New Books in the American South
Jul 7, 2026 · 0 min · 11 segments
Gullah-Geechee Diasporas: Knowledge, Culture, and Black Lowcountry Legacies (University of South Carolina Press, 2026) counters romantic portrayals of…
Elizabeth J. WestGuestMohamed Fraser RahimGuest
Sullivan SommerHost
As I was riding to the campus of Louisiana State University with an African-American female colleague from New York, I asked her to down the window because it was hot.

Until that moment of her confused facial expression, I didn't give any consideration that she might not understand my utterance.

How is it that someone who is black like me could not understand what I perceived as a basic request? That from the essay, The Mother Language.

one of eight included in the book, Gullah Geechee Diasporas, edited by Associate Professor of Intelligence and Security Studies at the Citadel, Dr. Mohamed Fraser Rahim, and Professor of English and the Amos Chair in English Letters at Georgia State University, Dr. Elizabeth J.
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As I was riding to the campus of Louisiana State University with an African-American female colleague from New York, I asked her to down the window because it was hot.

Until that moment of her confused facial expression, I didn't give any consideration that she might not understand my utterance.

How is it that someone who is black like me could not understand what I perceived as a basic request? That from the essay, The Mother Language.

one of eight included in the book, Gullah Geechee Diasporas, edited by Associate Professor of Intelligence and Security Studies at the Citadel, Dr. Mohamed Fraser Rahim, and Professor of English and the Amos Chair in English Letters at Georgia State University, Dr. Elizabeth J.