I appreciate the timely response received addressing yesterday's post:  Write Us Back In History, Lest We Forget: 

Hi Robin, thanks for taking the time to check out the family history month infographic. Our intention is to encourage people from every culture and heritage to explore and celebrate their family history.

All cultural groups that reside here make up crucial components of this country’s fabric. The data points represented in the infographic cover a high-level view of some of the important events in US immigration from the 1820’s to present day. This is by no means all inclusive. There were certainly a great many immigrants from Africa that came to the US before and during this period.

From data published by the Office of Immigration Statistics, we primarily sought to represent some of the highest and lowest rates of immigration by country, and point out some of the greatest changes over time. This highlights some of the major trends that happened between the 20th and 21st centuries, and is not intended to neglect any particular group.

The charts “immigration through the years” and “where did we go” are representative of immigrants from every country around the world.

Archives is interested in helping all people trace their family trees. We provide resources that address the specific nature and challenges of African heritage research here http://www.archives.com/african-heritage (a project launched by Archives.com in May 2010, advised by Henry Louis Gates Jr.).

Thank you for bringing up this important issue. Comments/questions can be sent to feedback@archives.com.

Sincerely,

Julie, Product Manager, Archives.com 

Image via Wikipedia

What I am Learning From Lost African Heritage 

Tonight at 8PM EST!

Call in number to speak with the host:

(424) 675-8247   (Press 1)

Black Women In Mathematics

We must present our history and our images to our children. We simply cannot wait for someone else to do this or to do it correctly.  If our children could see themselves in other great descendants of the African Diaspora and those Ancients from who we descend, they would be inspired to stand and take their place as well in the annals of history.

Join host, Robin Foster, as we discuss this topic tonight on Over Troubled Water Blog Talk Radio at 8PM EST.  Call in number:  (424) 625-8247 and press on to join the conversation.  Be sure to sign in to join us in the chat room:  How True History Will Inspire Your Child to Learn.

Research at the National Archives and Beyond is an educational Blog Talk Radio Show, hosted by professional genealogist, Bernice Bennett.  It provides those who are interested in tracing their roots an opportunity to learn from others who have conducted research at the National Archives and other sources throughout the country.  The guest speakers talk about the records they use to tell stories about their ancestors. 


Tonight, Bernice will interview Melvin Collier, author of Broken Ties Mended.  Join the show here tonight at 9PM EST. 

The line-up for September is:

September 8th - Melvin Collier - Author of 150 Years Later Broken Ties Mended

September 15 - Natonne Kemp - Finding Resources Without the 1890 US Census

September 22 - Antoinette Harrell - Peonage

September 29 - Barbara Ricard Landix - Southern Claims Commission Record of My Ancestor - Who Is A Black Man!

Image via WikipediaI received an email last Friday letting me know that my DNA sample had been received.  I felt the anticipation of the results heighten within me. The six to eight week wait will be hard.  While I read over the email, tears started streaming down my face, and they were not tears of joy.

A feeling that I had subconsciously repressed came rushing forward uncontrollably.  A pain so severe and very deep had me so astonished that I could not articulate it.  I knew that it had been with me for as long as I could remember, but somehow I had not experienced it so.

So why was I feeling the full weight of it then?  Where was it coming from?  I wanted it go away.  I wanted to push it back to where it had been lying dormant, but I really think someone wanted me to analyze it so that I could understand there are others who carry it unknowingly.  There are those who carry it and have not been hindered to the degree it has effected me, and there are others whose lives have been destroyed by it unawares.

All I could do was to utter a prayer for guidance. The answer came quickly.  "This is what it feels like to not know where you come from."  In my mind, I answered, "But I know I am a child of God."  Then the reply came that it was not by design that I or anyone should move through this life not knowing who our ancestors are or where they came from.

Image via WikipediaI was told that I had been shielded from the pain, and I was being shown what that pain felt like.  I was told that it was a gift being granted to me to know the places where my ancestors originated.  For me, I could look forward with hope and I would not carry this pain any longer even subconsciously.

However, many have this subconscious pain, and it is destroying their lives.  It was never intended that they should experience  the removal of their heritage, and it was never intended that they should know what it felt like to live in a place where they were not accepted wholeheartedly.

I felt the pain surface of what it feels like to have your heritage, your history, the knowledge of who you are, and the knowledge of where you have come from taken away. I felt the pain of what it feels like to have the blood of ancestors run through me whose descendants would be hesitant to claim me.  I felt the pain of being able to document them so extensively and not the ones for whom my genetic makeup signifies I am.

When my results come in, I am anxious to know from what part of Africa I am from, but I claim the whole continent.  I will be able to study the pre-1800 history and understand the contributions of my forebears and their existence before American chattel slavery.  I may never know their names in this life, but this connection will bring me one step closer to who I am. I will be able to discover living people who carry the same mitochondrial DNA.

As hope restored and the pain subsided, I thought of how my family will be blessed by this gift.  Then I wondered, am I reaching others who carry this pain?  Who is most effected by it?  Perhaps it's our youth who struggle and have lost their way.  I feel a sense of responsibility because I escaped the paths they now trod mostly because of Divine Intervention.  I want to reach those suffering because they do not know who they are.  If you do not fall in that category, then please let us continue to search out and help those who do.

Miss Flos Bears

Purchase here

You will not want to miss tonight's episode of Over Troubled Water Blog Talk Radio.  Author, Don S. McClure will join us to tell us about his book, Broken Wings Fallen Angels, which I feel is one of the best applications of family history, faith, and conversion that I have seen.  I enjoyed it, and I feel this book should be placed in the hands of every young African American male to help him in his quest to find himself notwithstanding all the challenges he faces.

This is a portion of the prologue of Broken Wings Fallen Angels:

     "As you travel through these pages, I will reveal to you my issues of self-determination and how I discovered what it is I wanted out of life. Equally important are the dreams and aspirations that took me there. It is also the story of the examination of the commitment to purpose that drove me to succeed, and the betrayal of good decisions that brought me down to my lowest points. The issues of diversity, cultural bias and the racism I faced in my personal as well as corporate life also play a strong role in this tale. You will become aware of the trials and tribulations that filled many days, months and years on my road to successful realization of the value of my creative talent and the gifts God has given me in order to become triumphant.  From my birth to my adventures you will pass through various doors with many names, dates and places. The results will be amazing at some moments, while in the next there will be sadness and pain. Through it all, I can only hope you find your own self-value. But this much I do know, in the end you can only become what you have inside."

                                                                                                                     Don S. McClure


Don's triumph and book fits in well with tonight's topic, "Teaching Family History Strengthens Youth."  Please join our discussion  at 8PM EST.  Log in to participate with us in the chat room or listen by computer online.  If you want to speak to our guest or ask a question, call (424) 675-8247 and press 1.

Learn more:
The Don S. McClure Show
DSM Publications