The African American Heritage Commission inducted Wilmington resident Sylvia Ezelonwu this week.
The commission is part of the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources and launched in 2009 to promote African American history.
Ezelonwu was also recently appointed to the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission, operated by the National Park Service. She says that having a space for speakers and artifacts will help preserve the culture.
“With the local Gullah/Geechee organization I’m a member of we are trying to, we have a small repository [and] we are trying to find a place for artifacts, and pictures, and things like that. So that’s one of the goals we are working on, artifacts, and we are also trying to work on a speakers bureau.”
Ezelonwu’s inspiration to work on preservation efforts comes from a quote from a local publication.
"You know the Wilmington Journal always has this quote: 'If the lions do not write their own history, then the hunters will get all of the credit.' And that has really spurred me on to become interested in history and promoting it."
Having a Wilmington resident on the commission will help bring more attention to this area and the coastline, as Ezelonwu says that most of the focus has been on the Research Triangle Park.
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