Today is Resurrection Easter Sunday April 4, 2021. It is also the day 53 years ago that Martin Luther King Jr. was fatally shot in Memphis, Tennessee. This year his dream was fulfilled by my family.
After over 25 years, I was able to break through a brick wall. I had been stymied and tried many techniques and research to overcome the brick wall in front of me. My success had come from an unlikely source that I had not previously known. Let me start from my genesis the beginning to tell of my revelation.
Years ago I was inspired by
Alex Haley and the television mini-series ROOTS. In the television presentation, Alex Haley a
Black African American man traced his
family tree from the enslavement of his ancestors in America to the kidnapping
of his ancestor from Africa. I believed that my ancestors had interesting lives and a story for me to tell. I
became my family’s self-elected family
historian. I attended many family reunions, genealogy conferences, archives and
libraries in search of information about my ancestors. I created a blog an
online journal of my family’s history in 2012. During the Covid-19 pandemic, my cousins
established a nightly family ZOOM video conference meeting. Three nights a week we discuss our
genealogy, family stories and make additions to the family tree using
Ancestry.com and compared DNA analysis.
One of the major challenges
in African American genealogy research is obtaining information prior to 1870.
This date is particularly important because prior to that time enslaved black
people were not included in the United States federal census. Identifying the former slave owner and information prior to 1870 is considered
a brick wall. Through the serendipity of
fate a brick in my wall had fallen. My great discovery was a picture posted on
Ancestry.com of my great-great-grandmother an enslaved woman born in 1825 with
3 other relatives. I was ecstatic, thrilled and excited. After
years of research, I could now associate a name with an image.
On the photo also was a picture of the male former slave owner. The picture had been posted on Ancestry.com by a descendant of the former slave owner. I wanted to learn more so I contacted the slave owner’s descendant a great-great granddaughter. Without hesitation, I asked her to write about her ancestor on my blog and join the family ZOOM for one night. She accepted my invitation. Maybe she could share more information. Possibly my cousins had questions that I had not considered. My cousins should be excited. At least I thought. Well, my cousins were suspicious and felt the safe space of the family ZOOM had been disrupted, invaded and violated by my invitation. From their discussion, I felt like my naked body had been dragged over hot coals. It was too late the date and time had been set for the ZOOM meeting. I had no intentions of rescinding the invitation.
The great-great-granddaughter and her daughter logged onto the ZOOM call. These 2 Caucasian women I knew would be facing an encounter with 10 Black people. There were introductions of family members including locations. The conversation was pleasant, informative and copacetic. There were a few jokes and some laughter. Our ZOOM guest however mentioned that one of her ancestors fathered a child with a black woman. There was more to the story of our ancestors than the picture. More information for a later day. I hoped to be able to continue our communication and maintain a relationship. I will be forever grateful that she posted what I have dubbed "The Ancestral Picture."
Martin Luther King Jr. on August 28, 1963 in Washington D.C. said I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit together at the table of brotherhood. Well, 58 years later my family members descendants of former enslaved were able to have an enjoyable ZOOM conversation with descendants of the former slave owners. A dream has been fulfilled.
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