Comments on: Blog Contest: Why Is It Important For Our Kids To Know Their Roots? (Week 2)

By: David B.

David B. — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 23:54:48 +0000

A tree is only as strong as its roots. A person who is aware of and in tune with their heritage has established a foundation that is sound and healthy. This heritage, like the roots of a tree, makes one strong and comfortable within their own skin.

For many years, my father would share all the history of our family. From our ancestors who were slaves to our European and Native American genealogy, he would regale us with stories about our heritage. The only issue was that I was not in the mindset to absorb this information. However, I am lucky for my father, now retired, is able to provide the time and more importantly has reconnected in his mind with memories that were not previously shared. I now relish the opportunity to hear his stories and if this is not sufficient enough, he has commenced a project to write an autobiographical account of his life.

The fact that my family has connections with so many different ethnic groups allows me to embrace diversity over the entire world. In my life, “six degrees of separation” may be more a connecting theory between two people based on heredity than a social network.

My own children have a more complex story being that their mother is Caucasian of German ancestry. However, they are following in my foot-steps from the perspective that they may listen to discussions on family history but have not yet acquired an appreciation for what it all means. How do you convince teenagers that their history is more important to them as a person than knowing the words to the latest “Top 40 Hit”? Time has a way of opening our eyes. My hope is that as they grow and mature, understanding their origins will become an important endeavor. Knowledge is power and the crucial understanding of ourselves is the core of self-awareness and self-actualization (Abraham Maslow).

By: Dirk McCalop

Dirk McCalop — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 05:52:02 +0000

When hearing the word “roots” being utter, sends out a profound message to an individual,youth in particular, whom may never had thought of his or her family ties beyond the shores of America.
Marcus Garvey said it best about the importance of knowing ones roots, in a metaphorical sense: “A people without knowledge of its past, is like a tree without its roots!” Garvey’s quote speaks volumes because without a sense or understanding of your past (roots) you will fall as an individual but more importantly as a nation. By this, we were stripped from a true sense of identity. This issue of ignorance has continue to plague many of our today’s youth across the African diaspora, and which has led to many more worse problems for many of our fellow brothers and sisters.
Countless institutions, here and abroad, have indoctrinated many of us with this “Willie Lynch” chip (i.e. self-hatred) as a tool to keep us mentally dead. For example, we have been taught that everything affiliated with Africa is deemed as inferior,wicked, heathen, and even how being brought to America in chains was a blessing in disguise. Ask yourself, what is the cure for self-hatred, or noted earlier, “Willie Lynch” chip, the answer is quite simple – having a sense of your ROOTS!
With a nation of youth that are in tuned with their roots really can bring legitimate change that is needed. There will be less violence amongst us because we wouldnt kill those that look like us if we loved ourselves to begin with. The black youth would embrace their physical bodies as a true gift from God, and would reject the lies that white supremacy has taught them, especially our young QUEENS! Our young black sisters, with knowledge of their roots will blossom from young ladies, and will return to their righteous throne as the Goddesses of the Universe. Our young black men will carry themselves as kings, and will become once again the backbone of our community.
Discovering your roots is just another tool to FREEDOM here in America and abroad!

Peace,

Dirk

By: Jasmine Acosta

Jasmine Acosta — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 04:25:17 +0000

When you know your roots, you, in a sense, know your identity. While the identity of your ancestors will not entirely shape your self-image, knowing the identity of those who came before you will connect you to a larger something, a line, a string, a path to your beginnings.
Discovering your family’s past does not mark the end of a journey but marks the beginning of a building venture. As a child, learning about one’s ancestors provides one large stone of the many that will build self-identity. In this world, where many black children continue to feel a lack of self-identity, learning about their ancestors becomes even more important. Knowing that in the distant, often gloomy past, your ancestors survived, grew, married, bore children, lived a life that you became a part of when you were born creates a solid footing on which to stand in an often uncertain time. When you learn about your ancestors, you learn a lot about yourself and your capabilities.

