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GULLAH STORY TELLERS

   De' Gullah Griot:

   Giovanni Richardson

Queen Ma’at Hat Atun Ogechi-El

 inherited the title of Griot from age of 6 years

Giovanni Richardson aka Queen Ma’at hat Atun-Ogechi is an entrepreneur and international philanthropist, community advocate, social justice reformer, and a home cook. She was born and raised on St. James Island, a sea island of Charleston, SC. Grew up speaking Gullah and Geechee, as her native tongues, she is also fluent in German, Spanish and currently learning Chinese (mandarin), perfecting Krio and Swahili.  She is the owner and cultural event planner for A Taste of Gullah, Gumbo Machine by the Geechee Ki’chun and the Diaspora, a future food restauranteur.  With a diverse educational background, she received her B.A Communication and B.S. International Business from the College of Charleston and B.A. in Business Management from the University of Georgia. A.S in Hospitality and Tourism and A.A. Business Marketing and Managment. She also possesses extinsive knowledge in Photography, Biology, Oral History, Consciouness and Naturopathic & Holistic Health. She is certified in ServSafe, Lean Manufacturing and community organization

. Currently, Giovanni Richardson holds special leadership positions as an Ambassador with the Gullah Geechee Heritage Corridor (GGHC) and, Southeastern Ambassador of the Descendants of the Slave Nation (DAS), and co-President of SC Chapter for Minorites for Medical Marijuana (M4MM) and board member for the Sea Island Preservation Society (SIPS).She still holds the Chieftess Title for the Gullah Nation of North America (GNONA)

Giovanni Richardson is an oral historian and storyteller for the Gullah Geechee and Sea Island history from a 15 generational background. Appointed the Gullah Griot apprentice by Elder Maude (local herbal practitioner and spiritual guide) at the age of 6, Giovanni has been collecting oral history stories and medicinal information and knowledge of the past.  With the exposure to more information by traveling and researching, she is adding a flavor to the Gullah experience by connecting of current issues and situations of the past, present and future. The topics of conversations varies but touch on food ways, farming, spirituality, communal living and behaviors, education and general history, with a straight forward perspective.

As a community organizer and advocate for the Gullah Geechee communities of Sea Island, she has served in leading positions for various segments of the Gullah communities of James and John’s Islands for over 10 years, gaining support in the Gullah Geechee districts on a balanced platform with the objective to protect the Gullah. On James Island, her volunteer services include history and culture classes at Seashore Farmers Lodge Museum and Cultural Center, lectures at historical sites on James Island teaching history and culture, ex-president of the Beefield Community, assisting the Battery Island Drive Community and a consultant to the Grimball and other Gullah communities, leader for several years of the Lowcountry Kwanzaa Planning and assisted the Charleston Waterkeepers, Preserve the Gullah and Historic Preservation Committees organizations with their community projects.

Working for corporation, lead to entrepreneurship and building a tour guide brand unlike any other company in the southeast and internationally. Her company, A Taste of Gullah focuses on the Gullah Geechee and Sea Island culture providing outdoor explorative and educational tours of the Sea Islands with opportunities to experience authentic cuisine and culture, and a full broader understanding of the Gullah experience, which is the key to preservation.

As Commerce Minister of GNONA, she built and created relationships with the local market internationally that will result in trade locally creating a developmental economic chain. Later, she accepted the paramount Chieftess of the Gullah Nation of North America position to build an independent and fully functioning government and operating nation, whose goal is to provide full freedom of equalities for her Gullah citizens in this global community.

Giovanni the world traveler and social justice advocate, has managed urban international and national projects in Bristol, Great Britain; Accra and Kumasi, Ghana; Hamburg, Germany and San Bernardino, California; Athens, Ga as well as Gullah communities in the Lowcountry and along the Gullah Geechee Heritage Corridor.  Her passion is networking and connecting coastal people and assist in finding funding through creative ways and creating sustainable community projects for local communities i.e. Seashore Farmers Lodge Museum Project and Historic Sol Legare community and Mosquito Beach projects and the Beefield Sign Project. She has partnered with various groups sustainable projects as a part of cultural preservation like Beach Sweep and Marsh Clean up. Each project ended with a purpose, point of revitalization, community education, future plan and created sustainable projects. She enjoys working directly with the local community leaders, resident and children. Her goal is nation building. After returning to SC, the last 10 years have been dedicated to the bringing awareness to the lost history of the Gullah Geechee people, which lead to the rediscovery of the oral historian trade, by way of storytelling and interpretation.

In her normal life, Giovanni is a local generational farmer managing Honey POT Farms, part of the Gilliard-Richardson Estate Century Farm with her daughter and son along with the assistance of family. She likes foraging and hunting and dancing to music all kinds especially Rock n Roll and Reggae. Richardson, a 10th generational Sea Island descendant, is a genetic combination of enslaved Africans and Americans; Wassamaw, Cherokee, Blackfoot, Yamasee, Seminole, Edisto, Creek, Yuichi and Maroons of Charleston area. Richardson is a new age historian, combining oral traditions with recently discovered history and re-teaching through arts, music, linguistics, stories, lectures and food ways, making her a pioneer for the next generations.