This article is written like a personal reflection, personal essay, or argumentative essay that states a Wikipedia editor's personal feelings or presents an original argument about a topic. Please help improve it by rewriting it in an encyclopedic style.(February 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
Joseph Opala OR
Born
(1950-08-04) August 4, 1950 (age 73) Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S.
Occupation
American educator and academic
Nationality
American and Sierra Leonean
Genre
History of Sierra Leone, Gullah Culture, Public history
Subject
African diaspora
Joseph A. Opala, OR (born August 4, 1950) is an American historian noted for establishing the "Gullah Connection," the historical links between the indigenous people of the West African nation of Sierra Leone and the Gullah people of the Low Country region of South Carolina and Georgia in the United States.
Opala's historical research began with a study of Bunce Island, the British slave castle in Sierra Leone that was a departure point for many African slaves shipped to South Carolina and Georgia in the mid- and late 18th century Middle Passage. He was the first scholar to recognize that Bunce Island has greater importance for the Gullah than any other West African slave castle. He ranks it as "the most important historic site in Africa for the United States."[1]
Opala has traveled between Sierra Leone and the South Carolina and Georgia Low Country for 30 years, producing documentary films, museum exhibits, and popular publications on this historical connection. He is best known for a series of "Gullah Homecomings" in which Gullah people traveled to Sierra Leone to explore their historical and family ties to that country.[2] He has drawn on his original research to establish these connections, and the work of earlier scholars, especially Lorenzo Dow Turner, an African-American linguist who in the 1930s and 1940s traced many elements of Gullah speech to West African languages.[3][4]
Opala's research and public history events generated a national dialog in Sierra Leone on the subject of family lost in the Atlantic slave trade. These discussions have continued for almost three decades. The Sierra Leone media first coined the phrase, "Gullah Connection," for the family ties which Opala has brought to light.[5] He helped generate a similar dialog in the South Carolina and Georgia Low Country, where he has given public lectures and interviews to the local media, and organized workshops for teachers and cultural activists for many years. His work has helped Gullahs recognize their links to African traditions.[6]
Opala's efforts to bring Sierra Leoneans and Gullahs together through an exploration of their common history have been recognized in both countries. In 2012, Sierra Leone's President Ernest Bai Koroma awarded Opala the Order of the Rokel, that country's version of the British knighthood,[7][8] and Sierra Leone citizenship the following year. Opala is now a dual citizen of the U.S. and Sierra Leone.[9] Penn Center,[10] the oldest Gullah community organization in the United States, in 2013 inducted Opala into its prestigious "1862 Circle" for his work in cultural preservation.[11][12]
^Bunce Island: A British Slave Castle in Sierra Leone, exhibit website
^"Sierra Leone to South Carolina: Priscilla's Homecoming". Lowcountry Africana.
^DeNeen Brown (August 6, 2010). "Anacostia Museum Exhibit Details how Lorenzo Dow Turner Traced Gullah Language". Washington Post.
^Holland Cotter (September 2, 2010). "A Language Explorer Who Heard Echoes of Africa". New York Times.
^Bernadette Cole, "The Gullah Connection" (interview with Joseph Opala), West Africa magazine, 19 May 1986
^Jane Fishman, "Childhood Folk Song Traces Woman's Roots", Spartanburg Herald-Journal, 24 Nov. 1991
^"Professor Joseph Opala Honored in the 2012 National Honors, Insignia and Awards Ceremony" Cocorioko May 31, 2012
^"Sierra Leone's President Koroma Awards Professor Joseph Opala for Bunce Island Project" African Diaspora Tourism website
^"Historian Professor Joseph Opala Receives Sierra Leonean Passport" Sierra Leone Express Media, December 13, 2013
^"Penn Center". Penn Center.
^"Penn Center Gala: The 10th Annual 1862 Circle Gala Celebrates Inductees", The Island News (South Carolina), 9 May 2013
^"Penn Center Honors Local, Cultural Leaders During 10th Annual Gala" Beaufort Gazette (South Carolina), May 18, 2013
Joseph A. Opala, OR (born August 4, 1950) is an American historian noted for establishing the "Gullah Connection," the historical links between the indigenous...
Africans to the present-day United States. Later, in the 1990s, researchers JosephOpala, Cynthia Schmidt, and Taziff Koroma located a remote village in Sierra...
Watch (May 31, 2000) "The child soldiers of Sierra Leone"., BBC News JosephOpala, "What The West Failed To See In Sierra Leone"., Washington Post (May...
Wallace Professor of Geography at Macalester College (Mali 1987–89) JosephOpala, American historian, university professor at James Madison University...
Nicastro, Francesca (1 August 2017). "How to Cook with Cucuzza". image at JosephOpala Archived 18 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine, "Origin of the Gullah",...
Three American scholars have researched Bunce Island. Anthropologist JosephOpala's research linked the island to the Gullah people of the United States...
passing it down for 200 years. In the 1990s three modern researchers – JosephOpala, Cynthia Schmidt, and Tazieff Koroma — located a Mende village in Sierra...
Bennington College, and Chancellor of the City University of New York Joseph Opala (born 1950), scholar of African American history Nick Adams (1931–1968)...
The Gullah Language. Posted by JosephOpala "Geechee and Gullah Culture". www.georgiaencyclopedia.org. Opala, Joseph (March 10, 2015). "The Gullah: Rice...
Oakland Raiders, Miami Dolphins, Arizona Cardinals, Washington Redskins) JosephOpala, public historian, Africa scholar, human rights activist Ed Roberts -...
Bangura and Julius Spencer, Sierra Leonean human rights activists, and JosephOpala, an American historian who lived in the country for many years. During...
lasting impression has been succinctly summarised by the anthropologist JosephOpala: He was a man of strong opinions, and he was never shy to voice them...
King novel Misery and the second season of the series Castle Rock. Opala, Joseph A. "Gullah Customs and Traditions". The Gullah: Rice, Slavery, and the...
Archived from the original on July 27, 2021. Retrieved July 27, 2021. Opala, Joseph (March 10, 2015). "The Gullah: Rice, Slavery, and the Sierra Leone-American...
Retrieved 17 September 2012.[permanent dead link] Martin, John Angus; Opala, Joseph; Schmidt, Cynthia (2016). The Temne Nation of Carriacou: Sierra Leone's...
trying to pass a truck Iván Iglesias (BRA) 1973-10-21 Touring car Chevrolet Opala 4 Rio Grande do Sul State Division 3 Championship Autódromo Internacional...
1016/j.jvolgeores.2014.08.020. Plunkett, Gill; Sigl, Michael; McConnell, Joseph R.; Pilcher, Jonathan R.; Chellman, Nathan J. (2023-02-01). "The significance...
Kisangani provides connections to Ubundu and Opala, along the southern corridors of Ubundu and Opala road respectively as well as long-distance road...
Structure of Creole Words: Segmental, Syllabic and Morphological Aspects. Opala, Joseph (March 10, 2015). "The Gullah: Rice, Slavery, and the Sierra Leone-American...
History. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 269. ISBN 978-0-8061-3865-7. Opala, Joseph. "Black Seminoles—Gullahs Who Escaped From Slavery" (PDF). The Gullah:...
Traditions ^ Paradise Inn ^ Paradise Inn ^ Paradise Inn Martin, John Angus; Opala, Joseph; Schmidt, Cynthia (2016). The Temne Nation of Carriacou: Sierra Leone's...
Global Information
