As I *tweeted* this morning, the folks at MyHeritage.com asked if I would consider publishing their responses to the emails I posted yesterday. My reply was an immediate ABSOLUTELY!

In truth, I’ve enjoyed our dialogue. I tend to be fine with folks expressing various opinions and found the relatively transparent exchange with MH, somewhat refreshing.

We’re all grown folk (and friends) here, so there is no need to publish the Luckie Disclaimer. If I have one thing to add, before we dive into the email exchange, it would be this.

Yesterday, over 200 genealogists read the Open Letter To My Heritage post, yet only 4 of you responded — 1 with a correction; 3 with thank yous for including them on my genea-blogger list. If you clicked on that link, you had interest and if you read the post, you certainly had an opinion.

Please agree or disagree — just don’t opt to be silent and/or invisible.  Many black, white, red and brown people have died to offer us the precious right to voice our opinion.

There is no controversy to be found here folks — just conversations.

Luckie.

*******************

[Note: the FIRST email from me on 05.13.10 that  initiated the MH dialogue, was published yesterday -- Open Letter To My Heritage]

o5.14.10

Hi Luckie,

Thanks for taking the time to write.

We do appreciate your comments.

We know inherently that by creating list there is some great material we will miss. This is an unfortunate part about any compilation made, there is always something that slips through the cracks.

Our goal was to include ethnically neutral sites in our search, as you can see from the list , it runs the gambit of social backgrounds, nationalities, and even sites of mixed heritage. We have also developed top lists for multiple different countries, covering a myriad of different blogs in each.

We agree there is a mountain of quality material in the African-American community and we would like to respond to any shortcoming in this area with  an exclusive Blog about African-American Genealogy Blogs. I would love if we could speak further to perhaps collect some of your thoughts to put it in the article.

If you would like to be involved with this, either myself or my colleague ___________, will be in touch with you early next week.

Thanks __________ for getting back with me.

I think an article highlighting the genea-community’s African-American contributors is an excellent idea. These researchers more than deserve this! Researching Slave Ancestry is a science unto itself, given the manner in which African-American Ancestors were recorded and/or not recorded, prior to the Civil War period.

However I would like to make some points clear in respect to your comments below:

1. An “ethnically neutral” genealogy blog does not exist. Ethnicity plays a KEY factor in how, what and where a descendant researches. European descendants have a broader range of data to draw from — both in terms of the resources and time periods available. It’s not uncommon for European researchers to identify Ancestry as far back as the 1500s. On the other hand, African-American descendants may be able to successfully trace an Ancestor back to 1865. Any time prior to that — unless the Ancestor was a Free Person of Color — information will have to be sought by identifying the respective slave owner to determine if slave data was recorded and/or preserved. My point? Research paths vary greatly depending upon your specific genetic-ethnic-cultural variables.

2. In your list of the Top 100 Genealogy Blogs, I did not see the mix of “social backgrounds, nationalities, and even sites of mixed heritage” you reference. How can you have both an “ethnically neutral” list and also one that is representative of the diversity your description summarizes?

3. It appears with your reference to the multinational lists you’ve developed, consideration was given to [most] every ethnicity/culture except African-Americans. Why is that?

4. While I do feel an article highlighting African-American blogs is a kind gesture, the truth is the blogs I referenced are not separate from the community of bloggers you listed in your Top 100 — they are a VITAL part of that community and deserve recognition as such.

5. A title of the Top 100 Genealogy Sites implies that you are actually identifying sites based on genealogy/research criteria that would allow them to be deemed as superior in their craft. Being “ethnically neutral” does not factor into being an excellent researcher, nor a viable community contributor. That distinction is and should always be — colorless.

I am more than happy to assist with the effort of the article — just let me know what’s needed.

I do hope in the future My Heritage will invest more effort in presenting a full-view of the online genealogy community. African-American contributors in the genea-space, participate and invest much (myself included). There should be no excuse for their omission when recognition is given.

Best,

Luckie.

Hi Luckie,

Just to follow up on a few of these points (___________ may well have some thoughts too)

We were already interested in doing some posts to highlight specific genealogy sub-groups, and I think doing something on African-American genealogy would be a great way to begin this. One of our ideas was to feature a set of sites dealing with area of African-American genealogy, so we might well be able to showcase a number of the sites you flagged up.

