Cultural Sustainability

Mean Old Lion Media, where black and brown voices truly matter. Hey listener, I'm Luana Graves Sellers and welcome to another episode of the Low Country Gala podcast. The podcast with the gala culture, history and traditions come to life. So I'm finally in my new house and my new office and the walls are kind of bare but next time they'll be all full of my stuff. I do get a chance to put something behind me, some of my trophies from my film, film awards and stuff. But I'm really excited about getting settled into the new space and kind of doing things a little differently with the podcast. So more to come on that. But I'm so happy to have Chet Chetnya. Am I saying it right? Chetnya. With me today, I love it when young people or I should say younger people because I don't count myself in as old yet. So younger people than me are excited about the culture and getting into learning about it and doing work in preserving and protecting our stories and our traditions in our history. So welcome, first of all, to the podcast. So happy to have you here with me. Thank you so much. I am so excited to be here and learn from you. Well, you know what, I have a feeling that we're going to learn from each other today and that's what I love that I am able to learn from all of my guests. There's always something along the way that I'm picking up and that my audience is picking up that is engaging and informative. And so I know that today will be no different from any other day. So first of all, I know that you're in school. So tell me about this where you are and the focus of your studies. Okay. Hi, so my name is Chetna. Like you said, I am from Delhi, India and I came here to do my master's. My master's is specifically in design for sustainability. And in the sustainability is a lot of things. It's about planet. It's about people. I am more focused on the people part of it. And for my thesis, I wanted to understand. So whenever we talk about peace, it's most often and we need to talk about peace given everything that is going on in this world right now. But it's most often from a very top perspective. So we talk about policies, ceasefire, military, policing. But in the middle of all of this, the conversation with real people get lost. So we never get to know what it means, what peace means to you for people like you and me. It's always an institute deciding what peace should be and they control it. And while it's very important that they do control it and they focus on direct violence, but physical violence is not the only kind of violence that exists. There is cultural violence, there is structural violence, violence that we see in everyday living and lived experiences of people. And we tend to not focus on it that much and until and unless we focus on it, we will never be able to achieve this holistic idea of peace. So my thesis is trying to understand that and how can we talk to people and how can we you know, stand against this structural violence. And in middle of my research, I went to Penn Center to attend the Gala Heritage Festival. And I learned so much about the community and I realized that whatever I want to talk about, these people are already doing it. I'm just talking about it in theory, but they have been here and you obviously you would tell me better, but your language was a race. Your culture has been a race. You've been so structurally, culturally, there has been so many layers of violence, but the people they stand so strong, the way they talk about their language. It's so it's so it's very rewarding. It's a protest in itself, but at the same time it's so warm. You feel automatically welcomed within the community. Not even for a second, I felt like an outsider, even though I am an outsider, clearly I'm an outsider. But there's so much love, but at the same time, there's so much protest the way they talk. And I thought that was amazing. So I shifted my focus to Gala Geechi, and now I want to learn from the community how cultural preservation is resisting structural violence. So that's the focus of my thesis. I love that. And you know, what I find interesting is that in the years that I've been doing this, I have received requests from people around the world who are just as fascinated with our culture as we are here. I've gotten, as a matter of fact, like I said, I was unpacking my office. I have, I literally this morning, put up a book that has a recording in it from Sweden. You know, someone who was collecting indigenous languages and recording them. And I've gotten calls, not calls, but emails from Russia students here who are studying Gala. So, you know, I love the fact that even even musicians like when Charlton Singleton from Ranky Tanki was on, he was talking about traveling around the world and the interest in the language and the culture and the songs and our music. And to me, that's one of the great things about our culture is that it does have a global interest because our people are everywhere. And the fact that you have clicked into this just is really exciting to me that you are formulating your work around our culture. And you know, there's, there's, have been so many different ways that our culture, like you said, has been tried to be erased. The language trying to be erased. But that resistance that that our ancestors had in holding on to the language, the traditions, the food ways, all of those things so that