. >> you're a gulla? >> yes. >> what's special about this place?bout this place? you love it, love the water. everybody over here is brothers life, free outdoor life. >> reporter: a free life forged on a graveyard of repression. these are where slave houses once stood. it's here where the guligichi people can trace their history, the descendents of west african slaves. the hot summers brought mosquitos and malaria, keeping the slave owners inland and this free community to maintain their language, their culture, undisturbed. this coastal community is designated by congress as a cultural heritage corridor. from jacksonville, north carolina to jacksonville, forida. here "hello" can lead to a mouth-watering meal. >> you guys want barbecue sauce? it's over here. >> reporter: pork, shrimp, okra, and the core of every gulla meal, rice. >> in alabama, cotton was king wide receiver in charleston, south carolina? >> rice was king. the rice kingdom. >> reporter: what makes this place special makes it vulnerable. a life of the sea. a world where ocean rise an

sharbat gulla arrived on thursday, after being evacuated from kabul. had been fears that the taliban might target her for being a high-profile woman. she is now in her late 40s. and, one of the greats of broadway musicals-- stephen sondheim-- died today at his home in connecticut. he was a six-time tony winner, renowned for his words and music, starting with the lyrics for "west side story" and "gypsy" in the 1950s. a long list of hits followed, including "company," with elaine stritch and jane russell, plus "a little night music," "sweeney todd," and "into the woods." sondheim discussed his work in a newshour interview in 2010. >> the craft is not just the craft of writing. it's the craft of doing. it's the craft of putting it on. it's the craft of the combination of the orchestra and the singers and the final collaborator, the audience. because the audience is the final collaborator on every show. >> brangham: stephen sondheim was 91 years old. we'll have more on his life and work, later in the program. still to come on the newshour: david brooks and