To me, sub-groups in the community are simultaneously part of the community as a whole and part of their own sub-communities (if that makes sense). So African-American genealogy, Jewish genealogy, Latin American genealogy, Americo-Irish genealogy etc all comprise part of the community as a whole, but at the same time face their own specific challenges and feature a particular approach to research and study. This would be the approach our series is taking, rather than to say that these sub-groups are in some way separate to the community as a whole.

We could definitely do with a hand when it comes to covering the African-American article(s) on this, so we’ll no doubt be in touch about that. Thanks for your offer of assistance here.

To respond to a few of your points very quickly (it’s Friday night in the UK and I’m about to go out!)

- I think there’s been some misunderstanding on our part in the terminology we’ve used here, and it probably wasn’t explained adequately by us. When we say ‘ethnicity-neutral’, we mean that was the approach we took in our research, and not that we were looking for blogs that took a non-ethnicity standpoint. So I think we’re actually on the same page here in saying that any selection should be ‘colourless’ – it shouldn’t be a modifying factor. And in my view almost every blog will be (consciously or unconsciously) approaching their work from a particular ethnicity/nationality standpoint – it’s hard to avoid it, the only difference is some are aware of it, and others aren’t!

- The comment on multinational lists refers to the sites we awarded in other countries. Some of these are not yet live, although we have compiled lists of winners for (among other languages) French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and Polish. So when we say ‘multinational’ in this sense we mean we were covering a number of different genealogy countries, although our language capabilities only took us so far here!

Personally, I do agree that there are great sites out there from many perspectives and viewpoints, and that’s what we aimed to encompass in these lists. We did include some African-American blogs in the list, and we also tried to represent diversity more broadly. We had competing concerns such as nationality (we wanted to feature not only American sites, but Canadian, English, Scottish, Irish, Australian), as well as sites dealing with different subject matter (not only blogs but family sites, one-name studies, tools/resources, and so on). In the end there were only a limited number of sites we could include, but we tried to make the list representative all the same. Perhaps we could have done better, but this isn’t something we neglected, and I want to reassure you that we do always try to be as inclusive as possible in our work. It’s an important part of what we do, since our site encompasses so many different cultures, as does our company as a whole.

There are definitely other great African-American sites out there, however, and I agree it would be a shame not to showcase the talent and effort that’s gone into them. So hopefully you’ll appreciate our offer to write up some new pieces showcasing African-American genealogy, and to showcase some of the sites you’ve mentioned. Our new blog is now one of the most subscribed in the geneasphere, so we should be able to get these sites some great coverage, and it’d be a nice way to give some depth to the area – to look at the detail rather than just to name them as sites.

Please let us know your thoughts on this. This is an important area to us, otherwise I wouldn’t be getting back to you at 9.30pm on a Friday (UK time)!

Anyhow, have a great weekend and hopefully we can work together on this future African-American genealogy project!

Take care,

__________

Luckie,

I think __________ touched on most of your points but wanted to touch base to let you know i’ll be available this weekend if you have any further questions!

Please excuse my poor phrasing of ‘ethically-neutral’, ___________ correctly addressed this as our decision to allow all micro genealogical elements to exist as body constituent of genealogy, the focus was on genealogy as whole, not particular to any sub groups.

Again, we appreciate your feedback as it helps us learn as we go forward.
Have a wonderful weekend and we look forward to working with you and help give some much deserved attention to these blogs by drilling down in depth on some of the great sites we missed in the community .

Be well,

05.15.10

Good Morning! I am forwarding a communication that I received from ________________ at My Heritage. My apologies, I intended to get it to you yesterday but got pulled away with CoAAG events and such.

The dialogue is healthy and necessary. I do think some aspects of the discussion could be attributed to a difference in culture — US vs. UK. However that said, I do believe if you are doing business in the US Market, you must also be sensitive to its cultural nuances.

_________ — Being considered a “sub-group” is EXACTLY our historical issue in the United States. African-Americans have fought not to be a “sub-group” of US Culture but to be acknowledged as the valuable contributors we are — and have always been — to the whole.

As you can gauge from the feedback — and there is more — we are in agreement that the aspect of identifying “ethnically neutral” blogs has negative connotations that don’t rest well with any of us.

What’s the solution? I don’t know. While no one is against the crafting of an article featuring African-American genealogy contributors we all share the same sentiment — inclusion should have been made in the initial blog list.

I would ask that you go a step further in addressing this private dialogue in the public forum, because the message that our exclusion sends — for whatever reason — is not one that I am comfortable leaving as is. It should be addressed — either by My Heritage and/or one of the contributors expressing concern via this communication.

