Well Friends, this is not a post I’ve been looking forward to writing. As a matter of fact, I’ve put the task off the entire day — wishing that the issues prompting it, would somehow magically disappear.

But alas, they have not and being the kind of gal to face matters head-on, here goes it…

For the past two months, I have attempted to privately manage an issue, with a fellow genea-community member (who at this time will remain unnamed), that has escalated from a difference of opinion to ongoing harassment and violation of my privacy on the part of the respective community member.

My initial request was simple — following a series of events, having realized this is not a person I desired to associate with, I requested that the community member discontinue any future contact with me.

For me, this issue could have — should have — ended there. Within a community, people with differing opinions can coexist and as adults, respecting another person’s boundaries should not be a challenge.

Sadly, this has not been the case. This person has continued to seek various ways to not only be in contact with me, but to impact my life directly. From contacting people in my personal circle requesting they relay messages, to shadowing my movements and/or interactions within the genealogy space, to attempting discussions pertaining to me with members in the broader community. The actions have been non-stop and deliberately invasive.

When random methods to prompt a verbal response from me fail, the community member contacts me directly, completely ignoring my repeated requests to not do so.

The community member’s actions have escalated, most times appearing very manic, unpredictable and desperate. I have no idea why this person has attached to me, a virtual stranger, or what he/she hopes to accomplish, as I have done nothing to prevent interaction with the GeneaBlogger community as a whole. I’ve simply prevented this person from having direct contact with me.

That said, today I contacted local Atlanta authorities to make them aware of this person’s actions, and provided a very extensive paper/digital trail to support my concerns.

Here’s what the person in question should be CRYSTAL CLEAR on:

1. My tolerance/patience with you has run-out. I do not wish you any harm, but likewise, I will not allow you to inflict any on me and/or the people I care about.
2. I will no longer protect your privacy. This is the last time you will be addressed anonymously by me.
3. Any continued actions on your part to harm me — in any manner — will result in immediate legal action and full disclosure to the GeneaBlogger community of the extent of your harassment leading up to today.

To the GeneaBlogger community, I will confess that in the 12+ years I’ve worked and played in the online space, this is a first. It is a reminder that not everyone has the same motive as you when engaging online and that caution should always be a part of our interactions with strangers.

Be careful and follow your instincts. Pay attention and when something just doesn’t feel right — trust it.

Know that I am well, safe and happy. I am too stubborn to ALLOW anyone to dump their misery on me and will spare no effort to protect the life I’ve worked so hard to have.

In other words (to the community member in question), this is the time to let go and move on.

May life flow with ease for us all.

Luckie.

As I have spent much of the morning tagging CoAAG Contributor blogs and moving content over to A Friend of Friends, for our handy-dandy AFoF Alerts, I am moved but what historic depth our First Edition CoAAG holds and blessed to have been a part of it!

It will literally take me a FEW more days to get all the AFoF Alerts posted, which speaks 100% to the mass contributions received that have achieved the unimaginable ~ a collaborative dialogue/exchange between descendants of slavery to heal history — in real time.

What we accomplished on Friday, March 19th is marked by our digital timestamp and will push the efforts of descendants researching slave ancestry ahead in leaps n’ bounds!

You GeneaBloggers amaze me and I am so proud to be a part of this community!

Giving you your roses Friends because I’ll be doggone if you haven’t earned them!:-)

Luckie.

Mucho thanks to Angela Walton-Raji for her mention of Our Georgia Roots on this week’s African Roots Podcast!

Angela shared my story of the events leading up to obtaining my Paternal Great Grandmother COBB’s family bible last August.

You’ve heard me say it 100 before, if I & the original poster {thanks Debbie!:-} had not been online {Angela, you are correct – it was RootsWeb}, I NEVER would have known there was a bible out there that not only contained 4 generations of my Paternal Ancestors names, but names of my living Brothers & Sisters as well!

The original post was 5 YEARS OLD when I discovered it!!!

This week particularly, I find myself “nudging” several family members & friends to move their research ahead online.

For your sake & ours , I hope you heed both my & Angela’s advice:

Share what you find, but also share what you seek…

Luckie.

Friends – Please tune in tonight to view LowCountry Africana’s {www.Twitter.com/LCAfricana} interview tonight on Anderson Cooper’s  CNN AC360 – African Journey!

Tune-in NOW!:-)

Luckie.

Just a mere 6 days ago, Mavis {aka NCChemist} & I had a Tweetersation {yes, I just created my own word!:-} about the virtues of utilizing Facebook for Genealogy purposes.

