-
MY JOURNEY THROUGH THE AMERICAN SOUTH – PART 2
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…
-
MY JOURNEY THROUGH THE AMERICAN SOUTH
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…
-
UNDERSTANDING THE ROLE OF HERITAGE IN DEVELOPMENT
Just recently I had the privilege of traveling with my friend Jonathan to explore his paternal roots in Greentown, a community located in Brunswick County, in the state of Virginia, USA. My purpose for the visit was to research, chronicle, and document Jonathan’s family’s ancestral roots and family heritage. I was also there to hear and film his family’s stories, which had been passed down to them on front porches by previous generations. These front porch stories would serve to be material for my docuseries “Front Porch Stories-The Recipe o Me.” I knew that Jonathan would be inspired by the journey of discovering and exploring the ingredients that make up the recipe…
-
FINDING YOURSELF – ROOTS AND HERITAGE
The other day I was told about an African woman and an African American woman discussing the Back to Africa Movement. The African American believed that her ancestors here in the U.S. helped build this country and made it what it is today. “Why would I walk away from what they built?” was her retort. She went on to speak about how present-day Africa is not the same Africa her ancestors were taken from. The African woman’s position was given as a counter view. She believed that Africa is the true home of the Africans in the diaspora, and those in the diaspora should help make Africa stronger, better. Two…