As I said, the dialogue is good and you have my support for the dedicated feature, but let’s find a means of putting this discussion to rest first before we proceed in that direction.

Best,

Luckie.

Hi Luckie (and others!),

Hope you’re all having a great weekend!

I agree that this dialogue is healthy and important. I just wanted to clarify a couple of points, which perhaps I should have made clearer in my initial email. I’ll be able to offer a fuller response to anybody on Monday, but this should take us forward for now. I don’t normally work on Saturdays, but I wanted to get back to you all on this since it’s an important matter to me.

First of all, I certainly do not see African-American genealogy simply as a ’sub-group’, but rather as part of the whole genealogy community. I should have perhaps made this clearer in my email, but I tried to emphasize that while there are many ways to make subdivisions which we can use for descriptive purposes (e.g. Jewish genealogy, Anglo-Irish genealogy), these are all ultimately part of the same community. These categorizations are useful in the sense that they highlight shared experience, but they should not divide us. This is the point I was trying to make in the second paragraph of my email (see below for those not initial recipients). Basically, I think we’re on the same page here.

I can understand your more general concerns, but I want to re-emphasize that our list was created with the idea of wide representation in mind. That’s why we included African-American authors in our list, as well as blogs and sites from many nationalities and many backgrounds, and sites of different types (not only blogs but family sites, one-name studies, informational sites, and more). That’s also why we extended the search beyond the English-speaking community, and towards those in German, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, Russian, Swedish, Czech, Dutch, and more! This was not some one-size-fits-all competition, and our search was intended to be as inclusive as possible. We absolutely do not approach these things from an exclusive mindset, and as a company we place a strong emphasis on inclusivity, and try to make genealogy available and enjoyable for people of all backgrounds. Was it a perfect process? Perhaps not. But we certainly did try.

Having said that, I’m definitely in favor of giving the African-American genealogy community the exposure it deserves, and that’s why I’m pushing to run this series of articles on it. I hope this will offer a great showcase for some of the fantastic sites that are out there, and will also give substantial depth in its coverage – allowing others to see the work you’re doing in a detailed way, and actually in a way that a mere listing might not provide. I’m more than happy to collaborate with any and all of you on this.

Basically, I think we’re on the same side in this. I’ve taken your points on board, and I’d like to offer these articles as a way to showcase some of the great work you’re doing. At the same time, I do want to make it clear that as a company we always have diversity and representation close to heart, and that even if some would argue the list is imperfect in this regard, it is not a concern we neglected. We’ve had emails in from many corners querying aspects of the selection, and when all is said and done we could not showcase all of the great sites that were out there in the list – there are simply too many sites and not enough space. What we can do is try and offer the best exposure to sites where it matters going forward, and I hope our articles on the African-American genealogy community will help to do this.

It’s certainly an interesting topic and discussion for me, since as an Englishman I’m learning more and more about many of the complexities of the American genealogy community every day.

Have a great rest of the weekend folks. The weather’s actually good in England right now (not a common occurrence!), so I’m going to go and enjoy it.

Best wishes,

____________

[Note: the LAST email from me on 05.17.10 was published yesterday -- Open Letter To My Heritage]

Here’s the skinny — I was not happy with the My Heritage Top 100 Genealogy Sites list and not for the reason you would think — because Our Georgia Roots wasn’t on it.

Truth is, I’m at the top of my own list — representing my Ancestors with pride. I have maintained a genealogy site for OGR since 1998 and will continue to do so, with and/or without recognition from the broader genealogy community.

While I do appreciate the support — it does make this labor of love so much more enjoyable — it is not the motivation for why I write or research. Family research is my responsibility and the Ancestors give me NO peace when I [selfishly] stop!:-)

I was unhappy with MH’s selections because for me, it lacked diversity in respect to African-American genealogy contributors. 2 African-American blogger mentions out of 100 blogs did not make it for me, so that said, I began a dialogue with the team at My Heritage.

Let me say that MH has been very responsive and open in the exchange. I appreciate that.

So below, is both my last (this morning) and first communication to My Heritage regarding the question of whether the 100 Best Genealogy site list was in fact, diverse and fair to all of the genealogy contributors in our RAWKING community.

As always, the *Luckie Disclaimer* is in effect — please respect the HOUSE and your fellow community members in your comments.

