Alright, before I dive into the core of this — what I am sure will be VERY controversial post — let me pen a Luckie Disclaimer:

1. This post is not intended to address any specific person and/or medium — it’s an open address to the genealogy community as a whole.
2. Please know, that it’s not my intention to offend you, although I accept that some folks may be offended by the subject matter and my willingness to openly discuss it.
3. I welcome healthy dialogue and by healthy, I mean dialogue that is respectful that helps to bring understanding. If you are able to meet me there — please do.
4. Yes, this post was preempted by the recent HerStoryan Super Bowl of Genealogy discussion and subsequent comments BUT not because of it. These feelings are far from new and I realize now, sooner or later, this post had to be written.
5. I ask that you please think before your write — be you black, white, green or blue. NO matter of disrespect is permissible.
6. I have come to accept that whenever I discuss a racially charged issue and/or socially *sensitive* subject matter, I immediately loose Twitter followers and blog supporters. I am 100% OK with that. I am true to me. I set the bar I’m tasked with living up to.

Okay, done.

Now admittedly, I was late coming into the conversation surrounding the formation of HerStoryan’s Genealogy Dream Team. I was away from my computer most of the day and only able to follow sporadically, long enough to know I’d been mentioned, and to see there were mixed reactions to her commentary.

Yes — the dialogue was open, flowing and healthy. Yes — we all have differing perspectives and I loved seeing them vetted here.  But the more I read the 30+ comments {mine included}, I couldn’t help but ask the question — how can the Genealogy community, of which I am a SUPER-active member, communicate so freely in addressing the mention of a fictitious Snooty Patootie {sorry, just quoting facts!:-} yet never respond and/or participate in the many discussions with African-American Genea-Bloggers relating to the challenges researching our lineage due to Slavery?

In almost 2 years of actively participating in the Twitter Genealogy community, I’ve only been asked TWICE to assist with getting family slave documentation online — by Vicki (@BeNotForgot) and Gini (@Ginisology). In the 10+ years I’ve been online, I would guess no more than a dozen.

Help me to understand how you can witness my and other researchers daily struggle with piecing the fragments of our family histories together and not feel moved to share the documentation you’ve discovered and/or held through your personal research?

How can you as a researcher who understands the depth of what we’re doing and the agony of not finding the answers we seek, not be willing to be a modern day Friend Of  Friends?

You greet me in the mornings. Chat with me through the day. Laugh at my jokes. Support me through my Son donating a kidney and my Mom’s daily struggle with Alzheimer’s Disease. Without fail, you consistently read my non-stop posts and *tweets*.

So please help me to understand how my research {and others like me} appears to be completely invisible to you?

Why is it that a very real Luckie, with a very real genealogy challenge can’t garner the kind of open/transparent dialogue that a good-natured {and rather clever} analogy intended for fun could?

Is it really in 2010 that we STILL can’t discuss Slavery? Is it that seasoned genealogists, aware of the value a Random Act of Kindness holds, won’t share what you know with me and others?

We’ve come up with tons of very creative ways to slice the genea-pie! Why isn’t there ever ANY mention of {or events to address} the very present slave history in this community OTHER than from an African-American author?

Before we charge Dr. Gates with acknowledging and supporting our genealogy efforts, WE must set the example within our community and do it first.

It’s just my philosophy… let small issues remain small.  Let big issues be addressed and resolved quickly.  Acknowledged or not — this is a BIG communal issue.

Whew! Finally, I’ve said it.

Luckie.

Dear Dr. Gates,

By way of Twitter, via a Rob Stanhope {aka @MaineRoots} *tweet*, I discovered the online magazine of which you are Editor-In-Chief this morning – The Root, and have spent the last hour or so, reading and taking in 50 Years of Black History.

In 2010, we the descendants of emancipated slaves, really live in an amazing place and time!

A time where we have the opportunity to offer our perspective freely, in the format of our choosing. A time where our collective and individual voice matters. A time when we can turn on the TV and show our sons and daughters the face of a President who looks just like them — and many, MANY other honorable, successful, brown Americans along with him.

Albeit far from perfect, to a large degree, this is the day our Ancestors prayed and hoped for. A day that presented opportunity.