we, me and everybody else whose Gala and those who are interested in Gala are able to have those breadcrumbs home to the homeland. And to me, that's really exciting. And so I'm interested in finding out from you, what are some of those, those forms of resistance and sustainability that you've come across in your research? So I have been trying to understand this more. But for me, that the thing that was standing out the most was the idea of storytelling itself. Because I feel like when you tell stories, you're not only passing down lived realities, but you're keeping the struggle. Everything that happened alive. And that way, the younger generations also know because we, we need to understand like me also being a person of color. The fact that I'm here in this country, it's because somebody else struggled before me. The fact that I can walk on these streets, somebody else had to struggle for that. And I feel like for our generation, it's important to know. And that the only way to know is if the stories are being passed down. And again, you can correct me on this. But from what I've learned is that Gala follows oral tradition, like history. They record history in oral traditions and not like they written. And I think that's amazing. That's another way of not letting anybody else control your narrative. You have the ownership. Only you can pass down these stories. And you get to control what gets passed down. And I feel like a lot of time, even when I read stories about India and colonization, I don't relate to them because they have been written by the colonizers themselves. And I feel like just by just by having that tradition, that's a form of resistance. And that was one of the things that I would like to explore more. But I think it's, it's just like smaller things. Like in Penn Center, I, I saw this like very small poster. And it said the people have spoken. And that's it. And then I asked her about it. And then she was telling me about how golf, golf, they want to make a golf course on the Penn Center land. And they've been trying to take the land. And it's just like a small thing. But it signifies such a big thing that people have spoken. You, you don't get to go against people. And I think it's things like these that I want to look into more. But again, you're the expert. So you can tell me what other forms of resistance, have you seen the community practice? And also, by the way, this podcast is also a form of resistance. It certainly is. Well, you know what, you're absolutely right. And I love that you started with storytelling. And I had to get a piece of paper and a pen so I could take notes and keep up with you. You know, there are so many different ways of resistance that our ancestors used. Memory is one of those ways of resistance. And just like I was saying, remembering the food ways and the storytelling and all of those things, the storytelling is another one of those ways of resistance in finding creative ways for people to and entertaining ways for people to pass down words of wisdom or information. That was another way that they held resistance. The language wasn't the way of resistance. You know, there's so many ways that the colonizers tried to get us to speak, let's call it the King's English or perfect English or whatever you want to call it. But we chose not to. And that was a form of resistance. You know, the food, you know, we could have easily just taken on the food ways. But the flavors of home were just daily reminders of just that. You know, even in the way that we reared our children, you know, today, I was thinking about it this morning. I think something that I saw on TV and I thought about how gala families would have children dealt with in a different way. And I say dealt with, you know, I'm kind of, I'm alluding to reared in a different way that there was respect. And you could not, children did not interrupt. You know, they listen, they don't interrupt. They are, they speak when they're spoken to, not anything else. And there's a gala saying that I'm trying, trying to remember. And it's just totally went out of one ear out of the other. But, but even even that is done in the African tradition. Just like the proverb, it takes a village to raise a child. You know, that is purely African. I mean, it's what we commonly say today, but it's purely an African saying on how we would take care of our children. But all of that is still resistance because we could have just let things go and, you know, Africa's way over there and we're way over here. And this is what we're going to do. But that's not what we did. And so the fact that there is so many different ways of resistance, even when it came to music, use it like you couldn't speak in the fields, but they were able to to sing in the field. So the song, the work songs that they were singing were of resistance because they were giving coded messages, the ring shout. That's another way of resistance because they couldn't use a drum, but they were able to use their bodies. So there, there are just so many different ways that that our ancestors were specific in wanting to sustain our culture. And I, if there's anything that I truly, truly love about the culture is the desire that pure desire to utilize resistance in our daily lives. That's amazing. I would love to know about singing in the field and ring shouts, ring shouts. Yes. What I've known about the field was the idea of