Although not quite convinced that I wanted my Facebook & Genealogy worlds to meet {being a “Techie”, I live in the land of WWW daily & consider Genealogy “MY” time!}, I have to admit after hearing from Mavis how cool it was to connect with long-lost cousins, I was at least thinking about it!

We netted with my commenting, “maybe if there were just a way for me to separate my Genealogy connects in a Facebook environment…”.

Then Voila… 2 days later, www.GenealogyWise.com goes live & my “prayer” is answered!:-)

Now why am I sooooooo stoked that GenealogyWise is on the scene? A Techie’s point of view…

1. It’s complete with tried n’ true functionality we’re accustomed to with Facebook, but minus the profile overlap some of us may experience if we use FB for professional and/or personal reasons! Do I REALLY want my Corporate client to read about my belief that my Ancestors guide me in digging-up family history? I think not!:-)
2. It’s built on the Ning platform, which delivers ALL the Social Media bells n’ whistles that I love! It also makes me eat my words that Ning isn’t really capable of supporting a mega-community. As we can see – it obviously is!:-)
3. It’s well-funded by FamilyLink.com, which I know for some of you may be an issue. You don’t want big-business owning such personal communities, right? WRONG – you do! We, Genealogists {along with every other online consumer}, are pretty demanding & needy. You want a community that is adequately supported so that their growth can be seamless. Take this from a girl who had a fantastic idea but lacked the deep-pockets to run it, success is short-lived without the finances to keep it going!:-(
4. It’s viral – contagious man! GenealogyWise membership grew to approx. 1500 members in – ONE DAY! Heck, at Midnight, there were still had 120 researchers online! What this means for us is there’s a greater opportunity to connect with other genealogists who may hold the key to knocking down our brick walls – quickly.
5. They (GenealogyWise) need us, Facebook doesn’t. What this means is that we can be heard! Woo-hoo! Don’t hesitate to let them know what’s missing! Now is the time!

So what do I want from GenealogyWise?

• Help. Help in outreaching the African-American community so that they are represented & participating in the online GW community. Yes, I am asking that GW go out of its way to build a community that is diverse & balanced. Really, GW should be establishing partnerships with LowCountry Africana, AfriQuest, Afrigeneas & any other ethnic {not just Black} community out there. DIVERSITY is KEY!

• Widget & Tool Integration. I want a Social Media Share Bar, to share my GW activity across platforms – Twitter, Digg, LinkedIn, etc… I’ll admit, this functionality could already exist & I haven’t explored the site totally but since I’m asking…

• Profile Flexibility. We should be able to add multiple websites/blogs & what about other profile/IDS? Shouldn’t we be able to include who we are in other places on the web? Ala, Twitter = OurGeorgiaRoots!

All in all I am thrilled that GenealogyWise is live & rocking and forever grateful, that I can keep my genealogy addiction to myself {sans Facebook} for sharing when I want to!

Rock on!:-)

Luckie @ GenealogyWise

Happy July 4th Family!

I am thrilled to announce that I will be joining LowCountry Africana as the Coordinator for Georgia Records! Woo-hoo!

Funded by The Magnolia Plantation Foundation of Magnolia Plantation and Gardens in Charleston, South Carolina,  LowCountry Africana is a PHENOMENAL initiative dedicated to the preservation and cataloging of records that document the family and cultural heritage of African Americans in the historic rice-growing areas of South Carolina, Georgia and extreme northeastern Florida, an area that scholars and preservationists have identified as a distinct culture area, home to the rich Gullah/Geechee culture.

Simply stated, my role for LCA will be to coordinate the collection of Georgia records as it grows in leaps and bounds, while also sharing genealogical information and resources with researchers.

Additionally, it’s my personal mission to “encourage” as many ethnic researchers as possible to bring their efforts FULLY online!:-)

I wholeheartedly believe that in order for us to make true genealogical “traction” we MUST utilize the benefits that modern day technology affords.

This includes participating in online genealogical communities, joining historical organizations, attending genealogy events, posting detailed family information to the very popular [and SUPER effective] message boards and using tools like Twitter to stay up-to-date on genealogy news and tools that make the research far less painful than it use to be.

I’ll say it because I can… black folks {yes, I said black folks} traditionally have been taught by Grandma to keep our business private!:-)

Added to that, most researchers are not “techies” and researching slave ancestry stings – BAD!

All of these factors can often dissuade us from interacting with groups that we will ultimately need to move our research ahead – face it, our efforts can only reach as far as 1865.

