Music
Press
The Rankin residency with Anita Singleton-Prather was a powerful and valuable experience. It was quite impressive to be part of the environment she created. As a story-teller, she gave vivid life to African and African-American stories. By having us all join in singing and dancing, she made us at least begin to experience life in the participatory and communal way characteristic of African and Gullah communities. By bringing colleagues in music and visual arts, Anita brought us great art from a range of disciplines, and we met the creators. This all brought us in so many ways closer to lives that we'd otherwise barely know, to our great gain. I was moved again and again by the stories, the art, the liberating sensations of participation, the shock of learning un-anticipated facts and stories.
I know this happened because your expertise in this area is as extraordinary as Anita's, and because your connections to this community brought us one of its most superlative exemplars. Thanks, I feel lucky to be in so vital an artistic community.
- Mike Moss, Music Program Director, Antoinette Westphal College of Media, Arts and Design
Discography
Chickin Dinner Money - #2 on the Top 40 Gospel Billboard
Songs Uv Dee Gullah Pee Puls - CD
Photos
Bio
Anita Singleton Prather is a native of the Sea Islands of Beaufort, South Carolina and is the curriculum coordinator for the Education of the Gullah Culture through the Arts. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Howard University and Masters of Education from the University of South Carolina. She has also pursued studies in sociology at American University in Washington, DC and has done post graduate work at several South Carolina universities. She is a certified veteran teacher of the Beaufort County School District.
Anita's first recorded story, "The Chicken Dinner Money", was ranked #2 the summer of '98 on the Top 40"s Radio Gospel Chart. This recent hit has left many thousands tickled and wondering, "What ever did happen to the chicken dinner money?" Anita brings all of her Gullah characters alive as she weaves her tales of the unique and precious South Carolina Sea Islands.
Anita is a Gullah researcher, translator, writer, historian, narrator, actress, and storyteller. She has performed before such renowned persons as First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, Maya Angelou, Marian Wright Edelman, and the award winning actor, Robert Duvall. Anita has also showcased her talents at various arts festivals including Spoleto, USA, the largest festival in the United States and the second largest in the world. Whether in the classroom, on the stage, or on a church step, Anita "Aunt Pearlie Sue," mesmerizes and enchants her audiences no matter what age, two to one hundred and two.
AWARDS
South Carolina Ambassadors of Tourism
Aesop Fable Award Black National Storytellers Convention Award
South Carolina Folk Heritage Advocacy Award
Mayor's Award Rockford, IL
FILM & TELEVISION
Good Morning America ABC
"Forrest Gump" Paramount Pictures
"God's Gonna Trouble the Water" SC ETV"s PBS Documentary
"Voices of the Gullah Culture: The Hallelujah Singers" PBS Documentary
"Gullah Christmas" SC ETV Documentary
"Tales From the Land of Gullah" PBS Documentary
"My Man Done Me Wrong" Television Mini Series
"This Fragile Planet" Environment Educational Video
EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH
"Gullah Tru De Arts" A curriculum designed to emphasize multi-culturalism and introduce young people of all ages to the cultural history of the Gullah lifestyle through language, dance, music, food and crafts. Since its inception in 1990, over 150,000 students have been enriched.
COMMUNITY OUTREACH
Spoleto, USA Charleston, SC
Children's Defense Fund 20th Anniversary; Warner Theatre Washington, DC
Black Family Summit Hilton Head, SC
Martin Luther King, Jr. Humanitarian Awards Program Beaufort, SC
Moja Arts Festival Charleston, SC
Peace Festival Hemingway, SC
South Carolina Black Legislative Caucus Columbia, SC
Jubilee Music Festival 1998 Tour Montevallo, Selma, Demopolis, Alabama
Penn Community Heritage Day Festival South Helena Island, South Carolina
Native Islander's Gullah Festival Hilton Head, SC
Gullah Festival USA Beaufort, SC
Links
