The African American Family's Guide to Tracing Our Roots

by Roland Barksdale-Hall

Overview

"The African American Family's Guide to Tracing Our Roots...Healing, Understanding & Restoring Our Families" is for every African American who has ever thought about researching their family history!

Award-winning historian Roland Barksdale-Hall will help us rethink past events, explore vital health matters, and better understand our families, increase our level of awareness about cultural and historical identities and develop better understanding of the events, which help to shape our families' values, beliefs, and attitudes.

The book discusses a TWELVE-STEP PLAN TO HEALTH, WEALTH, AND SUCCESS. It shows us how to incorporate these easy to achieve every-day activities including: Practicing conversion; Bonding to healthy communities; Getting our dollars to work; Rapping with our elders; Joining together for the common good; Voting in local, state, and national elections; Reading more and Increasing our cultural awareness; Knowing our history and Rethinking our past; Taking a calculated risk; Pursuing our passion and Birthing a vision; Building bridges to confidence through Unity; Celebrating lifes passage; Instilling positive values; Excelling in what we do.

IT'S ALL HERE! How to Begin, Precious Keepsakes, Looking for Freed Persons, African Connections, Healing through Storytelling and Restoring the Family with detailed listings of Genealogical Societies, Lineage Societies and much more.

"The African American Family's Guide to Tracing Our Roots" offers solutions by asking tough questions in the Life Applications to provoke constructive thought and discussion. It is a call to get back to work, to heal ourselves, seek restoration of families, and return to the way of caring and sharing.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780974977973
Publisher:	Amber Communications Group, Inc.
Publication date:	04/25/2007
Pages:	260
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.86(h) x 0.61(d)

About the Author

Roland Barksdale-Hall, MLS, MLLS, MA, founder of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS) of Pittsburgh has been researching the black family for more than 25 years. In 2004 he hosted a three-day healing family gathering, entitled "The Restoration of the Family." Mr. Barksdale-Hall's research resulted in the Millennium Family Reunion, held in Detroit, bringing together more than 300 descendants of enslaved African ancestors. He is a certified and charter member of the American Society of Freemen's Descendants and managing editor of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association Newsletter.Roland Barksdale-Hall is the recipient of the prestigious 2003 Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS) National History Award and the former Peabody Special Collection Librarian, Hampton University, Hampton, Virginia.

Table of Contents

	Introduction	xix
Chapter 1	Precious Keepsakes	1
	Gifts from the Heart	3
	Stevenson Millenium Family Reunion	4
	Freedmen's Invocation	9
	Made You Wonder?	9
Chapter 2	Wilson's Ashes	11
	Great Disaster	11
	First Africans	13
	African Presence	14
	African Identity	15
	Wilson's Ashes	17
	Life Applications	24
Chapter 3	How To Begin	27
	Family Relationships	29
	Telling Our Stories	35
	Life Timeline	36
	Sample Autobiographical Sketch	36
	Genealogical Society Checklist	38
	Genealogical Societies	38
	Networking	41
	Checklist of Things To Look for Around the House	41
	Checklist of Public Records to Look for Outside the House	47
	Putting the Research Together: Case Study	48
	Life Application	53
Chapter 4	Art of Interviewing	55
	Twelve Tips For Interviewing	56
	The Interview	63
	Life Application	68
Chapter 5	Making a Slave	69
	Slave Management	70
	Making a Slave and Resistance	73
	International Sons and Daughters of Slave Ancestry	78
	Life Applications	80
Chapter 6	Tracing Slave Ancestors	81
	Greater Love Has No One	81
	Another Take on Slavery	82
	Slave Family Research	83
	Researching Two Families	84
	A Place Called Home	87
	Home of Record	88
	From Two We Are Many	90
	Approaching the Slave Schedules	92
	Slaves in the Family	94
	Heir Property	96
	Taking the Challenge On	97
	Life Applications	97
Chapter 7	Looking For Freed Persons	99
	Checklist of Public Records To Look For	103
	Putting the Research Together: Case Study	106
	Life Application	113
Chapter 8	African Connections	115
	African Ancestry	115
	Planning Your African Journey of Self-discovery	116
	Twelve African Traditions Alive in the Rural South	119
	Strengths and Weaknesses of Traditional Societies	122
	Strengths of Traditional Igbo Society	124
	Collective Healing	125
	Jah Kente International, Inc.	126
	Life Applications	129
Chapter 9	Health Matters	131
	Breast Cancer, Lightning Does Strike Twice	131
	Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health	135
	Charting Your Family's Health	139
	Creating Your Genogram	142
	Life Applications	143
Chapter 10	Healing Through Storytelling	145
	What Shall We Tell Our Children	145
	A Sense of Somebodiness	146
	Self-Discovery Through Heritage	147
	Truth Telling	149
	Collective Healing	154
	Choose Life Today, and Live	157
	Story Telling	157
	Write It Down	160
	Spirit of Sankofa	161
	Reading List	162
	Life Application	162
Chapter 11	Twelve Keys to Health, Wealth, and Success	163
Key 1	Practice conversion	163
Key 2	Rap with our elders	164
Key 3	Put our dollars to work	165
Key 4	Bond to healthy communities that	168
Key 5	Take responsibility for our communities and ourselves	169
Key 6	Vote in local, state, and national elections	170
Key 7	Read more, increasing our cultural awareness	172
Key 8	Know our history	173
Key 9	Celebrate life's passages and instill positive values	176
Key 10	Build bridges to confidence, unity, and restoration	177
Key 11	Excel in what we do	178
Key 12	Take a calculated risk, pursue our passion, and birth a vision	179
	Life Applications	180
	Problem Solving Guide	181
Chapter 12	Restoring the Family	185
	Mature Adults	186
	Operation Enduring Freedom	187
	Three-Day Restoring the Family Gathering	192
	Life Applications To Ponder	203
	Conclusion	205
Appendix A	African American Historical and Genealogical Societies	207
	African American Historical and Genealogical Societies	207
	African American Lineage Societies	214
Appendix B	A, B, C's of Genealogy	215
	From Slavery To Freedom	220
	Military	221
	Memoirs	222
	Disparities	223
	State-By-State Resources	225
	Periodicals	233
	Media	234
	About the Author	235