That fight to survive: Dock tragedy is latest chapter in Gullah Geechee communitys long struggle | National & World [Video]

(CNN) — For the young daughters of Michael and Kimberly Wood, it was their first time at the annual festival celebrating the culture of the Gullah Geechee community on Georgia’s remote Sapelo Island, the birthplace of their maternal grandmother and other descendants of enslaved Africans.

After a day of storytelling, poetry, religious dance and hope-filled spirituals a week ago Saturday, the Woods, other family members and dozens of festival goers waited on a floating dock and adjoining gangway for the scenic ferry ride to the mainland across marshy Doboy Sound.

A loud cracking sound and a sudden shifting of the gangway were the only warning before the relatively new dockside aluminum walkway plunged into the water about 60 miles south of Savannah. The collapse killed seven people, injured several others and gave his two girls what Michael Wood said was their first glimpse of the Gullah Geechee community’s longtime heartache and resilience.

“It’s that fight to survive,” said Wood, …