But here’s the upside… there are principles {for the most part} in the genealogical community that “trump” the ugliness of what we’re researching, which for me, has also been very healing. I have been the constant beneficiary of community support and random-acts-of-kindness throughout my 12 years of researching.

The camaraderie I share with fellow genealogists, across color lines, is one of the biggest benefits to the work!

I have always been open in saying that without the support and information received from the WINGFIELD Family Society in my early years, my Georgia research would have gone nowhere fast!

Wilsie Carr Wingfield, the Great Granddaughter of Archibald Wingfield {owner to many of my Wingfield ancestors}, was the person who introduced me to my 4th Grandfather, James Wingfield!

So let us either begin and/or continue on this journey together!

I can feel it, our Ancestors have more to their respective stories they want [us] to share!:-)

Luckie.
Got Georgia records? Contact – Luckie@lowcountryafricana.com

Good news! I had an epiphany last night that panned out – Go Daddy can restore my MySQL database from their backup storage!:-)

Although the cost ain’t cheap – $150 buckaroos, it’s worth it to fix my oh-so-dumb mistake!

So soon, I’ll have all the benefits of my updated theme {which I adore!} & Wordpress platform {which I needed}, with the historical posts & comments that mean the WORLD to me!

Wooooo-hooooo!:-)

Luckie.

P.S. What’s the lesson to be garnered from this experience friends? Listen to GeneaBlogger, back-up your data TODAY!:-)

Catie’s HerStory has been posted to CNN’s Black In America: Your Roots! Help you & your ANCESTORS! Use to tools people… use the tools!:-)

Luckie

Happy Monday Friends & Fam!

Most of you do not know that by day {and most nights} I sport a ‘Techie’ hat as a Technical IT Project Manager.

One clear benefit of this for me is that over the years being a ‘webbie’ has afforded me the opportunity to spread my message across the Internet {my natural habitat} easily – heck, I can craft a website in a matter of hours!

The downside is that with corporate work, personal projects & kids, I rarely have free time to assist others with their web projects – SORRY!:-)

BUT never fear – the NING Social Media platform can!

Ning is a super-innovative & EASY {really – I promise} to use platform that allows ANYONE {not just Techies} to start their very own Social Network! Think Facebook with your very own personal style & design – that’s Ning!

Oh & MOST IMPORTANTLY – it’s 100% FREE for the basic personal network!

I was testing the Ning environment for my newest Internet venture & was so impressed, I decided to setup my OurAlabamaRoots.com site there too!

Even my GFF {Genealogy Favorite Friend} ‘A’ is establishing a space for her Spence-Lowry research!

Having a website where Genealogists & Family can go to see the data & images I’ve collected over the years is hands down the #1 reason we were able to acquire so much information over a short period of time.

So give your research a jump-start & take advantage of the technology tools available that make this effort of finding your roots so much easier than it use to be.

Oh & don’t forget to join the OurAlabamaRoots & Spence-Lowry communities because as always, we have MANY more roots to dig up!:-)

Cousin Mechie

27 years ago this month my Family experienced the unthinkable – following a weekend of Family events in Atlanta, while returning home to Lima Ohio, my Uncle Jake {Ronald Jackson Sr.} and his children – Rhonda {17}, Angie {15} & Ronnie {11} were in a horrible car accident.

Uncle Jake & Rhonda did not survive the accident. Angie & Ronnie were hospitalized and my Family was devastated.

There are no words to sum up the void left by these two people. Uncle Jake was a fun-loving, jolly, AME Pastor, with a love for fishing & a smile that NEVER left his face. Rhonda was gentle, sweet & loving – a born nurturer.

It has been 27 years since anyone in my Family would think of suggesting a Family Reunion, but it is now time.

We need an opportunity to heal & move forward. A time for Elders, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins & Friends to come together to break bread & share a laugh. We need each other & our children MUST know that they are not alone – they have a Family.

That said, I have begun planning the Wilkes Co. Family Meet Up for May 7-10 2009.

What better way to heal is there than to go home? Yep, back to the start – Washington Wilkes, Georgia!

We’ll gather Wingfields, Dorseys & ALL extended Family & Friends for a weekend of non-stop CELEBRATING!

So please, mark your calendars & check our Wilkes Co. Family Meet Up pages for frequent updates as the plans becomes clearer & the date draws near!

Also, I am creating a Master Email list. If you’d like to be added please email your Name, Contact Number(s) & Email Address to OurGeorgiaRoots@gmail.com.

I cannot wait to see you Family!:-)

Cousin Mechie