(AP) -- CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) - A four-state panel working to preserve the culture of slave descendants in the Southeast is holding its first meeting of the new year.

The Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Commission meets on Friday at Edwin Waters College in Jacksonville, Florida.

Known as Gullah in the Carolinas and Geechee in Florida and Georgia, the culture is threatened by development and the panel is working on a plan to sustain the culture of slave descendants.

The corridor runs from near Wilmington, N.C., down the Southeast coast to near Jacksonville.

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