'Behind God's Back' - by Herb J Frazier (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

When freedom came to enslaved Africans who toiled on rice plantations in lower Berkeley County, South Carolina, many remained to farm the land and raise their families in settlements near the plantation gates. Four generations later, their descendants have shared for the first time family joys and sorrows in Behind God's Back: Gullah Memories of Cainhoy, Wando, Huger, Daniel Island, St. Thomas Island, South Carolina, by Charleston-based writer Herb Frazier and illustrated with the paintings of Columbia, South Carolina artist John W. Jones. Behind God's Back is a compilation of accounts of the experiences of Gullah people who struggled after Emancipation, through the Depression and into the middle of the twentieth century to maintain their African-based lifestyles in rural communities near Charleston. Gullah people live in the coastal area of the Southeastern United States. They have preserved more of their African cultural heritage than any other black community in the country.

Review Quotes

"Herb Frazier has done what many of us have been unable or unwilling to do -- preserve the history of several of South Carolina's Gullah communities."

-South Carolina Congressman James E. Clyburn, House Majority Whip

"A major contribution to understanding the historical lives and challenges of the Gullah people from the Lowcountry near Charleston, South Carolina, enhanced by the special illustrative paintings by John W. Jones."

- Jonathan Green, Artist