Genealogy Foundations: Tips and Strategies for Beginning Your African American Genealogy Journey

Genealogy Foundations flyer

Today, Saturday, 20 July 2004, I’ll be participating on a panel & talking about Puerto Rico with host Brian Sheffey, Dr. Shelley Murphy and Renate Yarborough-Sanders to share insights on getting started on your African American Genealogy Journey, thanks to the Center for Family History at the IAAM, the International African American Museum!

The event will be live-streamed at 1PM on Facebook and recorded to YouTube.

You can watch the recorded event below:

History Unscripted: Real Talk Around Reparations

Title page for Real Talk About Reparations
Title page for Real Talk About Reparations
History Unscripted: Real Talk About Reparations, 15 Feb 2023

Last night, Nicka Smith & True Lewis hosted a panel for Special Episode of Black ProGen Live History Unscripted on reparations for African American communities in the US. Among the panelists were Dr. Shelley Murphy, Andre Ferrell, Ressie Luck-Brimmer, myself, with Teresa Vega, and Robyn Murphy Walker.

A lot has happened over the past five years that is beginning to yield redress for some. However, when the enormity of enslavement, its permutations and contemporary manifestations bear down on family histories, it’s on a collision course with producing documentation to establish identity for a reparations program.

These programs are growing, as are calls for the acknowledgement of harm across a constellation of institutions. Descendants will find genealogical skills key for navigating and reconstructing their family histories in locations across the country. A good part of what we talked about were some of the unforeseen limitations and the fraught emotions a process for engaging reparations can bring up. As True Lewis said, “Think about your family what can you do – as family historians – do to prepare our community and families for what’s to come?”

Those Black ProGen playlists are going to come in handy.

The Big Payback (2023)

Documentary by Erika Alexander and Whitney Dow on the passage of tax funded reparations program in Evanston, IL. This begins to give an idea of how long this struggle has taken in regard to the passage of H.R. 40, and how this process unfolded in one city despite the pandemic.

https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/documentaries/the-big-payback/