Luckie.

********************

05.17.10

Good Morning My Heritage,

Thanks for your reply and for carving time out of your weekend to respond to the discussion points. I dare say, we could debate the particulars for ages but truly believe ours will be a difficult (next to impossible actually) task to understand without personally living in a culture where you are impacted — DAILY — by the color of your skin. What’s the saying — until you walk in my shoes…?

Make no mistake, I love who I am. I love my community, heritage and Ancestors. I am merely being realistic — race/ethnicity are ALWAYS a part of our equation.

Each of the blogs I recommended stands on its own merit. Aside from being of African descent, the genealogists are each phenomenal researchers and valuable contributors to the online genealogy community. I learn from them daily.

I would also beg to differ that 2 out of 100 blogs is a fair representation of the African-American genea-community and a nod to diversity. It is what we consider a token, albeit great ones. Both Taneya and Craig would have been on my list had they not already been represented in yours.

Looking forward…

I am certainly on board with assisting in the effort to bring the Bloggers I recommended to light via My Heritage. I am not quite sure what you need from me — I’ve recommended who I believe to be deserving and as I said, their work stands for itself. Nevertheless, I am here.

Until this weekend, I did not realize that so many fellow community bloggers took issue with the My Heritage selection process in question. I had not read the comments to the MH blog nor looked at the assorted posts from both recipients and those not included.

In full transparency, I intend to publish on OGR my initial letter to My Heritage. I do believe the continued need for diversity is a conversation that should extend to the broader community and would not want it to appear that I have been lobbying for African-Americans “behind the scenes”.

Out of respect for you, I will not publish your communications to me however you are more than welcome to state your peace via OGR’s comments section. You have every right to.

Again, I do appreciate the dialogue. Progress cannot be accomplished without it.

All the best,

Luckie.

************************

05.14.10

Hi My Heritage,

Thanks for getting back to me regarding my query of the MyHeritage.com “100 Best Blogs” selection process.

Here’s my Luckie Disclaimer – I am not THE VOICE for the online African-American genea-community HOWEVER, I do tend to be the most vocal and opinionated.

That said, I arrived home yesterday to find several emails (5 in total) regarding the announcement of My Heritage’s 100 Best Blogs. The communications were from both white and black genea-bloggers, they all expressed frustration of the lack of African-American representation among the selected 100 genea-bloggers and each wanted to hear my opinion.

Here’s my opinion, I can appreciate your vantage point of wanting to offer visibility to the “less exposed” genealogy sites. However, I agree the absence of some of our most committed African-American genea-bloggers feels like at the least, an oversight that could read like a slight.

Because I am one of the most vocal online African-American genealogy contributors and active in the technology space — both professionally and personally — I do receive my fair-share of attention from the community. However, there are several other less vocal, yet equally dedicated genea-bloggers who continue to make significant contributions to the genea-blogging community as a whole, and whose research is to be commended.

While I am a friend and follower of both Taneya and Craig, can you really say that of 100 blogs selected, there are only two African-American genea-bloggers deserving recognition? Additionally, are not Taneya and Craig two of the most recognized African-American genea-bloggers online? I certainly don’t consider them among the less visible. Here are just a few of the contributors that continue to amaze me with their dedication:

www.INeverKnewMyFather.com
www.EchoesOfMyNolaPast.com
www.GeorgiaBlackCrackers.blogspot.com
www.BlackandRedJournal.blogspot.com
www.GederGenealogy.com
www.ReclaimingKin.com
www.MariahsZepher.blogspot.com
www.MyAncestorsName.blogspot.com
www.TheFamilyGriot.blogspot.com
www.MyColoredRoots.blogspot.com
www.DionneFord.wordpress.com (Finding Josephine)
www.j-macsjourney.blogspot.com
www.tgarnett.posterous.com (the youngest in the bunch — 19 years old!:-)
www.ReconnectedRoots.com

At the end of the day, My Heritage has every right to select who you want to receive the Best Blogger award — I cannot deny you that. However I would encourage you to broaden your vantage point to be inclusive (and supportive) of the genea-community as a whole.

I hope that with the online presence you currently maintain, representation of diversity is not an issue.

True, among the broader genealogy online community, African-American contributors are in the minority. Nonetheless, we are here and work hard to honor our Ancestors, and contribute to the community in many valuable ways.

That too is deserving of recognition — both individually and collectively.

Best,

Luckie.

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.

