Fictional Interview of Cornelia Walker Bailey by People Magazine
Recently,
I visited with Mrs. Cornelia Walker Bailey, the popular co-author of the book
God, Dr. Buzzard, and the Bolito Man: A Saltwater Geechee Talks About Life on
Sapelo Island, Georgia. If you aren’t familiar with Mrs. Walker’s book, I
suggest you place it at the top of your reading list. The destined to be
literary classic, now in its eighth printing, entails the story of Bailey and
her African descended, isolated Sapelo Island culture, known as the Geechee.
The book summarizes the plight of our modern American society stripping away
any culture and land that does not fit into our nation’s profiteering scheme. Bailey
must preserve as much of the Geechee culture as possible, and the novel is a testament
to such preservation indeed. In her novel, Bailey is a true storyteller, never
allowing the reader a dull moment. Her book is an absolute must read, that is
sure to inspire hope and inspiration in the reader, not to mention a profound
understanding of the fascinating Geechee culture. I was eager to meet the
author herself, so I set out to interview Mrs. Bailey.
Sapelo
Island, Georgia is only reachable by ferry from the coast of Georgia, and it
was a sweltering summer afternoon, offering only the occasional gulf breeze as
relief. After unloading from the dock, I immediately began to notice the
incredible natural beauty Sapelo has to offer and was struck with déjà vu. It
was as if Bailey had described the great live oak trees, complete with hanging
moss, so perfectly I had already seen them before. I looked down in my hand at
the small piece of paper my editor had given me with Bailey’s address. In each
direction I looked the foliage began to look alike, yet I continued trekking
forward amongst the dusty, dirt road. Was I near the home of Mrs. Bailey? I
knew I had a walk ahead of me, and I turned out to be right. I hadn’t actually
measured but my walk from Shell Hammock to Hog Hammock, but it had to have been
at least 3 miles, and in the hot July sun, it was quite a feat. Upon reaching a
small wood framed home, I checked the address once more before knocking on the
paint worn screen door. The door bounced forwards a bit as I knocked; alerting
me that it wasn’t even locked. Out of courtesy, I knocked once more rather than
intrude.
“I’m
comin’, I’m comin’”, calls Bailey from the distance.
“C’mon in” she says, “Don’t be shy.” I proceeded
to introduce myself, and although she had been expecting me, the mention of People
Magazine lit a new spark in her eyes, as if she were accessing some truly
fantastic stories from recent events to share with People’s million plus
readers. My eyes, on the other hand, began to wander around the room. Immediately
drawing my attention were the massive amounts of family portraits hanging above
her modest fireplace and living room walls. Mrs. Bailey has an extensive
family, including her three sons, one daughter, foster son, adopted daughter,
and fourteen grandchildren. It appeared all of Bailey’s recent publicity hadn’t
gone to her head. Her surroundings, although not as humble as I had expected, were distinctively old-fashioned. Amongst
the new devices such as the television, telephone, refrigerator, and lamps with
what looked like homemade shades, there were other, more rustic items.
With
a faint smell of fried fish wafting toward me I noticed the kitchen. I noticed
that next to a newer electric stove, stood an old, wood-burning stove that
appeared to still be in use as the top was still attached. Looking around her
home was like a mélange of time-traveler collected items. There was an old pine
box reminiscent of the coffin used in the novel that had almost been her final
resting place. Bailey used this one as a makeshift bookshelf. There were
traditional, African, wood-carved sculptures and paintings, dabbed with
splotches of brightly colored inks derived from nature, no doubt collected from
her trip to Sierra Leone, the mother land of the majority of Geechee. There
were old tin sign advertisements and treasures from her trips to such places as
New York, Washington D.C., and Canada where she has given lectures regarding
the importance of the Geechee’s culture and land preservation. The floor was
hardwood that had seen better days, but the scratches and dents gave the home
more character.
I imagined Bailey thinking, “What am I
gonna fix this floor up for? It’s just gonna get all beat up again in no time.” I noticed a homemade cast net hanging
from the back of the door from which I had entered, along with several rice
fanner baskets of intricate beauty atop the home’s many pine and bark shelves. Amongst
the relics of items past and present sat an antique rocking chair and modern
sofa. In between them a modest, unstained coffee table had been placed.
Mrs. Bailey took her seat in the rocking
chair and said, “Why are you still standing? Have a seat child, and go ahead
and ask me what you wanted to ask me.” I obliged her request, opened my
notebook and asked her the following questions:
People: Mrs. Bailey,
since your novel’s inception into American literary culture, has the struggle
to retain the land of Hog Hammock, the sole remaining African American
community here on Sapelo improved? [Hog Hammock has long been sought for
acquisition by the State of Georgia and the Department of Natural Resources.]
If so, have you taken any action in regards to regaining the land of areas such
as Belle Marsh?
