Faculty & Staff

Akiv Dawson, Ph.D, Interim Director

Amir-Jamal Toure’, J.D.

Amir-Jamal Toure’, J.D. works with Dr. Bryant in both the Center for Africana Studies and the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Center.  Amir is a native of Savannah and Hilton Head Island. His families have been in the Low Country of Georgia and South Carolina since at least  1814 and establishing family compounds in the late 1800s. He is a graduate of Savannah State University with dual degrees, Cum Laude, and the Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University. Touré is called the People’s Historian and is the resident scholar for Geechee Kunda Cultural Center and Museum in Riceboro, Ga., and is known as a Djeli (cultural historian) who shares the history of African people at home and in the diaspora, in particular.  He created an artform of history where he performs a one-man event and is frequently called upon to perform internationally to share the history and culture of African people.  His audiences have included the Prime Minister of Haiti, the Liberian Ambassador to the United States, Danny Glover, Queen Quet, and, more importantly—for the people. He is the founder of Day Clean: The African Soul and Day Clean Journeys. History, Culture, and Empowerment are their focus.