Cornelia Bailey

Cornelia Walker Bailey (1945–2017) was the griot of Sapelo Island, Georgia — the keeper of the Saltwater Geechee culture, the steward of the Purple Ribbon sugarcane and the Sapelo red pea, and the author of God, Dr. Buzzard, and the Bolito Man. Her work is the spine of the Sapelo cultural record.

She fought to keep her community on the island in the face of land loss, taught seed-saving to the next generation, and made the case nationally that the Geechee culture of the Georgia coast is a living, sovereign tradition. The Sapelo Island Cultural and Revitalization Society continues her work.