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Krak Teet: A Catalog of Black Savannah's Biographies
Krak Teet centers the experiences of native Gullah Geechee elders from 1920 to 1970. This book catalogs stories of struggle— Ms. Madie Underwood’s family of sharecroppers fleeing after her father sold a pig without permission, Mr. Roosevelt Rouse stuffing his mother’s stab wounds with cobweb to stop the bleeding, and Ms. Florie marching Broughton Street twice a day to protest segregation—alongside stories of success—Ms. Mary Smith’s mother becoming Savannah’s first black woman to own a car, Ms. Sadie Green making over $500 a week running numbers, Mr. Omar Boone being treated like a god as an ex-pat in Europe, and the city’s desegregation eight months before the Civil Rights Act passed.
Savannah is one of the nation’s top travel destinations, yet you could spend a week strolling the city and leave without a clue about the essential role Georgia’s oldest African-American community has played here. So Trelani Michelle krak’d teet with Geechee elders over the age of 80 about life for Black folk in Savannah back in the day.
Krak Teet (crack teeth) is a Gullah Geechee term that means “to speak.” This book ain’t just a pile of research. It’s an oral history, meaning the memories and stories are “straight from the horse’s mouth.” The first-hand accounts in this book are transcribed directly from the grandchildren of the slaves who laid the city’s treasured cobblestone roads and introduced its famous red rice and deviled crabs. Those who lived through what can be considered the country’s second wave of the #BlackLivesMatter movement.
- Local Markets Selling Krak Teet
- Diaspora Marketplace: 510 MLK Jr Blvd, Savannah
- Dottie’s Market: 207 W Broughton St., Savannah
- Beach Institute: 502 E Harris Street, Savannah
- Sabree’s Gallery: 11 Whitaker Street, Savannah
- Booklady Bookstore: 6 E Liberty Street, Savannah
- Savannah State University: 3219 College Street
- Sulfur Studios: 2301 Bull Street, Savannah
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