Welcome back to the African Roots Podcast!
I can be reached at AfricanRootsPodcast@gmail.com
Well good to be back, even though this has been an amazing week of news and goings on all over the place. The news has been a roller coaster all week. We are all saying our prayers for our beloved Nelson Mandela in South Africa, and if it is time for his transition we pray for a smooth transition. And of course decisions all over the place from the Supreme Court including the gutting of the Voting Rights Act and so much more. News this week also topsy turvy over the issue of the cooking guru Paula Deen. A special salute to culinary historian Michael Twitty has taken time to write a fitting response who has put things in perspective. His name on Twitter is @KosherSoul. He has put things into proper perspective and gotten many of us to settle and his profoundly moving letter, kind of brings a degree of normalcy during a week that has been a trying week news wise. Thank you Michael, for helping us to all put things back in perspective.
Well the 4th of July Holiday approaches, and barbecues are being planned. In addition family reunions are also unfolding and for the next 6 weeks or so, this is a great time for the family to celebrate itself. I am excited to see the family reunions being shared on Facebook, and a salute to the Taylor Family Reunion that will be celebrating the 60th consecutive family reunion in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.
Well it is two weeks away–I am talking about MAAGI, The Midewestern African American Genealogical Institute in St. Louis Missouri. Our goal is to allow participants to embrace a new community and that we come together, mentor each other, share and organize to make the better journey for each other and for those who follow us. It is only two weeks away. We have folks coming from both coasts and from Minnesota to the Gulf Coast, so we are excited!
July is also an historic month for those who are members of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and over 47,000 African American women will be gathering in Washington DC the weekend of July 16th. A warm salute to the women who will be celebrating in Washington that weekend.
Last night’s Bernice Bennett Show, was a real treat. If you have had questions about DNA, she had two guests who addressed DNA and what it means, and her guests addressed the issues for family history research. Her guests were CeCe Moore, and Shannon Christmas, who handled questions from the chat room and also from callers. The data was fascinating that they shared and they cleared up many concepts for callers and chatters in the room while the show aired.
We are all keeping our eyes open for reports from the work of the lady who steps outside of the box. I am speaking about Drusilla Pair who has insights to share with us about her taking local community history to the stage. Her blog is called Find Your Folks Hopefully we will get some details about how that inter-generational experience in which she involved young people in her play and getting the community to learn some local history, via drama.
Pay attention to the discussion taking place on an old favorite site. AfriGeneas.com is still a very busy places, on the Message Board, and of course there are over 20 message boards on AfriGeneas.,/strong>
A new book is coming out in August that I will mention here. Black Slaves Indian Masters by Dr. Barbara Krauthamer addresses the issues of slavery as it occurred in the Native American South.
If you have not done so yet, there is still time to register for the FGS Conference coming up on August in Ft. Wayne Indiana. Please take time to look at the schedule and to consider joining the fun there.
Thanks so much for listening and taking time to listen. In the meantime, keep researching, keep documenting and keep sharing what you find.