Meet Luana M. Graves Sellars

More and more, the work that I was doing become more of a passion project, because along the way, through research and curiosity, I discovered my own roots and culture, which I, as a child was not aware of. Through my research for others, and then myself, I found an unexpected grounding and connection to not only where I live, but where I came from and who I really am as a person. Over time, the deeper I got, the more that the writing evolved into my being a podcaster, keynote speaker, writer, filmmaker, community activist and social media cultural influencer.

I didn’t set out thinking or expecting this to be a full time career or even thinking that I would find work that would in turn turn me into a more established sense of myself. Through my work, I know that I’m sustaining and preserving Gullah culture for future generations by telling the untold stories that educate and inspire people to understand more about who they are and where they came from. That alone, motivates and inspires me to keep going, because it’s for me as much as it is for them.

My writing has enabled me to grow as a person and as I have grown in my newly found culture, I am grateful that I can share the Gullah culture, its history, and people and educate others who might have been looking for their cultural identity too.

What’s beautiful about what I do, is that everyday, someone says thank you through social media or other ways. And each time it reminds me that not only am I doing the exactly what I am supposed to be doing, but that my purpose in life was meant for me to be living where I am and doing exactly what I should be doing.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I started writing about Gullah culture in 2016. By 2019, I had amassed over 300 articles and in response to continuous requests, I launched www.lowcountrygullah.com just as an archive for my body of work. At the time, I wasn’t expecting or planning for it to grow into a resource and motivation for people to learn about and or begin their own cultural journey.

In 2021, I started my own company, Sankofa Communications and expanded my content creation into visual media, where I also write, direct, and produce culturally focused video shorts and documentaries.

As I went along, I realized that my passion for preserving the culture also required that I focus on protecting Gullah land from being lost. As a result, I began raising funds to protect historic Gullah land future generations by founding the nonprofit(s) Lowcountry Gullah and the Lowcountry Gullah Foundation. Lowcountry Gullah was established to document and educate people about the rich significance of the culture and its role in American history and society today. The Foundation was formed to support the overall Lowcountry Gullah mission, and specifically focuses on preserving what’s left of historic Gullah land through a proactive approach, guidance and education.

My work has led me towards being a community activist and cultural influencer, who spends most of the time working towards “residential equality” for Hilton Head Island’s local Gullah community as one of the Native Island Leaders and a frequent speaker on sustaining and preserve Gullah Geechee culture for future generations.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
I think that the most important skill that people can have is listening. We need it in our daily lives and relationships, but it’s also a very critical part of how I conduct my interviews. In school I was taught to research a subject and then formulate questions to ask. For me, I prefer to have general knowledge about the person and topic and then simply have a conversation. I find that “canned” questions only box you into the topic. When you have a conversation with the person, you never know where the interview will go and it usually takes you into some more fascinating information that you probably would not have found otherwise while doing general research.

If you are going to do research, always fact check your information by comparing different sources so that you are verifying it. Your work is your word and it should always be something that your proud of!

All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?
I didn’t have a 5 year or even 1 year plan for this work before I started. It’s something that I began and have grown into over time. Based on that, initially, for the nonprofits, I was not looking for funding sources, I was just self funding it.

Today, I have a structured and more organized plan of action and have been very successful at writing and receiving grants to support the work. As a result, with financial support, I am able to accomplish more and assist more families who need it.