I must admit, I’m stoked to host the first edition of the Carnival of African-American Genealogy (CoAAG), going live on Friday, Mar. 19th!

The genealogy community took my Open Letter to heart, and immediately began setting the stage for what, to my knowledge, has never occurred online before — the open dialogue between descendants on BOTH sides of slavery’s legacy and the collaborative exchange of personal/family slave data.

The most times easy [smile] exchange that’s occurred over the past few weeks is a small act that speaks VOLUMES to our ability as a community to heal historical wounds.

When Restore My Name – Slave Records and Genealogy Research goes live on the 19th, it will send the message loud and clear that this community’s strength lies in its deep respect for ALL history and its honoring of one of our fundamental principles — random acts of genealogical kindness.

Now, we have lots of work ahead to get everyone ready for CoAAG’s grand debut!

For all newbies to the carnival scene, don’t worry, we have you covered with a week long carnival immersion at OGR! There’s NO WAY we’d allow you to be left out of this precedent setting event!:-)

By week’s end, we’ll be a community of carnival experts and chopping at the bits for CoAAG’s  next edition — Grandma’s Hand: Grandmothers and Their Influence on the Family hosted by our genea-pal, Sandra Taliaferro at I Never Knew My Father! Stay tuned for details!:-)

So I’m off to button-up Madness Monday (Part 2) post — Carvinal 101: Questions Asked & Answered!

If you need detailed “how-tos”, refresh your memory by re-reading Spread The Word! We’re Having A Carnival! If you have the details down and are ready to submit your CoAAG entry (go on with yo’ bad self!:-) click here and make it happen!

And lastly, don’t forget to pick-up your Carnival of African-American Genealogy badge! Special thanks to the divine footnoteMaven for the kind gift! We’ll wear it proudly!:-)

Shouts also to Thomas at GeneaBloggers for never failing to answer all my stupid questions!

Choooo-choooo! The CoAAG Carnival Train is pulling-out!:-)

Luckie.

Edutopia defines The Digital Divide as:

…the gap between those individuals and communities that have, and do not have, access to the information technologies that are transforming our lives.

In years past, that was a satisfactory definition for the deliberate “divide” created by society based on gender, income, racial group, and geographic region.

Sadly today, I see another new branch of the Digital Divide forming, spawned by the mature African-American community’s willingness to opt-out of utilizing common technology that mainstream society not only embraces, but lives by.

This is particularly evident in the African-American Genealogy community, where we will voluntarily self-segregate into silos and adamantly refuse to embrace technology vehicles that not only make our research effort easier, but most importantly, expose us to a wealth of genealogical data unlike ANY ever accessible to us before.

Yesterday evening I attended a standing room only gathering of the Afro-American Historical Genealogy Society Metro Atlanta Chapter {AAHGS -GA}. I was thrilled to be there and so encouraged to see 70+ genealogy lovers turn out for this monthly session!

However, as visitors began to stand and share of their many decades of family research, as well as their ambivalence to extending that effort online, my heart sank.

Visitor after visitor stood, provided snippets of family oral history, surnames and counties of interest but I would wager that if we polled the room of 70+ genealogists {myself and @Sjtaliaferro included} there would have been less than 5 with an established online presence.

Even more disconcerting — though the audience changes, this is the exact message that resonates in every dialogue I have with the broader African-American community around online genealogy research.

How can we accept this? As we watch our elders become younger and our families/communities more fragmented, we can no longer afford to allow our efforts to remain one-dimensional and/or closeted. We MUST find the answers we seek and share the information we have or run the risk of losing either the history and/or the opportunity, forever.

When descendants of slave owners, for whatever reason, withhold valuable data related to our Ancestors we find that inexcusable and will — without hesitation — voice our disapproval, repeatedly.

But how can we point the finger at the genealogy community at large, if we are in fact, part of the core problem? If we are not present and accounted for, do we really have the right to complain and/or criticize what is and/or is not shared?

Descendants have responded to my call to action for the genealogy to share important slave data with their African-American research counterparts. Many more will show their support via the upcoming March 19th Carnival of African-American Genealogy: Restore My Name – Slave Records and Genealogy Research.

My question is — when the genealogy community rises to the challenge of sharing personal family slave data online so that our research can push forward, where will the African-American genealogy community be?

Will we be present, ready to accept the offering and open the dialogue to unlock our ancestry OR will we continue to allow our ancestral puzzle to remain incomplete?

