportunity to be fully immersed in the study of a place beyond the confines of a traditional classroom setting.” She elaborates, “By engaging with the teaching and knowledge systems of the African American community on the island, we were able to confront histories of erasure and recognize our collective and individual responsibilities as a campus community.” These responsibilities task residents to do better. Confronting histories of erasure has never been limited to the distant past when there are agents actively working to erase the experiences and histories of marginalized voices. But what may not be taught in a classroom can always be taught by the land and its people.

One such person serving as a changemaker within the community has been Mika herself. She says, “Being raised with a firm understanding of my parents’ struggles against systemic oppression in both North and South Carolina amid apartheid-like conditions has instilled in me a profound commitment to social justice and equity.” She adds, “Because of this awareness, my sensibilities allow me to naturally emphasize the importance of having a sound liberation and class analysis, which helps me better engage with students and community members alike.” The Land, Body, History series allowed Mika to do just that. She says, “My participation in this series has been deeply inspiring, as it has allowed me to connect with fellow disruptors, content creators, and community members who share a commitment to building a more equitable world. I hope that hearing stories of resilience and resistance, mine or others, will reaffirm other’s belief in the power of collective action.”

Mika’s and her father’s stories are as impactful as she hopes. WGS alum and Ph.D. candidate Tanner Crunelle (he/him) touches on such in his takeaways from the study-away: “The Wadmalaw day trip left me with a precious new perspective on our home. The way Mika and her father shared their lived experience was steeped in feminist, Black, working-class consciousness as it’s lived out in this specific place, with its particular history of political struggle. I think our questions and curiosities were not extractive but invited a collaborative consideration of where we are.” Tanner continues, “We also had plenty of time to immerse ourselves in the island’s natural environment, which was calming, and built community and care in our program by spending time with one another.” He concludes, “As Mika’s culminating engagement as Community Leader-in-Residence, this experience emblematizes how we’ve been striving to make the WGS program responsive to the local community in pursuit of a resilient and connected South.”

A connected South means reconciling the past with the present. Doing so requires acknowledging and affirming the experiences of community members and being mindful that a community has the right to choose how progress manifests for the land and its people. The campus community is not isolated. Students and faculty are part of communities beyond its red bricks, where they learn invaluable lessons from the land and the people and can become part of the collective action to bring forth necessary change.