playing itself. And I don't know if this is off topic. But while doing my research, I realized that pieces are also very deeply personal. And even when things were bad, they would still go to like very far away and pray. And these owners, they wouldn't let them pray because I feel like praying again, form of resistance. As long as you have faith, as long as you have belief, you will never be controlled. You can never be owned by someone. And I think those people, they realize that. And then that's why they stop letting them pray. And I think this is something I learned from Victoria Smalls. And she's, oh my god, she's amazing. She's been on my committee. And she's been helping me so much. And every time I talk to her, I feel so amazing. Yeah, I can go on. But I learned it from her about them trying to pray and then coming up with new ways of praying. So they've been resisting since that day. And even that small act of praying to God, letting that belief stay resistance. So that's amazing. Yeah. You're right. It is amazing. And you know, a lot of people don't think in terms of religion being a form of resistance. But you're right. It truly is and was because part of the storytelling part of the proverbs that people use, part of the African sayings that people had were all ways of continuing that wisdom. But it was also giving a sense of peace through those things. And prayer was one of those ways that people found peace and joy. Because I was talking to someone recently on the podcast. And that's not something that you really think of enslaved people having. But everybody can't be miserable every single day. You have to find elements of happiness and hope and joy in whatever bad situation you're in. And that's how we rise above, you know, what a statue or status of life that you're in. And that to me is a form of resistance. Because regardless of what you're throwing at me, you know, let's say the evils of the colonizer, I'm still going to find some semblance of happiness and joy. And that too is a form of resistance. And you know, I just love, love, love the fact that no matter how much our ancestors were beaten, no matter how much they were suppressed, no matter how much they were tried to strip of their personality. And every single thing that makes us who we are, they still found ways of holding on and and leveling up in what they were and who they were and what they had to endure. And to me, that is so much of the the powerfulness of our people. That's that not only resistance, but like you said, that cultural sustainability that we had as a people. Yes. And yes, while you were talking, I thought about this thing and I was just pulling it out. I read somewhere and it said during the darkest days of the AIDS crisis, we buried our friends in the morning, we protested in the afternoon and we danced all night. The dance kept us going because it's the dance we were fighting for. And I think it's amazing because we, yeah, we love to talk about the struggle, but it's the joy that we're fighting for. It's to be able to talk like this, to love like this that we're fighting for. And it's beautiful that we can talk about it like that. It really is. And and to be honest, I think that regardless of what they endured, this is what they hoped for. This is what they screamed for. This is what they prayed for so that we, me could have come. conversations like this and and appreciate and understand what they had to go through and endure so that I could have these conversations and and I might say it every week this is why I do the work that I do because they may have been voiceless before but they left so so many things behind for us to to pick up and and carry forward for this yes and it's amazing and we love you for that because because you exist I I can do something I have no idea but then I found people like you and I'm I'm continuously learning my professor he likes to call us a sponge and he's like you go out there you're a sponge and you absorb everything and in that and I'm sorry to turn the mic on you but I would really love to know what it means to be color in today's world and I know it's like yeah I don't want to put you on this spot no that's fine great question okay well you know and and I was actually talking to someone just yesterday about this today for me to be gulla is the greatest source of pride in my life it is the reason that I can proudly say who I am and I couldn't say that 15 20 years ago I say with certainty and pride and respect for those who came before me what that meant and and I truly truly truly truly hope and pray that there are more people in America and even around the world who realize that they are gulla and can tap into the life-changing groundedness that my knowing gulla is and you know it's it's funny because like I said I was trying to set up my office and right here I have this picture it says gulla I walk in the footsteps of greatness can you see that yes yes beautiful there we go and and it was funny because I was trying to decide you know what pictures I would put up and this one it says descendant proud and free I stand on the shoulders of my ancestors can you see that one yes there we go got the yes yeah so and and one more one more thing that I have here it says the world needs to know who you were made to be and and as I was putting together my office I wanted to have those kind of motivational reminders of why I do the