Have not our Ancestors been silent long enough?

You support me without fail and I you, but it is time to move forward to bridge the digital divide permanently.

I am asking African-American genealogy thought leadership like the AAHGS and Afrigeneas.com to take up the charge of moving our community into the 21st Century with their research. You are our champions and we need you to lead us in this effort.

Can we really live with knowing that we are the only obstacle blocking our Ancestors way?

I pray not.

Forever with you on the journey…

Luckie.

In chatting about this trip, it was SUPER important for me to not overly plan or coordinate activities. Being a single Mom of 2 + a Project Manager, I live by timelines and logistics 7 days a week — I wanted/needed a break from the norm with our Savannah trip!

Happily, that’s EXACTLY what I got! Mavis, Felicia, Sandra and I were just happy to be together, so it was easy relax and enjoy the trip!:-)

On Saturday morning we woke early to a breakfast of biscuits n’ gravy, eggs, juice and coffee served in the B&B’s sitting parlor. We were already running late for the conference {yep, we missed the free DNA test, dang it!} so we gobbled our food up and hurried out!

Although a conference for beginning genealogists, I was excited about attending the conference {my first official Genealogy event!:-} and really surprised to find the SEFH Expo was filled with mostly brown faces of folks with intriguing ancestor stories and a budding interest in tracing their roots!

Felicia and I hung out with presenter Darius Gray who spoke on Freedmen Bank Records and the importance of preserving your family history.

Now — you MAY hear from Felicia that I KINDA took over Darius’ class AND computer. Hmmm, my take? I was “helping” him to share information with the 45+ [genea-hungry] researchers in the room of how to get online with their questions and findings.

See… I’m innocent I tell ya!:-)

Along with the verbal spanking I gave Darius for not sharing his amazing personal family story online and not encouraging other researchers to do the same, I enjoyed chatting with an interesting mix of attendees!

There was Greg Grant from Geechee Kunda, the Geechee-Gullah descendant skilled in the art of Sweetgrass Basket weaving and JoAnn James, a new Savannah transplant returning to be closer to her Ancestral grounds! A lovely Sister who dug my Lapis crystal pendant and was ready to soar with her research and another Sister sharing the story of her Ancestor who continued to defy oppression by repeatedly running away from his owner! Yes, we  had a GOOD time!

By midday we were all ready for lunch and to catch-up with Johnnie Brown of the Freedom Trail Tours. He did not disappoint — Savannah’s history and Johnnie’s ability to retain [and share] it is AMAZING!

Although great all around, I have to say that seeing the Hanging Tree and visiting Laurel Grove Cemetery {which was once a plantation} were the most moving for me.

Hard to explain but there was a lot of energy moving about in that cemetery. Yes, death was there but also much suffering — we were able to see the whipping tree, where slaves received lashes. Sorry — I couldn’t capture a shot of this but Felicia did. You could see still see where the lashes sliced the bark. Can you imagine what the ancestor being punished endured?

Another favorite was the Beach Institute African American Cultural Center, which was Savannah’s first African-American school built post-Emancipation in 1867. Today it serves as an art gallery, showcasing the works of gifted late folk artist, Ulysses Davis.

Aside from being a Barber, Ulysses {1914-1990} was a self-taught MASTER carver who somehow summoned cultural influences from an African continent he’d never seen!

Hands-down, Johnnie Brown provided the Savannah cultural education, we’d traveled to experience!:-)

Is it time to eat yet? YES! We were just heading down Bay Street when I spotted The Pirates House Restaurant complete with wooden pirate statues  {that’s him Mavis is feeling up on!:-} and a VERY real, Johnnie Depp look-alike, Captain Jack!:-)

Of course while waiting for my food, I was getting my *tweet* on, so when Capt. Jack visited our table, picked-up my phone and started scrolling through tweets, I quickly [and loudly] responded “Captain Jack is playing with my Twitter!” Yes ~ it was only AFTER I said it and noted the laughter in the Restaurant, that I realized my slip of the tongue {no pun intended!}.

And of course, Ms. Felicia did not hesitate to quickly “share” my slip with the rest of Tweetville!:-)

After dinner we [briefly] kicked around the idea of checking out THE Lady Chablis {and she *tweets* – @TheLadyChablis!} but finally agreed that we were all way to full and tired to go the distance! Ahh, I’m not what I used to be — it wasn’t even 9PM!:-)

Nestled back at Savannah B&B we closed the evening with a viewing of Sankofa! Heavy – yes, but relevant. It is the Ancestors experience…

Tune in tomorrow for the dish on how Mavis almost married Haitian Artist Jean-Claude Martin and how Sandra put me up to “borrowing” pieces of Savannah’s River Street history!:-)

Luckie.

