“Back down memory lane…”  I sang this song to Kea for two days in Raleigh/Durham, NC.

Kea is a proud graduate of University of North Carolina. So as soon as we crossed the state lines she began reminiscing about her college experience in Chapel Hill. We even found her favorite spot, Pantana Bob’s, and had wings for old times sake.

Our event at the African American Cultural Complex was a good time. We learned more than we taught once we got a tour from Dr. and Mrs. Palmer who have dedicated their lives to the documentation of our history.

And we have to shout out our first African Ancestry groupies! They missed us in Charlotte and high-tailed it to Raleigh to join the Road Tour. Now that’s love

Click here for a scrapbook of our Raleigh experience!

I don’t know how people do it. It has been so hard to blog while on the Road!  We get into our hotels very late and T-mobile wireless reception has been very spotty. We’re driving through the Chattahoochee National Forest now heading from Knoxville to Charlotte. We broke up the trip from Charlotte.  Seven hours was a bit much at midnight! When we got to Knoxville, we pulled up into the Ramada Limited. Thanks to Hotwire.com, we got a great rate for a truck stop hotel! The adventures continue…

On Monday we stopped through Jackson, Mississippi and I am certain that Africa is certainly embraced, exemplified and realized by the community. We could not have asked for better hosts for the event: The Afrika Book Café! Created by native Mississippians Rico and Chantae Chapman, I was inspired walking into a café that was filled with traditional African fashion, jewelry and accessories and overflowing with books that highlight different dimensions of the Black experience. It is indeed a space that invites people to engage in a dialogue about Africa and what Africa means to them.

Like New Orleans, we had an African Ancestry presentation. And even though we didn’t have any reveals, the highlight of the event was just simply mixing and mingling with old and new African Ancestry family members with great food and smooth beats provided by Jackson’s finest, DJ Phingaprint.

More pictures and video highlighting the Jackson event are on their way!

But for now, we’re on the road to NASHVILLE!

Also look out for highlights from yesterday’s event in Huntsville, AL! Finally, as a member of the Road Crew, I just want to let you guys know that all of your support since the beginning of the tour has been and continues to be a priceless gift cherished by all four of us as we travel from city to city.

This week I received an email with a link to an excellent article. It is written by a Kenyan writer and director of the Chinua Achebe Center for African Literature and Languages at Bard College, Binyavanga Wainaina. His satirical look at how not to write about Africa underscores part of the mission of African Ancestry: to transform the way that people view Africa. Those of you who prefer to read the article can click here.

How do you think about Africa? Take some time today to view it through a different lens!

Today a friend showed me a picture of his adorable 1 year-old daughter dressed up as a princess. The picture was taken at a birthday party where the boys (3 – 6 year olds) were superheroes and the girls were princesses. I immediately “attacked” him questioning why the girls couldn’t be superheroes. Why, I asked, did they have to be princesses? (I had just finished reading The Warrior Method by Dr. Raymond Winbush.) My concern was that the boys were being conditioned to view their sisters as stereotypes. Of course  my friend  thinks that I was blowing it out of proportion.

Well, for the record, I have no problem with our girls being princesses. Princesses come from Queens. And, most importantly, Princesses become Queens!

Queen Nzingha of Angola defeated the Portuguese repeatedly when they refused to respect the country’s peace treaty. She was smart, strategic, charming, beautiful, strong, and well-respected.

Queen Amina of Nigeria was famous for her bravery and military exploits and was successful in conquering cities to extend the state of Zazzau. She was also an architect known for creating strong mud walls to protect her military conquests.

Queen Yaa Asantewa of Ghana was an Ashanti leader. She led the rebellion against British colonialism known as the War of the Golden Stool. When the Asante government couldn’t agree on how to rescue their king from exile by the Europeans, Queen Yaa Asantewa is quoted as saying “…if you, the men of Asante, will not go forward, then we will. We, the women, will. I shall call upon my fellow women. We will fight the white men. We will fight till the last of us falls in the battlefields.”

I encourage you to spend some time learning about our superSHEroes and share the knowledge with the superheroes and princesses in your life!

I’m happy to have the opportunity to share another perspective of the African Ancestry Experience with you. I hope that this new blog will serve as a way to give you a behind-the-scenes look at how we think and what we do at African Ancestry. You can come here for information about the events we participate in, testimonials from African Ancestry family members in real-time, news announcements, information from our partners, to meet the people who keep this engine running, and even to hear from Dr. Kittles about technological advances in genetics.

I have lived and breathed this African Ancestry Experience every day for the past six years. I look forward to sharing more of it with more of you through this blog. Thanks for checking in and please come back and visit from time to time!