Hello and welcome back to the African Roots Podcast! You can always reach me at AfricanRootsPodcast@gmail.com.

Well here we are at the end of June in the middle of summer –half way through the year! I hope that you are making plans for a wonderful holiday weekend. It is finally hot here and I am truly enjoying the weather and am ready to truly enjoy the next two months of warm weather that is here. I hope you have all been enjoying as well.
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Well–the count down has begun! 10 Days to MAAGI! Our institute is the only multi-track program devoted to African American family history. We have a record number of attendees this year—54, and this is our 5th consecutive year! We will unwind in Fort Wayne Indiana July 11-13 at the Genealogy Center at Allen County Library! We are excited and have a great team lined up for it all! We are more than excited!
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In Case you Missed It:

Shannon Christmas presented a DNA webinar with Legacy Family Tree, this week. You can still access it for a few more days, till early next week. We all know that Shannon is well versed in DNA, and he is also a member of the faculty in the DNA track for MAAGI.

Black Pro Gen held one of the enjoyable hangouts on YouTube this week. The topic was “Finding People of Color in Online Records”. This was a discussion on how to located ancestors in the multiple online resources that are out available. If you missed it live you can catch it on YouTube. And all of the BlackProGenLIVE hangouts are without charge and available 24 hours a day. This was a great discussion on how to find records!

Blog Talk Radio was interesting when Bernice Bennett’s guest was Andre Kearns who shared the methods that he used to extend his genealogical research. Through both research and DNA testing he has been able to find free people of color, and so much more. He was also able to confirm one line’s tie to the slave-holding family. He presented his data so well, and it was an enjoyable interview to hear. If you missed it you can catch it online, and remember that her show airs every week at 9pm on Blog Talk Radio.

By the way, this is a holiday weekend, note that some websites like Ancestry and other subscription sites are available for free through the 4th of July. So if you are interested in taking advantage of having access to Ancestry this weekend–take advantage.

Well looking forward to this weekend, I hope that you will celebrate freedom. Though the 4th honors the patriots from the American Revolution, no matter when they came to America, or when they were freed from bondage as those once enslaved—this is a season of freedom and this is the time to celebrate it. For me, from Juneteenth to July, to August, it is all important to embrace the very essence of freedom that lives within all of us. Embrace it, and honor your family and make this holiday your holiday.

Well I shall wind things down–I hope to see some of you in two weeks at MAAGI, and if you can’t make it this year—save the dates for 2018–July 10-12th, in Fort Wayne Indiana.

Thanks for listening and remember that you are appreciated for being there. Have a great and safe holiday, and remember to keep researching, keep documenting and keep sharing what you find!

Welcome back to the African Roots Podcast! You can always reach me at AfricanRootsPodcast@gmail.com.

Well here we are now really into summer and this is the beginning of the Season of Freedom. That’s right—this is Juneteenth weekend, and I hope that you are doing something to honor your ancestors and celebrate their longed for freedom. Do you know your ancestral freedom story? How did freedom come to the family? We know that Juneteenth came from the wonderful day June 19th, 1865 when General Granger sailed into Galveston Harbor informing those still held in bondage that they were now free. We honor all of them–the freedom seekers, the freedom fighters in the Civil War and the self-emancipators—who became contrabands.

Well this is the season from June through August. In June we celebrate Juneteenth, in July the country celebrates freedom from the British empire, and in August we celebrate August 4th as Emancipation day in Oklahoma (Indian Territory). For decades well into the 1950s August 4th was the day to celebrate freedom.
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I hope you had a chance to tune into Bernice Bennett’s show. Her guest was Daniel Horowitz born in Venezuela and strongly connected to the Jewish community is Israel. He documented his family in the US that he was previously unaware. He is a staffer for MyHeritage and travels around the world presenting the benefits of membership with that company. Hi story is interesting as someone reached out to him from the US and they are connected. Great story to hear about and if you missed it, you can listen to the podcast online. Bernice Bennett’s show airs every Thursday at 9pm on Blog Talk Radio.
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Georgia Researchers, good news about newspapers with some new links online for Georgia based researchers.  Take a look.
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Shout out to friends who are in Ontario Genealogy Conference. Many of our genealogy friends are there and who are having a great time.
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And speaking of events—-less than a month away from MAAGI. The Midwest African American Genealogy Institute in Ft. Wayne, Indiana at the world famous Genealogy Center at Allen County Library. And this is our 5th consecutive year and we have a record number of people coming to participate in 4 different tracks. Come join us! Expand your skill set, and meet some amazing collagues in the field!
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I mentioned the Season of Freedom–we have a lot more to work on now with Freedmen’s Bureau records. We have tools now to break through that “wall of 1870”. We should make a point to tell some of that story, and to find out how things were in those critical years between 1865-1870. And I have a suggestion–even if you don’t find your ancestors in the bureau records—tell the story of those who knew them, of those who lived near them. Their story is part of your story as well. So whether we had freedom seekers or freedom fighters—we all have survivors who were freedom relishers—they made it! We come from those who made it—let’s honor them as we begin this season of freedom.

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Join us in the community on social media from Facebook, to Black Pro Gen–we are busy and conducting some wonderful research.
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So have a wonderful Juneteenth weekend, and remember to keep researching, keep documenting, and keep sharing what you find!