work that I do the importance of the work that I do and and the fact that I am the descendant and that pride that I have and in learning all of the things that we've talked about the food ways the the prayers the singing the dancing the language the history the culture the traditions all of those things are important connectors for me so that I know where I came from and so that to me is is just a small piece of why being gulla and having that ancestral connection that I didn't have or didn't really know about more than 15 years ago that to me is the the greatest gift that I have given to myself and because I realized the gift that it was that I was giving to myself that it wasn't something that I could not share and I wanted to be able to share it with people who like me didn't have that before but no and then the number of gulligucci that are in America that number is growing daily and and I will venture to say you know if someone disagrees with me email me we could talk about that as before I can say it but I will venture to say that the majority of Americans that are descendants of enslaved people that are black or call themselves black Americans or African Americans that we're going to be the the dominating percentage of black people in America that are going to come out of the gulligucci culture hands down I believe that I absolutely believe that and and to me that is so powerful because the the numbers are are so high I mean I've heard at least four million at one point but I think that's a conservative number I know within the corridor at one point it was like 500,000 people just from North Carolina to Florida you know but but I I think that number is going to be huge and I've said it before and I'm gonna say it again I can't wait for the day when I am filling out a government form and it asks me if I am white if I am Hispanic if I am white non-Hispanic nor Hispanic not white whatever that is Native American or gulligucci I'm waiting for that box to be on there. Guillagucci American is gonna be just like the rest of that list that I just gave because that's where we're gonna be one day and I am really proud and and honored to be able to say that I am part of that number. I know that was a long answer to your question. No that's amazing that's what I need to learn and I think another reason why I'd only want to know what it means to be gala because like you were saying that gala is all over the country and whenever we talk about gala gulligucci line it's very specific to the region like for example for me Saint Helena is where gala people lived but I've learned that people have moved out but you're still gala so what it what it means to be gala even when you're not on the gala land is something that's amazing and I think you answered that amazingly. I think the culture with us more right after this yes like like my grandmother and her sisters were born in Charleston. My grandmother went to New York when she was about nine years old but growing up in New York she instilled in me we had okra you know fried okra was my great grandmother's favorite dish and red rice and and Peru you know all of those things that I grew up with were part of of my daily upbringing but I just didn't know that was gala but all of those things were very gala and and they took the culture with them they took it to New York and and there are so many people who are New Yorkers who who speak in the gala tones and and language and they don't even know that that's why they speak that way but but maybe it's because of that connection to the culture and you know it's just things like that that I find are so amazing so yes there are pockets of of gala in Oklahoma and Mexico and in lack ofville Texas but there are gala people in Oregon just like there are gala people in Florida or wherever else and that is what I think is exciting about the culture and and we're here and we're influencing music and everything else around the world so so pride if you ask me for one word to describe it pride amazing yes and so when you look at it from we've talked about resistance and resistance is in face of violence but I feel mentioned earlier, like we talk about violence, it's about physical violence. So a lot of times when we're talking about people of color, we're like, oh, but it's not happening anymore. There is no like nobody's actually on the streets, there's no physical violence. But violence still exists. Land loss is violence. Not being able to, yes, not being able to speak in the language you want to or the English you want to or changing accent. All of this is violence. So in your experience, yes. In your experience what has been other forms of violence that you have seen or faced in people around you, but you know that other people might not see it as violence, even though it feels very violent to you and your identity. Well, you know, you're spot on and you're thinking in that the language and just daily practices, when things like that are stripped away, it might not leave, let's say a physical lash on my body, but it is, it is a mental assault on your person. You know, when when enslaved people were put on ships along the coast of Africa, they were branded right before they went on so that people knew, you know, who owned who. And they were given a Christian name before they were put on the ship. And just because someone names you changes your name to whatever it is, that's still an