Bailey: “Well, ten
years have passed, but the publicity and sales of my book really helped SICARS (Sapelo
Island Cultural and Restoration Society) gain the necessary funding for the
legal fees and specialist research that we so desperately needed to acquire a
descent land trust. There is absolutely no way that Georgia or DNR is going to
get their hands on Hog Hammock now or ever. Community families will always hold
this land, and their descendants will always have undeniable proof that will
let them inherent this land unobstructed. “
“As
for getting back the land that was once ours, I’m afraid we’re gonna have to
let sleeping dogs lie, and for now just accept the wins the good Lord has given
us. Sure, we could resort to doing the type of thing the state did to us right
back to them with legal loopholes and extortion, but I’ve got a good story to
help give you an idea of how that might turn out.”
“Brer
Rabbit had a favorite place on the river where he always went to drink water.
It was on a bend in the river, and two snakes lived there; one on the upper
side of the bend and one on the lower. Brer Rabbit soon learned that neither of
the snakes knew that the other snake lived there. ‘Ho, ho, ho.’ thought Brer Rabbit
‘I am going to have a bit of fun!’ Brer Rabbit went to the snake that lived on
the upper bend of the river. ‘I am a very strong rabbit,’ he told the snake. ‘I
bet I can pull you right out of the water.’ ‘I bet you can't!’ said the snake,
who was very strong indeed. ‘I will go get a grape vine,’ said Brer Rabbit. ‘You
will pull one end and I will pull the other. ‘If I pull you out of the water, I
win the contest. If you pull me into the water, then I win.’ The Snake on the
upper bend agreed. Then Brer Rabbit went to the Snake on the lower bend and
made the same deal. He told both snakes that he would be standing out of sight
on top of the river bank and would give a whoop when he was in place and ready
to start the contest. Both snakes were pleased with the arrangement. They were
sure they would win against such a feeble little rabbit. Brer Rabbit took a
long grape vine and strung it across the wide bend in the river. He handed one
end to the first snake and the other end to the second snake. Then he gave a
loud whoop from the middle of the riverbank and the two snakes started tugging
and pulling with all their might. ‘That rabbit is really strong.’ thought the snake
on the upper bank. He would tug and tug and the vine would come a little closer
to him and then he would nearly be pulled out of the water. ‘My, Brer Rabbit is
much stronger than he appears.’ thought the snake on the lower bank after he
was almost hurled out of the water by an extra strong pull from up the river.
Brer Rabbit sat on the bank above both snakes and laughed and laughed. The snakes
heard him laughing and realized that they had been fooled. Letting go of the
rope, they swam to the middle of the bend and met each other for the first
time. Both snakes were angry with Brer Rabbit for making them look foolish.
They agreed that Brer Rabbit could no longer drink from his favorite place on
the river bend where they lived. In spite of his protests, they sent Brer Rabbit
away and would not let him come down to the riverbank anymore. After that, Brer
Rabbit decided not to play any more jokes on snakes.”
“Well, the moral is not to use someone else’s strengths
against himself, and not to get too cocky. If we go after more than we need at
this moment by using DNR’s own tactics against them, it may backfire and make
them wanna kick us out even more. They may turn up the heat if they feel
threatened, and find some way to kick us out, or at the very least, become more
of a nuisance than they already are. For now, we’ll accept this peace.”
People: Has the population of Sapelo increased since the publishing
of your book ten years ago? If so, how do you feel about any additions to your
community?
Bailey: “Well, by the close of my book, we only had 9 families left
here in Hog Hammock, but today I am pleased to tell you that we now have 25
different families living here. We still have the original nine, and the 16 new
editions are people of African descent that cherish the ways of living outlined
in my book. We also have some that’s ancestors were some of the slaves that had
joined the Seminole tribe, instead of running north when slavery was abolished.
One newcomer, Abraham Cowákcuchî, looks remarkably like my grandfather,
John Bryant. You can really see the Native and African American mix in him and
his family. It’s a true honor to add another unique culture to our own.”
“Being
of African heritage isn’t critical to be accepted into our community. It just
happened that all the newcomers had read my book were African American, and had
seen so much of themselves in my stories, that they felt compelled to move here
and help our cause.”
People: In the past, Sapelo’s school system provided a much more
rigorous curriculum than the average educational institution offered, despite
the fact that it only offered classes through 9th grade. However, the lack of grades
10-12 caused many Geechee to leave Sapelo for a more rounded education. Has
Sapelo’s school system changed in the past ten years?
Bailey: “Yes. The school system here has changed tremendously since
my novel was first published. We now have two separate schoolhouses of moderate
size. One covers Kindergarten through 8th grade. The other is our
high school, which covers 9th through 12th grades. This
has helped keep most of our youth from leaving to seek further studies,
although we do still lose some in pursuit of a college education. We have recently
petitioned the state of Georgia to build a community college here on Sapelo.
