An Unforgettable Connection to my Ancestors Part 2. In Part 1 of “My Journey through the American South” I shared how my desire to visit the places of my family elders was inspired by the stories they shared with me about their childhood. They retold the stories passed down to them from our ancestors. All of these stories collectively sent me on a journey that was a pilgrimage of sorts. Traversing seventeen States from my home State of New Jersey, the first leg of our trip became more historic, eventually taking us to Africatown in Mobile, Alabama. While visiting Africatown we were hit with the grim reminder that the lives of Africans and their…

An Unforgettable Connection to my Ancestors Part1. Do you ever feel the need to return home; to the place or places that produces nostalgia? Maybe, it’s a whiff of the food Grandma cooked that makes you wistful. You can still smell it, an aroma of savory and sweet wafting through her house when family gathered for the holidays. Maybe, it’s the memory of your childhood that makes you homesick. You can still hear the clucking of the chickens as you and your siblings chased them around the yard. Perhaps, it’s the relief you felt after a dip in the creek down by the old Loblolly-shortleaf pine tree on that hot…