assault on your person, on your personality, on your psyche. You know, all of those things where, where who I am and the connectedness that I had to being an African in whatever continent I was in, that's still an assault. You know, forget about, well, let's not forget about the fact that people were stripped away from their families, you know, their their daily lives, their complete existence, all of those things were an assault and then they brand you and then they put, you know, give you another name and then they take you to this other place and then they force you into labor. I mean, the list, the list is very long, but like he said, the list does not end at enslavement because the the the loss of the land, the displacement from the land, you know, even even when you take the end of slavery, you know, which don't get me wrong is a beautiful, beautiful thing that slavery ended. But think about the trauma that came from the fact that slavery was gone and let's say you were 40 years old, right? All your life you've been enslaved, all your life you've been on a plantation, suddenly you're free. Me, I want to get the hell out of there. I mean, that's just me, but there's some people that that was traumatic for and that's why a lot of people stayed on the plantation, but that's yet another trauma that people had to experience because if that colonizer was, say, providing the food, you know, where do I get food now? You know, where do I go? What do I do? I mean, those are a lot of traumas that people experienced. Obviously, if it was an extraordinarily cruel colonizer or enslave, or you know, you'd want to get as far away from that and I'll be going to sit under that tree over there and you know, figure it out from there, but but it's still a trauma. It's still an assault, still a kind of violence because the norms that you have had in your life have been totally upended and you have to start from scratch. So, you know, the fact that that people not only had to deal with that kind of thing, but we're also able to hold on to the memories of Africa, let's call that list, you know, that in itself is still very powerful because they took what they had, they kept what they had, and they moved into something completely different, but they maintained a lot of the things as the same. And so, to me, that is really powerful too. Yeah. Yes, and like, like you were saying that you could just go away, but body remembers, I think, and it's like piece by piece, a piece of your identity has been stripped away. How do you build that in a day or in a week? It takes generations. And I think the kind of work you're doing is the work of building that identity back up. And like you said, that 15 years ago, you couldn't say it. And I don't think that it was your fault. It's just that for years, you've been told, not to, not to feel pride. And that's, yeah. Do you think that there are instances of this kind of violence still manifesting even today? Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, you can start with code switching. Yes. I was code switching, you know, the fact that if I speak gulla, that I am ignorant sounding or or backwards talking, you know, versus the fact that if I speak gulla, I'm truly speaking another language. So if I were speaking Spanish or Italian or French or whatever, you'd be impressed. But if I'm speaking gulla, that's not as impressive as me speaking anything else. And so absolutely. I mean, I think between things like the code switching, the abuses, I will call them of land being taken away, you know, all of those things are true examples of continued violence that is coming on to the gulla people. And you know, one of the things that that really frustrates me and it has since the day I moved to Hilton Head is that the culture and the history is not being taught in schools locally. I mean, you should be statewide. It should be nationally. But at least locally, that's not taught. And that to me is painful because we're like you said on gulla land. And people don't know that. People don't understand the fact that we're in a place that has so much history and culture and tradition here. And they should understand why and where it comes from and the source of it. And so to me, that is yet another way of suppressing the culture, especially with younger children, whether they're gulla or not. And to me, that's one of those things that really should be and could be protected. And a lot of these things are structurally so embedded. Like you have to speak proper English. You land laws, airs, property law structurally embedded. So there's no, and like I'm sure you could give me more examples of how like structures are supporting these kind of violence. And I think the only way out of it is that we all play our part. So I feel like I'm very privileged that my professor, who is a white man, made sure that we know the importance of Savannah and what it stands for apart from just my school. He made sure that we know who Rosa Parks is. He made sure what all has happened and the struggle and resilience this land has seen. And I'm not sure if everybody else gets to have that privilege, that knowledge, that access. But I think it's amazing that he took it on him, that he has to be the one telling these stories. And that makes a culture where I can talk to him and I know that I feel safe about him, safe with him having these conversations. Do you think that there