Talking to the Dead

LeRhonda S. Manigault-Bryant is Assistant Professor of Africana Studies at Williams College.

• Acknowledgments ixPrologue. Talking to the Dead xiiiIntroduction. Gullah/Geechee Women 11. Culture Keepers 242. Folk Religion 663. "Ah Tulk to de Dead All de Time" 1044. "Sendin' Up My Timbah" 1365. Lived Memory 172Epilogue. Between the Living and the Dead 205Appendix A. Companion Audio Materials 211Appendix B. Interview Format and Demographics 213Notes 217Select Bibliography 251Index 267

"Talking to the Dead is an incredibly rich study, which will reward both a general readership and readers from a range of disciplinary backgrounds." - Teresa Zackodnik (Feminist Review) "LeRhonda Manigault-Bryant’s Talking to the Dead is well suited for the novice who is unaware of any of the traditions and religious practices of the Gullah/Geechee.... Because of its emphasis on black women, the ethnography also has much to offer to the black feminist or black womanist scholar, especially one with an interest in African Diasporic culture or African derivative belief systems." - Constance Bailey (Western Folklore) "While talking to the dead, as well as other less ‘flashy’ Gullah/Geechee practices risk being lost in application, Manigault-Bryant and other third generation scholars have ensured they will not be completely erased through an increasingly sophisticated historiography accounting for the diverse perspectives of African American women in the South Carolina lowcountry." - Douglas R. Valentine (Religion) "This masterful interweaving of these personal narratives of Gullah/Geechee women with the spiritual practice of talking to the dead, particularly in light of the present-day commodification of Gullah/Geechee culture (offered in the terminating chapter) in South Carolina, is the overall strength of this work.... This book, then, is a must read for advanced students and scholars in these areas of study." - Margarita Simon Guillory (Religious Studies Review) "...Talking to the Dead is a welcome addition to scholarship on the Gullah/Geechee culture and African American religious practices in general....Most importantly, Talking to the Dead not only lays the groundwork for further investigation into the gender dymanics of longstanding Gullah-Geechee religiosity, but also underscores the fact that no study of African American religion can be complete without a thorough investigation of women as believers, practitioners, and cultural leaders." - Shannen Dee Williams (Journal of African American History)