Descended

"Keith Rushing's book Descended will be an important part of the Hilton Head story that many should find most enlightening. He is truly explaining his roots in relation to African and Gullah heritage, which should inspire others. I hope that it opens others' minds about their heritage. Every person seeking information about their legacy and heritage should read this book."—Emory Shaw Campbell, executive director emeritus, Penn Center, renowned community leader among the Gullah people, and coauthor of Gullah Days

"Descended employs Gullah-Geechee culture as a profound lens to interrogate American identity, bridging historical roots with contemporary narratives of resilience, agency, and self-de nition. Keith Rushing situates the lives of his progenitors, Sancho and Heena, within broader, underexplored frameworks of heritage and belonging."—Elijah Heyward III, PhD, Founding COO at the International African American Museum

"Keith Rushing gives an account of the issues facing people of the once marginalized Gullah heritage in this family history of a long-obscured people in their full complexity and context."—Damon L. Fordham, author of Black Folk Tales and Chronicles of South Carolina

"Keith Rushing's Descended is a masterful weaving of histories— the personal and the nation's—as he searches for the truth of a past that will inform his present and his future."—David Nicholson, author of The Garretts of Columbia