are are other structural things that you have noticed that may have supported the peace and the resistance that gala people are trying to do or any institutionalized things that you think supports the work? Absolutely, you know, when people say that there is systemic injustices pointed towards black people, that's so real, you know, you mentioned air's property, air's property came out of the Civil War. It was encouraged to, don't worry about it, just pass it down, you know, just pass the land down. You don't need any paperwork, you know, you don't need a will, you know, Jim Crow and all of the racial scare tactics that were being used, all of those things set us up, literally set us up for failure, the intimidation tactics, don't go vote, don't worry about having a will, you know, I mean, that's something that we're working on today, trying to get people to realize the fact that they need a will, medicine, oh my gosh, I mean, on Hilton Head and on other sea islands, there was an adopter who was there, so sometimes the doctor came from off the island. They were experimenting on people, they were giving what you call a sterilization to people to just out of cruelty. And so you have that fear of medicine and you have that fear of doctors that is again systemic throughout the black community because that's what was experienced. So every level of life, there was suppression. And so again, for people to have risen against that and sustain the culture and to survive and thrive regardless of what they faced. And for people to have held on to hundreds of acres till today, all of those things are forms of resistance and sustainability that our people were able to do and again, going back to that one word answer, that's all pride, that's all pride, you know, when people were trying to chase you off of your land and you stayed, that's a score of pride. When you were wanting to vote and signing your name up to vote, you know, I was going through my ancestor Caesar Ravinell's records and he signed up to vote in like I think it was 1868 for one of the upcoming elections, you know, so he was one of those people who had the balls and the wherewithal to stand up there and make his voice known. You know, that takes guts, it takes a lot of guts but that desire to do more and be more, all I can say is pride, all I can say is pride because it's that kind of thing that my people are made from and that if they were made from that, that means that I am made from that and I have nothing to complain about, I have nothing to feel that I am not able to accomplish because if they were able to get through everything that they got through, the world is as they say my oyster, or the sky is the limit, yeah, and the fact that even back then they knew like small things like passing down the story, passing down the cooking, they knew that that would be an act of resistance today, I think that's amazing, they were thinking ahead, one of the things I personally struggle a lot with and this is very, very raw but I really, really don't want to come and tell you what you need because one thing I also realize that community doesn't really need anything, they're so self-sufficient but I think that design specifically can support the kind of work you want to do but I don't know how do I, how do I start it so as a person who represents the community how would you be like to ask or how do you think that there is scope of designers or like other people coming in and supporting your work or what is the gap people like me can fill maybe? You know, I think the greatest example that I could give you to answer that question is I was at a festival once and I was selling t-shirts and it said low-country gala or it might have, yeah it said low-country gala and this white man said to me and he was older, he was probably around 80, 75, 80 years old and he said to me I would love to get it a t-shirt but I think that that is cultural appropriation and I don't feel that it is proper for me to wear it and I said well I beg to differ with you because we need people like you to tell our stories and when he put that t-shirt on I said I need you to go home and walk through your neighborhood and when someone sees that and says what is that or what does that mean I need you to be educated enough to share so that you're telling someone else and that person might tell somebody else and so on and so on and so on and so when I'm saying to you is that listening and learning and growing in your knowledge of the culture and then shouting it from the rooftops so that more people know whether they're here in America or whether they're back in India wherever they are sharing and telling our story because that's what the ancestors wanted us to do and just like I said earlier there are a lot of people who don't know that they're gala but we need the advocates like you like the white man at the festival to be out there sharing the culture shearing on the culture supporting the culture so that we can keep the culture as lively and vibrant as it can be because when we said it at the beginning of this podcast it had been tried to be erased everything about it had tried to be erased but guess what 150 to 100 years later whatever the amount of years is since the Civil War we're still here we're still thriving we are still enjoying the food and the music and everything so so that's what we need so what I would say to you is listen and