I think only when you view a retrospective like 50 Years of Black History do you realize how far as a people we’ve traveled and to what degree our Ancestors and Freedom Liberators fought to allow us to live as we do today.

I’ve followed your work for many years Dr. Gates, and while I respect your achievements in education, it is your ability to rebirth long forgotten and/or lost genealogical histories, that I most admire. You skillfully piece together lineage that has been broken and offer Ancestors redemption — you restore their rightful place in our history and memories.

What a gift to have!

I am inspired by and own your African-American Lives Series. I regularly share it with my kids, so they’ll better understand the broad impact of Slavery to our culture — celebrities and non-celebrities alike, we share a common challenge with tracing our genealogical roots.

I am equally as anxious to view your upcoming Faces of America Series, to see what mysteries will be revealed amongst the broader American culture being featured. I suspect, it will show us that underneath it all, we {brown-red-white-yellow}, are really not so different.

However I do have one, small request. I ask that you also consider — in the sharing of your gift — the lesser known, non-celebrity descendants who both want and need to know who they are.

Unlike the celebrities you’ve featured, we spend COUNTLESS hours in search of our Ancestors histories, often exhausting our personal finances to do so.

While I know it’s not likely that you could personally provide services, it would be wonderful if your research team could host “history detective” style workshops in various cities and/or establish a [much needed] presence at the Family History Expos that move throughout the country.

Even a live-chat or WebEx type of engagement with researchers could be beneficial to helping tackle our respective “brick walls”.

With the advanced technology tools we have at our fingertips daily, there are many ways that we, the on-the-ground family historians, could benefit from your research expertise and knowledge.

To yield a true communal impact, we need a grassroots genealogy movement that produces a mountain of successes.

It would be wonderful if you and your team could help lead the way.

Supporting you always,

Luckie Daniels.
www.OurGeorgiaRoots.com

[Image Source: www.TheRoot.com - Feb. 1, 1960, four students at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College in Greensboro, N.C., begin a sit-in at Woolworth's Drug Store.]

Not too long ago I had a chat with San Taliaferro aka I Never Knew My Father about the challenges inherent with researching Slave Ancestry and we contemplated the question — when do you reach a point where you just stop searching?

San was wondering if at some point, we just accept the fact that we’ve done all we can do and that no more information or leads to information exist.

She couldn’t answer the question and either could I because truthfully, neither of us has reached that point yet!

I think we’re both holding out hope that we’ll have a stroke of “Sharondipity” and from out of some unexpected place, comes the answers that we spend COUNTLESS hours seeking.

When I began my genea-journey 12 years ago, my #1 goal was to find Allie/Aly, the Sister my 4th Grandma Catie was sold away from in Warren County, Georgia sometime around 1859-60.

Last August, I found Allie {Magical Monday: Lord Have I Found Catie’s Sister Allie?!}, tucked away in the 1870 Warren County Census and overlooked due to an ill-placed tape mark and negligent transcription error!:-)

How do I know this is my Allie? Aside from the fact that she is living just a few dwellings from Marion M. CODY {oldest brother of Catie’s former owner), my heart tells me so and sometimes, this is all the proof we have.

But yet {of course}, I am still not satisfied. I want to know more…

What happened to Elbert and Aly DAWSON of Warren County, Georgia? What became of their descendants – Ike, Sarah and Rachel? My God, could the 27 year old Allen CODY, living next door to the Dawsons in 1870 be an older brother to my Catie and Allie?

There is more to learn. I believe Catie and Allie are guiding the way… all I have to do is listen. I do believe it’s time to pull my rogue root-diggin’ tactics off the shelf and get back on the trail of digging up lost Ancestors!

For every question there is an answer… and I am still intent on finding them all!:-)

Luckie.

It’s a slow and challenging start today with Mom. Alzheimer’s Disease is taking its toll… little by little, I see the feisty, funny, petite woman who I adore, fade away.

This new woman, is empty, sad and weathered. Amazing what happens to the body when the spirit starts to leave.

This morning Mom cries and tells me she’s tired.  Says she loves me and looks forward to the time we spend together each week, but doesn’t want to hold me back — keeping me and the kids from living.

She is confused and doesn’t understand what’s happening to her. I understand and am heartbroken that she has to endure it.

I hate this disease, it is cruelty personified.

Pray for my Mom friends.

Luckie.

