A Genealogist’s bounty of bookS…

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Everyone’s Genealogy Library or Family History arsenal must possess this Book by “the Godfather of Black Family History”, Tony Burroughs. He is a Historian, Internationally renown Master Genealogist, Lecturer and Best-selling Author. Mr. Burroughs is also the founder and CEO of the Center for Black Genealogy

I was privy to attending a lecture session of Mr. Tony Burroughs at RootsTech 2018. A vibrant speaker, he was thorough with a commanding presence and I quickly learned that in his tell of “the story” there was a minefield of clues and research strategies off the beaten trek; I was imbued to go back over some of my own steps concerning an Ancestor with an “African” birthplace and whose Mother and Father’s birthplace was Africa as well, on the 1880 U.S. Federal Census for Union, Nevada, Arkansas, USA. When I mentioned her surname, “Gulley” to Mr. Burroughs, there immediately was actual Family kinship who had shared their own inquiry with him prior, which turned out to be about my LYDIA GULLEY.

Seriously?! Out of 28,000 folks in attendance that year, Africans Americans represented less than 200, and I’d make a direct connection with a couple other Family Historians who’d share kinship with me in Mr. Burroughs’ session — the majesty of it all! Among many Distinguished Awards, Mr. Burroughs is also a sought after Professional Genealogist appearing on Television shows such as Oprah’s Roots on PBS with Henry Louis Gates and with Smokey Robinson on Who Do You Think You Are?  Over 35 years in the field of Genealogical research and Family History he’s traced his own lineage back 8 generations. A dedicated Pioneer cultivating Family History advocacy, education and scholarship, aligns himself with the vision of his Institution that:

“Every person of African descent knows their family history.”

A Grand salute to Mr. Tony Burroughs! info: www.tonyburroughs.com

My Crown Day Celebrations were virtually elevated by the gift of BOOKS. I curated a wish list of must have books by Family History Researchers and Leading Genealogists, along with Field Researchers of deep works and interest. I’m so grateful to my Family and Communal kinship who demonstrated a powerful impact upon my 2021 Birthday Celebrations. I remain filled with gratitude for the advancement of my personal Library to further my research and study. I SAY YES!

*To learn more about the works of these Authors, please click on the green links below:

Working the Roots: Over 400 Years of Traditional African American Healing

by Michele Elizabeth Lee

Freedmen of the Frontier Volume 1: Selected Cherokee, Choctaw, & Chickasaw Freedmen Families

by Angela Y. Walton-Raj

Freedmen of the Frontier Volume 2: Selected Creek and Seminole Freedmen Families

by Angela Y. Walton-Raji, Jean L. Cooper

Orishas, Goddesses, and Voodoo Queens: The Divine Feminine in the African Religious Traditions

by Lilith Dorsey

Power of the Psalms

by Anna Riva

Krak Teet: A Catalog of Black Savannah’s Biographies

by Trelani Michelle, Xavier Hutchins

Artifacts of the Old African Lodge

by Stephen M. Baptista, Forward by James R. Morgan III

The Family Tree Toolkit: A Comprehensive Guide to Uncovering Your Ancestry and Researching Genealogy

by Kenyatta D. Berry

Arrival of the First Africans in Virginia (American Heritage)

by Ric Murphy 

Family Tree Workbook: 30+ Step-by-Step Worksheets to Build Your Family History

by Brian Sheffey

*Modupe*
*A’dupe’o Baba Ifayiga & SHE’, Sistar Igbin Ade, Cousin Kay Walton, Cousin Imani, Wesley, Sistar Tossie Long & Fam’ Heather & Mario Brown

// @workingmylines 09 March 2021

#NOLA Flash4ward – Marketplace

New Orleans is a myriad of dynamic movement on the ground, filled with voluminous aural sensory, cosmical crossings and most certainly movement through the people. In July 2015, I was prepping for full immersion into New Orleans Historic Collection “Purchased Lives” Exhibit and the American Slave Trade 1808-1865 as part of my field-research works; The experience was an awe-inspiring ethereal visual display of artifacts, accounts, bills, ledgers and clothing, citing various landmarks throughout the historic French Quarter once fully immersed in a thriving economy, and said to be the site of the largest Slave Market in antebellum America.

“…more than two million people were forcibly moved within the boundaries of the United States and its territories…Owners and traders in the Upper South—Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia and Washington, DC—sold and shipped surplus laborers to the expanding Lower South.” ~civilrightsmuseum.org

Sounds like the history of any of your folks?! I know NOW that it most certainly does of some of mine —  Learn more about my sojourn from a previous blog post :

Purchased Lives: New Orleans *flashback to FALL forward 2016*

photo courtesy @byp100 on Instagram – July 4, 2016

#Maafa commemoration March in conjunction with the #BYP100NOLA taking a moment to stand on the corner of Chartres and St. Louis in the French Quarter which was once the site of one of the largest slave markets. Through the efforts of this same movement, the originally “decor” including slave chains and whips were removed after a direct community led action during Essence Fest.  A plaque on the restaurant that sits on the corner , “The Original Pierre Maspero Restaurant reads:

  “ORIGINAL PIERRE MASPERO’S SLAVE EXCHANGE – EST 1788.                                    Within this historic structure slaves were sold …”

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Curator: Special lens on the Mary Turner Project – #KimpaVita

http://www.maryturner.org

Greetings Good Folks;

Unearthing the untold stories and giving voice to the unsung. I return to participate as a curator for Muisi-kongo’s Kimpa Vita in its second year run. We seek to invoke the healing upon a subject matter that for African Americans stir a harrowing memory of historical racial violence and trauma, as for some Americans its a forgotten song, yet the racial notes don’t disappear. Discovered Family lineages, unveiling story elements and a stellar cast of Bay Area Community leaders serving as “Sermon Messengers” fuel the “Rebirth” of this year’s production.
This post features the marker of one of our highlighted martyrs, Ms. Mary Turner of Barney/Morven, Georgia in Brooks County as the commemorative “Mary Turner Project” spearheads community action initiatives for racial justice and racial healing through driven education, research and preserving free and searchable data of 1860 slave schedules.

I enjoy immensely the deep works of genealogy and how every find matters, giving voice to the story. I encourage you to bear witness to the powerful mediumship of Muisi-Kongo Malonga’s Kimpa Vita, more tenacious than ever, moving towards ascension.

Learn about herstory: Ms. Laura D. Nelson Okemah, Oklahoma – http://bit.ly/13ABY4X

See: PBS Documentary of historical “Banishment” of a people through racial violence, fear and intimidation 1860’s-1920’s http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/banished/film.html

‎Matondo,

R. Califa Calloway, curator

Nzo Califa Dance Works | FB Page

CounterPulse Performing Diaspora 2014

Muisi-Kongo’s Kimpa Vita Nov. 14th-16th

R. Calloway: Project Curator

Creative Visionary,

Performing Diaspora, Counter Pulse, SF, CA