Off the coast of Georgia, the descendants of the Gullah-Geechee people — the enslaved Africans who carved freedom and community out of isolation — are once again in a battle for survival. On Sapelo Island, a tranquil stretch of land steeped in Black history, residents are fighting not just to stay on their ancestral ground, but to keep their political voice alive.
According to Capital B News, Sapelo’s remaining Black residents — many of whom trace their lineage back to the island’s original freedmen — are pushing back against zoning changes and voting restrictions that threaten to strip them of both their property and their power. For generations, Sapelo has stood as a living archive of Gullah-Geechee culture: self-sufficiency, land ownership, and deep communal ties. But now, the same forces that once sought to enslave and silence them are returning in new forms — bureaucratic red tape, rising property taxes, and policies that tilt democracy away from them.
The heart of the fight centers around two issues: zoning laws that could open the door to gentrification, and voting barriers that weaken the political representation of the island’s Black community. Residents say local officials are redrawing lines, both literally and figuratively, to push them off the land — a strategy eerily reminiscent of America’s long history of Black land theft.
“We’ve been here since emancipation,” one resident told Capital B. “Now they’re trying to erase us under the guise of ‘development.’ But this is our home, our heritage — we’re not going anywhere.”
The battle on Sapelo is part of a broader pattern seen in Black coastal communities from Hilton Head to St. Helena: rising land values, absentee owners, and government zoning tactics that price out or push out longtime Black families. The Gullah-Geechee people, once isolated by design, now find themselves isolated again — this time by policy and profit.
Yet, amidst the threat of displacement, there’s defiance. Residents are organizing, suing, and speaking out — demanding fair zoning, voting protections, and the right to self-determination. They’re not just fighting for land; they’re fighting for the right to remain visible, viable, and sovereign.
On Sapelo Island, every acre is sacred, every vote is a voice, and every act of resistance echoes a legacy older than the state that seeks to silence it.
3D North Star Freedom File says: This isn’t just a zoning dispute — it’s another frontline in the centuries-long war for Black autonomy. From plantations to polling places, the fight for freedom never ended — it just changed its name and ZIP code.
