A few lingering words on Gullah and Swept Yards:
 
Eudora Welty's story "Livvie," contains detailed descriptions of a very
traditional early twentieth century African-American house and its
surroundings including:
 
"Out front was a clean dirt yard with every vestige of grass patiently
uprooted and the ground scarred in deep whorls from the strike of Livvie's
broom."
 
 
One of the most beautiful films I have ever seen, or heard, is "Daughters
of the Dust," the story of a Gullah family's decision to leave the sea
islands for the mainland in 1902.  Much of the film is in Gullah dialect --
the most complex passages are subtitled.  It was written and directed by
Julie Dash and came out in 1991 from GeeChee Girls Productions.  Every so
often it runs on public TV stations and I have seen it for sale in art film
catalogues.  It is definitely a two thumbs up whether the Gullah theme gets
you or not.