learn understand and appreciate and share that's that's what you can do because we we need the advocates we need the the the additional ways that you can tell our stories as long as you are not telling our stories but you are just repeating our stories or sharing them because that's another thing that is what I feel is one of those violence lists things is that there are people out there who feel that are non-gulla that that feel that they can tell our story and we should be allowed to tell our stories if you want to share a story that I'm telling go for it but as far as us being able to have the ability and the power of maintaining our stories that's totally different. And you know. And you mentioned it earlier, I think you were talking about the colonizers in India. You know, the colonizers tried to change our story. Yes. And so we need to be able to share and tell our story from an accurate place, not from the misinformed, miseducated way that colonizers tried to do it in the past. And so there's definitely a big difference in there too, but that's what we need. We need the gullestory to be told in a way that clearly shares the beauty of our culture. That's amazing, yes, and I think it's something I learned when I was in my early days of being a feminist and I learned that even though I'm a woman, I'm also, I belong to a certain caste and class and religion and there will always be someone who will, who is suffering more because their caste or class might not have as many privileges that I do. And then I need to learn to pass the mic and share the stage. And sometimes I just make the stage and I step out because it's there, there don't to speak. I love, love, love that. Yeah, I think that's what I'm trying to learn because I feel like as a designer in what everything that I've learned, I think we can create the stage. And then people like you, we were like Victoria or Pat Gunn, they need to come and they tell the story. And I think I hope that that's what I can do through my thesis. You can see it, yes, oh my god, now that I have you, you have no idea how much I'm going to bother you. It's all good, I mean, that's what I'm here for. And once you're ready to share your completed work, please let me know because I'd love to hear about your, what's the word, your conclusions, you know, because I love the direction that you're going in and the thought process that you have and the fact that cultural sustainability is something that is an important part of what the culture needs and that in itself is just awesome. Thank you so much for being here with me today. Thank you, thank you so much. I told you it wasn't going to be painful. We survived, but you know, this has been a really powerful conversation and you might not realize the impact that your work and your input into the culture has, but they're going to be some people who listen to this podcast and who will have been given a different perspective on who they are, where they are in their cultural journey and you have definitely planted some flowers for their cultural garden to grow. So for that, I say thank you. Thank you, thank you so much for talking to me. I got to learn so much. And yes, if there's anyone who would like to talk to me, I love listening to stories. I would just sit there patiently and listen to your stories. So please reach out to me and I would love to talk to you again. How can people reach you? Yes, I was going to ask that. So my name is Chetna Chahan. I would love to add my email ID or something. Should I say the email ID is Chahan, that is C-H-A-U-H-A-N, dot Chetna C-H-E-T-N-A-2-0 at the redgmail.com. Please reach out to me. I love listening to your stories. I would love to be a listener and hopefully share it. And yes, thank you so much for trusting me with this opportunity. Absolutely. Well, you know, first of all, when you reached out to me, you know, I was interested in what you said and then when you said that you're talking to Victoria, I'm like, I'm good. Just like a little Chetna stuff, she's good with me and she's good with me. So yeah, happy to join on to that bandwagon and help you get to where you're going to go because like I said, I think that the work that you're doing is important and it will be really impactful for a lot of people more than you know. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. I will see you soon. Hopefully. You're so welcome. Well, I'm Luana Graves-Cellers. Thank you for listening to another episode of the Low Country Galaxy podcast. Again, another deep dive into the culture and our stories and our history and I've learned something. She's learned something. I'm sure you have learned something. Tune in next week. Bring a friend and share the culture because I'm sure if you're a descendant of an enslaved person and you know someone else, they're probably gonna too. So that's that's my thing. Let's let's both those numbers up so we can that box up for the form one day. Anyway, thank you so much for listening. See you next time. That was great. Thanks for joining us today. One access to more Gala Geacher culture and information, check out Low Country Gala.com. Follow us on social media and for cultural videos and documentaries, subscribe to our YouTube channel at Low Country Gala. Grow and culture and information every Sunday. See you next episode. This is Low Country Gala. The Culture, Tradition and History Podcast. Thanks for listening.