Cock Hunnah Yez and Nyam Up de Good Bittles Box Pre-Order

Boxes will be shipped by November 15, 2026.

Between the summers of 2025 and 2026, the Joyner Institute for Gullah and African Diaspora Studies, with its sister institute, The Athenaeum Press at Coastal Carolina University, shepherded a collaborative of students, community members, and faculty to explore Gullah foodways, focusing on Georgetown County and the surrounding region.

The resulting product is this narrative, a sampler box of materials by Gullah makers, and a digital platform. Each of these products is evidence of the underlying methodology of the project, captured in its Gullah title: Cock Hunnah Yeez and Nyam Up de Good Bittles, translated as Listen with Intention and Eat the Good Food.

Box Contents:

• Publication (80 pages)
• Indigo-dyed tea towel (Zenobia Harper, Gullah Preservation Society)
• Exclusive hibiscus tea blend (Jacque Williams, Passage Products)
• Rice seasoning (Sydney and Myles Matthews, Kidogo Farms)
• Oyster knife (Shimshown Ciphrah, Eye Strive Enterprises)
• Crocheted coaster (Thomasina Herman Green, Kre8tive Chainz)

This work was generously supported through a pilot grant from the Mellon Foundation, and the latest in a long line of community-university collaborations and storytelling initiatives. This past year, a core group of students and makers collaborated on the narrative and research underpinning this project, supplemented by shorter-term modules from six other courses ranging from photography to user experience design to literature.

Proceeds from sales will go back to the makers as well as to creating future boxes.