The state still owns the majority of the land here, so it is only natural they
should be the ones to assume responsibility for building such a college.
Although, there still aren’t too many jobs here on Sapelo that would require a
college degree besides the DNR’s jobs, we have been brainstorming lately trying
to create what today are called ‘green’ jobs. A few decades ago, we would have just called them jobs,
because besides the timber industry, most of our jobs were based around taking
care of the land and selling the fruits of that labor. We were thinking along
the lines of a small hydroelectric plant, as well as producing paper goods made
from sweet grass instead of lumber.”
People: In your novel, tourism provides jobs for people such as
yourself. Certainly, it provides extra income for Sapelo and the state of
Georgia. Are there any drawbacks to the tourism industry now prominent here on
Sapelo?
Bailey: “Well, yes and no. Tourism is an excellent way for us to
make our story clear and known to America. No person that visits Sapelo ever leaves
here alone. They take a good deal of our culture with them. They leave with
their eyes opened a little wider, and their hearts a little warmer. Every
single person that visits this island is touched in some way. Drawbacks? Occasionally,
there is a child that removes a headstone or switches a loved one’s belongings
in Behavior Cemetery. Although, our police force is much more organized than in
the past. Many members of our community are now officers of the peace. That’s a
really good thing, because they grew up with the same morals and values that I
cherish here. They patrol Behavior Cemetery once or twice each night, always
asking permission of the spirits to enter, of course. They don’t put up with
any nonsense or grave defamation.
People: Have the profits you received from the sale of your novel
changed your way of life or personality?
Bailey: “Changed me? No. Never. It’d take more than hundred shadows
to pull the ‘me outta me.’ I am Sapelo. Now and forever. I’m one of the last
Geechee. If I changed whatsoever, it would have a profound effect on preserving
our culture. I play a large part in several newcomer children’s lives. I am
even the church mentor for some of them. There have been some good things happen due to the sale of
that book, though. Most of the profits were put back in the community. Right
here in Hog Hammock. As I mentioned earlier, we were able to use some of the
profits to finally gain our land trust.
We were also able to build our praise house here on my property. I have
been bringing each tourist group here ever since. The praise house is exactly
as I imagined it would be before it was built. It’s a small old-fashioned praise
house, with wooden benches instead of pews, and a few more benches outside in
the courtyard. It is a beautiful little house of God, complete with the small
stained glass window of blue, green, and yellow, and the small seagull perched
on a branch waiting to fly. We are free now, free of slavery, tycoons, and the
state of Georgia more or less, and I wanted something to pay homage to that.
That little praise house fills up. I mean it really fills up every Sunday when we all join in prayer. We sing
and sing, and sometimes I get to singing and swaying, and I almost forget what
year it is. It feels so much like the old days. All the old people that are no
longer living would be proud. Momma would be proud. In the end, I guess some people
make themselves a bit of money and buy an estate or some fancy toy they don’t
even need. I made a little money, and I built a praise house. It was worth
every penny.”
“Sometimes
it amazes me that I could make money simply telling the stories I was meant to
tell. I think about my ancestors in the bondage of slavery. What would they
think about that? Although, most of them couldn’t read or write, because they
weren’t allowed to, what would they think of simply telling the story of their
lives, and solving all of their problems? They had a lot to tell, and if things were more like today back then, they
would have all flied home first class. I’m sure I’ve made them proud though, I
put back nearly all of my earnings into helping our community, helping their
descendants.”
Shortly
after my interview with Mrs. Bailey, I embarked on another perilous journey of
near heat exhaustion back to Shell Hammock and boarded the ferry to the
mainland. My mind was reeling over all the information I had just learned. I
was enthralled to learn things were going so well for Mrs. Bailey and all the
people of Sapelo. Mrs.
Bailey is one of the warmest, friendliest people I had ever met. Something
about her resonated with me, as I am sure it does with most. That’s probably
what makes her such a terrific tour guide. But, there was something else that
seemed different from the time in which I had arrived. It was something
unsettling yet comforting. It felt as if the spirits of Sapelo were following
me home.
“Why
would they want to follow me?” I thought. “Could they be thanking me for
helping spread the good word of the Geechee?”
It
could have only been my imagination, but perhaps that may have been what Mrs.
Bailey truly meant when she said, “No person that visits Sapelo ever leaves
here alone.” It had been a long and exciting day, and I still had a journey
ahead of me. The whole trip home I took comfort in knowing I was playing my own
little part in helping the Geechee.
Works Cited:
God, Dr. Buzzard and the Bolito Man:
A Saltwater Geechee Talks About Life on Sapelo Island, Georgia by Cornelia
Walker Bailey and Christena Bledsoe