By: Robert Howard

Robert Howard — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 19:16:20 +0000

Children should know their roots because it gives them some facts about their history. It replace a lot of the negatives in the lives of the African American family while preparing them for a rich adventure into their own past. In 2006 I began this adventure to search for missing parts of my history through genealogy and found family members I never knew about living only four city blocks away from my home. I also began to find a greater appreciation for what my people have done in America when they had very little to help them survive. I found that two of my family member had been Tuskegee Airmen which put a bright light in my eyes and hope in my soul. Our children need the eye opening light of hope and we must build them up in every way possible. So they will know that they come from a line of kings and queens.

By: Pat K

Pat K — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 14:53:23 +0000

Two years ago I had my DNA done by African Ancestry at the National Black Arts Festival. At the reveal we learned that my DNA traces back to the Bamileke people of Cameroon. During my childhood I loved social studies but hated that there was very little reference to Africa except for the fact that people were taken from there and sold into slavery. Until now I was never able to tell my children of our true roots. Now they know our family roots trace back to the 1400’s in a well established African kingdom.

By: evan chaney

evan chaney — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 14:23:28 +0000

I feel that if children knew their roots and whence they came then that would make the biggest difference in the world. They would have a new and profound appreciation for life as well a since of self respect and for the elders as well as their own peers. I think if the brothers in the gangs such as crypts and bloods knew their past history and the many struggles of Afrikan people then they would work more so together than against each other!

By: Deanna M.

Deanna M. — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 13:50:15 +0000

I often wonder if children would appreciate themselves more and grow up to have more empathy and open-mindedness if they knew about their own rich cultures and histories. These are aspects that should not be solely taught in school. Whoever is responsible for rearing a child must start to expose the youngster to his or her roots at an impressionable age. We can’t fault an adult who is not interested in the past if it was not a part of the fabric growing up.

By: Tremaine Brown

Tremaine Brown — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 09:26:20 +0000

Children should know about their roots, because it can give them a greater interest in the actual history of our people, as well as those connected to them directly by their roots. Hopefully they will want to make a difference in the lives of those like themselves, after learning of their roots. Not to mention being accepting of other cultures because as we know, many families have multiple races woven within them. With Dna tracing that is available to the children, they also will be able to have a sense of pride in knowing that they have a rich ancestry that goes far beyond that of slavery. Many oral histories about grandparents, cousins and other distant relatives can show a child that their ancestors went through so much during periods like segregation and some may find out they had people who participated in some of histories most memorable events. Its something about the stories of your ancestors, it gives you a sense that you know them a little better. In many ways it makes you feel closer to them, they are no longer just names. They are people who struggled against insurmountable odds, many times to stand up for the principles of equality. Many of them being far from rich, had only little for their families back in those times, but they were able to make the best out of what they had to put food on the table, support their families and raise children in times where our ancestors were at best second rate citizens. Its also interesting to find out that certain traits and talents and resemblances have come through the generations. Maybe a child has a love for building things, and they may have a greater interest in it because they know that they come from a line of people who were mechanically inclined, or whatever the case may be. All in all Our children need hope and we must build them up in every way possible. And that includes helping them to know where they come from so that they may be able to stand on the backs of those that fought so hard, So one day they’ll be able to soar higher than they ever thought possible.

By: Lenore

Lenore — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 06:09:47 +0000

My husband and I feel that in order to know where your going you first you need to know where you came from. Once a month we sit down with our two children (a young man 15 and a young lady 13) and talk about our history (my husband’s and mines). Milton family was taken from African, not sure of what part, and they were sold to a slave owner by the name of Pitt. Milton great and grandfather use to pick cotton, bails of hay and tabacco. They live in a small shack in the back of a huge whitehouse. His grandfather told him that all the slave owners had very large homes. The great and grandmother both worked in the house. One would “take care of them babies”. Great grandmother even after the children were reared up. She would still call them her “Babies”. Grandma had long black hair. He said the slave owner wouldn’t let her cut her hair. He would tell her how much he loved her hair and her skin. They never spoke of any relationship between the two. Great grandma from time to time would help with the house work once the kids were grown. The grandfather was with the Pitt so long that they let him have the huge white house. His grandfather and grandmother had nine children. The Pitt family had so much land that there is a county called Pitt in North Carolina. My husband says that his grandparent would sit them down and talk about the way things were before they were. How there were different resturants for blacks and white. The colors could on drink from water fountains marked colors only. They talk about how they had to go to the back door to be let into the house. This was after slavery was abolished. But great grandma taught her children how to read and write. However, they had to keep it a secret or something bad would happen to the family.