P.S. Don’t worry — I’ll be Mad next Monday!:-)

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.

Thanks to my GeneaPals Gini of Ginisology, San of I Never Knew My Father, Miriam of AnceStories and Renate of Into The Light I am the proud recipient of a cupcake filled Happy 101 Award!:-)

How cool is it that for once, I can indulge my sweet tooth without fear of gaining a single pound?!:-)

Okay, so the deal is that I share 10 things that make me happy + tag 10 more people to do the same! Here goes…

Part I – what makes Luckie happy?

1. Making Mom laugh
2. My 3 kids all together
3. The country — love, love, LOVE clear, green open land and hope one day to own a big stretch of it in my hometown of Washington-Wilkes!
4. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee — heaven to my caffeinated soul!:-)
5. Water — watching it, hearing it, swimming in it… it soothes me
6. Kicking a *brick wall* square in the butt! I’m a GeneaRebel with a cause!
7. Writing
8. Italy {watch me — one day I’ll be living there!:-}
9. Music — really, really GOOD music
10. Gardenia candles — they remind me of my Great Grandmother, Annie

Part II – I wanna know, what makes you happy?

1. Elizabeth of Little Bytes of Life
2. Amy of Twitter “A_Cain” Fame & soon to be blogger!:-)
3. Toni of LowCountry Africana
4. Aisha of LowCountry Africana Florida
5. Angela of The Beginning Genealogist
6. Sherry of Family Tree Writer
7. Tonia of Tonia’s Roots
8. Val of Twitter “RilkeGal” Fame
9. Vickie of Be Not Forgot {love the new skin V!:-}
10. The mysterious Herstoryan {aside from vintage clothing!:-}

So thanks Gals for gifting me! And just because I know it will make YOU happy, I’m going to treat myself to a buttercream cupcake, with sweet buttercream icing  from Ms. Ella’s Bakery around the corner!:-)

Bone appetit!:-)

Luckie.

I found this image of the First Baptist Church Cumininsville (sp. Cummingsville) Homecoming, 1935 among pictures owned by my Mom but can’t for the life of me figure out why she has it?!

Home Coming
First Baptist Church Cumininsville
Cinti O. Oct, 13, 1935   Rev. D G Shelton Pastor

Mom was born in 1941 so why did she have a picture from 1935? I’ve scanned & scanned but no face in the crowd rings familiar?

I think when she’s here this weekend I’ll pull it out to see if anything sparks — for the most part, her long-term memory is as good as mine!:-)

Luckie.

We are the ones we have been waiting for.

As with most things he says, I loved hearing President Barack Obama speak those words almost as much as I loved reading them from my favorite Author, Alice Walker – We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For: Light in a Time of Darkness.

We are the ones we have been waiting for makes me feel hopeful… optimistic, that WE the descendants of Emancipated Slaves and the Grandchildren of liberated African-American warriors embody the hope of our community.

I hear the words and I think, WE do have the keys — WE can fix this — WE can turn things around and carve out a different future for our descendants.

In light of my Mom’s progressive battle with Alzheimer’s Disease, my thoughts these days often return to the question of legacy — what will be said of me when I [hopefully] a long time from now cross-over?

I’ve lived a life with MANY successes and my share of failures. Like most folks I imagine, there are countless things I’d do differently if I could roll back the clock.

As to my story, I hope it’s said I tried to walk a path that was honorable… that being fair and honest was important to me… that it pained me physically to not live up to expectations or to fail someone I cared about.

I hope it’s known that my 3 children saved me from me… that each one contributed to healing the fragmented heart of a fatherless girl, who struggled [a long time] to find comfort in her own skin. I hope it’s known how deeply my love for them flowed.

I want to leave a legacy of righting wrongs where I can, receiving and giving love abundantly, rising to life’s challenges when called, finding happiness in spite of and mastering the gift of forgiveness.

I cannot be perfect but I can certainly be better. I must be, WE must be because WE are our Ancestors and descendants greatest human hope and the time is now.

Namaste,

Luckie.

P.S. My SHEro, Alice Walker’s Blog — My Living Book.