Descended: Searching for My Gullah-Geechee Roots

Keith Rushing

Book cover for Descended: Searching for My Gullah-Geechee Roots
Book cover for Descended: Searching for My Gullah-Geechee Roots

Descended: Searching for My Gullah-Geechee Roots

Descended: Searching for My Gullah-Geechee Roots

Keith Rushing

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Description

A mysterious name initiates a journey to discover one family's past, and reveals more than was expected

It began with a name. Sancho. Gleaned from the memory of his oldest living relative, that name set author Keith Rushing on a quest to recover his family's story.

Rushing came to learn that Sancho was an African name, a common practice among the Gullah-Geechee communities of the South Carolina and Georgia Sea Islands. He found that Sancho had been born into slavery on Hilton Head Island and later fought as a soldier in a war for self-emancipation. Rushing learned that after that war Sancho had become a small landowner. Above all, he discovered that his family's story was richer than he had ever imagined.

In Descended, Rushing recounts his own journey of discovery, and in the process unfurls a dramatic story about the transformation of Hilton Head. Descended is a story about family, place, and the desire to understand where we have been and where we are going.

About the Author

Keith Rushing is a former reporter who worked at newspapers in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and California and now works as a communications strategist for an environmental nongovernmental organization. He has written blogs and commentary for the Huffington Post and Ebony.com among other online publications. Rushing grew up in Queens, NY, and now lives in Washington, DC, with his wife and two children.

Critical Reviews

This deeply personal memoir is both a genealogical odyssey and a powerful reckoning with the past....A profound family journey into Black American history, from enslavement to empowerment....Blends personal revelation with searing historical clarity, a poignant tribute to identity, legacy, and the pursuit of justice.

-- "PW Booklife"

Publishing Information

Publisher: University of South Carolina Press
Pub date: 2025-04-15
Length: 240 pages

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