May Mom be well.
May Mom feel protected and safe.
May Mom feel pleased and content.
May her physical body support me.
May her life unfold smoothly with ease…

{Metta Sutta ~ Loving Kindness}

My Grandmother, Fannie Louella Jackson Barwick {Anbownes} and Jay at age 5 yrs! She adored him and vice-versa!:-)

There truly are no words for how much you are missed…

Luckie.

It has truly been a SUPER-busy but blessed week for me! Seems like my formal name change on Tuesday switched on a light & I’ve been in motion ever since — putting my promises of progress/change in 2010 to action.

At the top of my list – honoring my commitment to the LowCountry Africana team to provide coordination support for the collection of Georgia [Low-Country] records.

Well I’m happy to report, early this morning in the wee-hours, the LowCountry Africana – Georgia Records Collection went live! Yep, that’s right — we’re gearing up to kick some Georgia genealogy *brick wall* booty!:-)

In the upcoming months I’ll take on several genealogy projects that will have a deep impact and benefit to the African-American researcher tracing slave ancestry in Georgia — trust me. And as part of my genealogy commitment for 2010, I’ll continue to assist descendants of slave holding families with sharing their Ancestors slave data.

This work is essential to connecting our collective “genea-dots” and bringing historical peace to our Ancestors.

For my Friends and Family who have supported me here at Our Georgia Roots for almost 2 yrs now (wow – that long?!) – THANK YOU. One day you will know, in full transparency, just how much I depended on this community to pull me through one of the toughest periods of my life.

But let me also challenge you to keep up the work of supporting genealogy blogs as a whole, and Slave/African-American Ancestry-based dialogues specifically.

As a community, we have a lot of  “catch-up” work to do and a very unique task that differs from the average researcher — that of researching the slave AND the respective slave holder.

We must TALK, we must SHARE, we must CONNECT and while I love OGR @ Twitter, it is your support on the blog(s) that has posterity. Tweets are what they are meant to be — brief, fleeting connection points.

Support of a blog and/or community, not only encourages the author, it binds him/her to the community and many times is instrumental in beating down a long-standing brick wall.

So please, if you are not blogging – head to Blogger.com now, you’ll be live in MINUTES. If you are not sharing — jump in to the conversation now. If you are not documenting — pick up the pen, paper or mouse now and get busy!

Our Ancestors have waited long enough to have their memories revived and stories shared. Don’t allow you, the chosen Griot of your family to be the barrier in their way.

Now, enough lectures — go read LCA Georgia Collections Launches! Time To Work! cause we’re gonna shake the tree at the root Baby and gather a bounty of Genea-fruit!:-)

Luckie.
@LCAfricanaGA

Sometime in the near future, I plan to make my way to Duke University to spend time in their Special Collections Library, where among many other artifacts, is housed a collection of Wilkes County (Georgia) and Hanover County (Virginia) WINGFIELD slave documents.

But tonight it’s not the WINGFIELD documents that made me catch my breath, it’s the story of Caesar, a slave purchased from New York by William GIBBONS of Chatam County Georgia in 1785.

I can’t speak for any other African-American researcher but in the quest to find my roots, with the abundance of historic data I go through daily, many times the severity of what I’m reading temporarily escapes me.

I don’t believe it’s a matter of my becoming desensitized to the history but more so a case of mentally committing to remove the “sting” of what I am reading to allow me to maintain objectivity.

After all, my goal is not to curse the deeds of the past — it’s to give voice to the stories and life of my Ancestors.

But tonight, Caesar stuck with me and but for a moment — I thought about his plight as seen through the docs at Duke University and felt the familiar sting of realizing what our Ancestors have endured and survived:

1785. William GIBBONS purchases Caesar from Stephen TINKER in NY. How old was he? I wonder if he left behind a mother, wife or children?

1794. Almost 10 yrs. later, Caesar has runaway to Connecticut as noted in a document empowering Joseph GIBBONS to secure his return to William GIBBONS. What made Caesar head to Connecticut? How did Caesar travel such a long distance from Georgia to Connecticut? Did he have “A Friend of Friends” help? I pray so!

