Know Your (Personal) History

We (Janice and me) finished the month of  February with an incredible and enlightening day on Saturday, February 29th at the 2020 Discover Your Roots (Georgia) genealogy seminar held in Sharpsburg, Georgia.

https://www.facebook.com/DiscoverYourRootsGA/

The conference provided us the opportunity to learn from experienced genealogists, and teachers specializing in African American genealogy and historical research, with one-on-one assistance available in many instances.

One of the attendees, observing my name tag queried:  “Do you know the source of your name?”  Her inquiry sparked a conversation which reminded me of one of the many reasons why I became interested in knowing my family history.  This amazing interaction occurred within the first ten minutes we had arrived!  Needless, to say, we had an awesome day, discovering resources for searching, recording and presenting our stories to others.

We are looking forward to the 2021 Discover Your Roots (Georgia) genealogy seminar and hope to have you attend as well!

Knowing...

This profound quote, stemming from a philosophy, yielding a best-selling book, sparked a movement for people of all ethnic backgrounds to consider where they originate.  The story earned the writer a special Pulitzer Prize in 1977.  Today, the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages is a billion-dollar industry, providing information-sharing platforms unavailable until the end of he twentieth century. 

February is African American History Month!

And just that quick, we were distracted!

Someone famous, perhaps important, met their demise a few days earlier, we're reeling, sorrowful, maybe devastated, for certain, 'vulnerable' so, now it's February...

A faint voice in the room blurts: “Squirrel!”

The current leader(s) of this great nation, has (have) had many of our country's citizens hearing 'Squirrel' for a better portion of 1,111 days now (as of February 5th, 2020) and there appears to be no sign of change in the near future!

So on this day I am in an English classroom full high school seniors and I hoping to have a meaningful discussion—perhaps something by Chinua Achebe—"Things Fall Apart” maybe?

Before I could say Jackie Robinson—“Squirrel”!

The ‘noise’ from the video assignment was hurting my brain!  “Toby, get the jug!” (You guessed right, Toby, the servant is a Black man!  The pain is excruciating)   Then the man died!  Right there at the dinner table, Emily lost her mind! 

Next class, things didn’t get much better with ramblings of ‘small animal torture legal protocol,’ iguana shoes and the like, then…yep, you know!

…So, tonight, I’m takin’ my wife to see ‘Harriett!’