On the Sea Islands, climate change isn’t a hypothetical or something in the distant future. It’s an everyday reality, with rising seas and more frequent, violent storms.
One local leader trying to preserve her land and her people is Marquetta “Queen Quet” Goodwine, the first elected chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation, descendants of formerly enslaved people who have lived on the islands for generations. She’s coming to Charlotte and spoke with WFAE executive editor Ely Portillo, whom she’ll join again for a talk at WFAE’s Climate Summit. Here’s their conversation.
Ely Portillo: Tell me about the Sea Islands and what effects you’re seeing already as the climate warms?…