Cocktails and Conversation: "Cultural Cadences" with Nakeisha Daniel and JaMeeka Holloway
Booking and details
Sold OutDates Fri, Aug 15, 2025, 7pm
Venue Folger Library
Tickets Free, registration required
Walk-up attendees will be accommodated day of, subject to availability.
Join us for another evening of Cocktails and Conversation! Arrive early for cocktail and food purchases at Quill & Crumb. At 7pm, Folger Institute Long-term Public Humanities Fellows Nakeisha Daniel and JaMeeka Holloway will present “Cultural Cadences,” an engaging and layered exploration of heightened language through the historical, linguistic, and performative intersections of Shakespearean English and the Gullah Geechee tradition.
One of the most vibrant linguistic legacies in the United States, Gullah Geechee was shaped by more than forty African languages, colonial influence, and coastal isolation. The result is a distinctive language that may echo elements of early modern English, including dialects from Shakespeare’s time—while standing firmly in its own cultural power.
This conversation brings together artists, scholars, and cultural leaders to examine the expressive qualities of both Shakespearean and Gullah Geechee performances, reflect on their points of convergence and divergence, and ask: “What makes language heightened, and who gets to decide its value?”
Speakers
Nakeisha Daniel
2025-26 Long-term Public Humanities Fellow
Linguistic Hierarchies: Gullah-Geechee x Shakespearean English (What Language Remembers)
What Language Remembers is an interdisciplinary exploration of the historical, performative, and linguistic intersections between Gullah-Geechee and Shakespearean English, aimed at elevating the Gullah-Geechee tradition through a critical lens. Drawing on historical research, linguistic and phonetic analysis, and storytelling practices, the project highlights how both systems—one shaped by the survival strategies of enslaved Africans, the other by the literary ambitions of Renaissance England – use rhythm, tone, and narrative to transmit identity, memory, and resistance.
JaMeeka Holloway
2025-26 Long-term Public Humanities Fellow
Linguistic Hierarchies: Gullah-Geechee x Shakespearean English (What Language Remembers)
What Language Remembers is an interdisciplinary exploration of the historical, performative, and linguistic intersections between Gullah-Geechee and Shakespearean English, aimed at elevating the Gullah-Geechee tradition through a critical lens. Drawing on historical research, linguistic and phonetic analysis, and storytelling practices, the project highlights how both systems—one shaped by the survival strategies of enslaved Africans, the other by the literary ambitions of Renaissance England – use rhythm, tone, and narrative to transmit identity, memory, and resistance.
About Folger Institute
The Folger Institute is a center for early modern research at the Folger Shakespeare Library that brings public audiences together with researchers to explore the cultures and legacies of the early modern world. Learn more.
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