My family is part Black and Native American or Indiana. I don’t know much about my family’s history. It was taboo to talk about it or to ask a question. Native American side I only know a few things. How they would hunt for their food. They were suppose to be one of the fearless tribe of people. There was talk about how “Ruthless” they were. My tribe is Blackfoot.

Once a month we sit around for family time and talk about ourself sometimes. How when we were growing up a dollar was $20 bucks now. We talk about how we actually play out side, the games we played like hopscotch, jacks (I showed them how to play) They won’t play with me any more they say I was cheating. We played Hot peas and butter, we make snowmen and snow angels. The boys played basketball and they girl watched while deciding which guy we like How in the summer in my neigborhood, we would have block parties with local DJs and Rappers. We had the drugs and gangs. But not like today. When gay meant happy and it was so advertised like now. They stated in the closet. But some how we knew. I could go all night but I’m falling to sleep. Thank you for this opportunity.

By: Nicole Jones

Nicole Jones — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 23:11:23 +0000

It is important for our youth to know their roots so that they can TRUELY reconnect to themselves. I work very hard to make it a lifestyle for my 2 homeschooled children to grow up in an “African Centered” educational environment. Living in Oakland, California, where there are over 100 homicides per year, the majority of them unsolved, and being committed on and by our young black youth, I find that this knowledge of self is often one of the only escapes our youth today have from the gang violence and inherited oppression. It is not hard here to feel like a “prisoner” of the neighborhood. There are constant sounds of gunshots, sirens and police helicopters with their accompanying blinding lights.

I make very little money. I am frequently disabled by chronic pancreantitis and liver complications. I make sacrifices for my children to be able stay at home with me. They have become true scholars and we dedicate all of our time to learning our history and culture. It is imperative to me that my children know the greatness of where they came from and therefore are not limited in their thinking. We do not belong to this particular block, we do not belong to these particular streets, or this particular part of town, or any particular gang color. Our people and our culture is much, much BIGGER than these petty things that too many today’s youth are willing to fight and even kill for, and knowing where we are truely from will instill that greater world view and sense of purpose in these children. They in turn, can help their peers in changing the tides of this community, and this country.

This year we have just saved enough money to take an “African Global Presence” online course with Bro. Runoko Rashidi, where mine is the only youth amounst a network of elders. We, as a family, spend countless hours on the internet and in the library guiding the children through history, math, science, and culture lessons so that they may be made well-rounded people and better contributing members of the global community.

I myself have been blessed enough to have been sent (as a recovery gift from a dear friend) to Ghana in 2006, at the age of 26, to watch the festivities of Ghana’s 50th Independence Day celebration. I traveled as a part of the UNIA and kept the company of the Hon. Marcus Garvey’s youngest son, Dr. Julius Garvey. I could not afford to bring my family, or really to eat out, or go on the tours, but I did get a strong sense of the people and I have the story of the journey to give to my future grandchildren. That is my greatest achievement besides the birth of my two little girls.

Children are the most important thing to me in the world, and knowing their history will help them tremendously in boosting their self confidence, and their sense of belonging that so many yearn for. Before I became a “Homeschool Mom”, I taught second grade at Marcus Garvey School in South Central Los Angeles. I dedicated all of my days and nights to this cause, and I still do today. Winning this contest would be the greatest gift I can give my family and the biggest blessing. It is truely the gift that keeps giving. For my children to be able to educate their children on their ancestry, not only would they benefit, but their great-great grand children would benefit as well.