1801. In a letter from Mitchell D. to William GIBBONS it appears Caesar is trying to negotiate the terms of his return — he wants to work for his freedom and from what Mitchell writes, seems to believe his owner will comply. Wow! He just wants to be free and is willing to work towards that end. I wouldn’t dare speculate how this letter was received by his owner.

Undated Correspondence. A list of GIBBONS slave names to whom shoes were delivered and sadly, Caesar’s name is on this list. Like the archivist, I wonder if this document was post 1801 and an indication of Caesar’s return to the plantation. I will not allow myself to think of what punishment he endured upon his return if that is the case.

I wonder what became of Caesar and if he found the freedom he was seeking. I also pray that a descendant of Caesar’s {possibly a GIBBONS or TINKER} is out there researching and happens upon this post and/or Duke University’s Collection.

Because as painful as it might be reading the struggle of Caesar, it also speaks to his TREMENDOUS strength, intelligence and will.

Peace to you Caesar.

Luckie.

“You must be the change you wish to see in the world” ~ Mahatma Gandhi

Luckie.

On the seventh hour, of the seventh day,
on the seventh month, the seven doctors say:
He was born for good luck, and that you’ll see;
I got seven hundred dollars, and don’t you mess with me

Y’know I’m here
Everybody knows I’m here
And I’m the hoochie-coochie man
Everybody knows I’m here

Hoochie Coochie Man
Muddy Waters

About the time you’ll be reading this post, I’ll be preparing myself [and/or completing] what will certainly be a turning-point moment in my life — the legal change of my name from Dona Amechia TAYLOR to Luckie DANIELS.

It’s only recently since I began this journey in November {Tombstone Tuesday: What’s In A Name?}, that I recalled as a child being told by Mom she’d “marked” me after a Friend named “Lucky”. She often joked about resenting the fashionista Lucky while pregnant and bloated with me and thought I possessed Lucky’s flair!:-)

Somehow over the years I’d forgotten that and just attributed my affinity to the nickname Luckie to the timing of my birth – 07.07 at 7.

But today, it makes no matter the underlying motivation or the loss memory of a woman I [unfortunately] never had the opportunity to meet.

Today is about not burying my name {which is why it could not be coined Tombstone Tuesday} but about putting it to rest.

I can admit now, it’s never held for me the honor and pride being a namesake should have. Over the years I’ve permitted people to slaughter its pronunciation countless times, because in truth, I was not personally attached to it.

I was ashamed to hold the given name of a man I do not know and more importantly, whose life path I do not understand or respect.

Seems like the more I learned about the significance of a person’s name across cultures, the less comfortable I became with my own.

For family and friends who may not understand my desire to make such a drastic life change, I ask that you trust my need to liberate myself from a name that has felt more like a curse than a blessing. A weight that I do not deserve.

I really thought there would be tears by now, but none have come [yet].

There is just the feeling of something real {albeit invisible} lifting from my shoulders — I feel light.

I feel free.

Luckie Daniels.
January 19, 2010

{Lyrics Hoochie Coochie Man 1954 Chess Records; Recorded by Muddy Waters/written by Willie Dixon}

I’ve really been on a FAVER/FAVOR roll lately. After 11 years of having few leads and no known Faver/Favor researchers, I now have a host of them I’m in contact with and tons of leads to trace.

However 5 years ago I was encouraged by Hollice Favors to contact Almay CARROLL regarding her book, Faver and Kindred 1748-1990, an extensive compilation of Faver/Favor ancestry.

But it seems I’ve waited too late. I found Almay’s phone number in a 2005 email from Hollice and called her home last night. I was told by a caregiver that Almay has advanced Alzheimer’s Disease and was directed to contact her son “Tim”.

A call to Tim made me aware that of the 200+ copies of Almay’s book, there are no more available outside of Family copies. He also was not sure if Almay could comprehend him well enough to answer my question of whether any copies had been donated to local libraries or the GA Archives.

I did explain briefly to Tim that I too understand exactly where he and his family are with caring for Almay at home and wished him the best. Almay is 86 years old.

I think sometimes we/people feel there is always time to learn what you need to know or do what you want to do.

For me the genealogy lesson is twofold — never forget the necessity of documenting your family history… we never know where our life-journey will carry us and learn how to act when the opportunity presents itself. Committing to not letting any of life’s seasons pass me/us by.

Prayers today for Almay and the Carroll Family.

Luckie.