We made it! We started in New Orleans and ended up in Boston. Woo hoo!
Road Scholar has partnered with us on several events and so we were glad to be on their turf this time and to get to associate faces with emails. Kathy Taylor, Associate Vice President of Road Scholar, is a driving force behind engaging programming that reflects the African American experience.
Kathy introduces the Road Tour
The Boston group was unique in comparison to the rest of the Tour. We had a roomful of Lifelong Learners who were able to engage in a discussion from a more experienced point of view
The second to the last stop on the Road Tour was amazing! We were hosted by Joann Price and the Seniors Ministry of Union Baptist Church in Hartford, CT. The church was such a beautiful backdrop for sharing and learning about history from the seniors of the community.
Union Baptist Church
We revealed the ancestries of 10 members of the group and their results were met with much enthusiasm and excitement!
Excited Reveal!
Very Happy!
Now I have to tell you, I absolutely love JoAnn. She is a longtime supporter of African Ancestry. So I could not figure out WHY it was taking her so long to do her own test…until I got to the church. She has such a generous spirit that she kept giving hers away to one of the seniors! So, with their help, we got her to FINALLY do her test. I hope that she is my Fulani cousin!
JoAnn Takes the Test!
It wouldn’t be a church Seniors event without lunch. Woo-hoo!
Not everyone was a Senior…
Not Just for Seniors
We enjoyed meeting all of the families that joined us too. Ramona and John O’Neal have been following us online and we finally got to meet them in person!
The O'Neal Family
One more stop to go. Boston, we are on our way!
Victoria Reflects
Click here for more photos or video from Hartford.
I hate to play favorites, but…I can honestly say that Ardenia Brown was by far our most enthusiastic host! Ardenia came to us through a mutual friend and was immediately like family. She has an extensive promotions background and so she was like a one woman African Ancestry PR machine!
Gina and Ardenia
As a proprietor of Butternut Market, Ardenia is part of a group of local entrepreneurs who are changing the way that Bedford-Stuyvesant views itself as a neighborhood. She organized her colleagues at Therapy Wine Bar and House of Art Gallery Brooklyn to bring the We Are Africa Road Tour to Brooklyn.
House of Art Gallery
Butternut Market Tasting
Butternut Market’s tasting also attracted a number of people from the neighborhood to the presentation, which was standing room only. The reveals were quite moving and the good times continued in the gallery and at Therapy Wine Bar. Bed-Stuy has roots from all over!
Angela Terry - Native American Roots!
Richard Beavers - Angolan Roots!
Alexia Billiart - Ghanaian Roots!
Ardenia Brown - Guinea Bissau Roots!
We had a great time in Brooklyn meeting the neighborhood’s architects, artists, young people, genealogists, and entrepreneurs. We were encouraged by the engagement of the youth and the number of families that came out to learn about finding their roots. Thank you Brooklyn!
Imagine an African-centered high school with a 100% graduation rate, a 100% college acceptance rate, and a 100% scholarship receipt rate. It exists. In Philadelphia. Imhotep Institute Charter High School is led by Mama Christine Wiggins and was the location for the Philadelphia stop on the We Are Africa Road Tour.
Philadelphia was a special stop for many reasons. First, my family is from there. So we had four generations of the Paige family celebrating our Nigerian roots.
Second, we revealed the ancestries of Former Mayor Wilson Goode, the first African American mayor of Philadelphia and Stanley Straughter, Chairman of the Mayor’s Commission on African and Caribbean Immigrant Affairs. Mr. Straughter is a devout Pan-Africanist and so it took some arm-twisting to get him to find his maternal roots. I promised to let what is revealed at Imhotep, stay at Imhotep! Mayor Goode was kind enough to join us during his 50th wedding anniversary weeklong celebration. And, for good reason. We revealed that his maternal roots are in Guinea-Bissau and his paternal roots are Yoruba, from Nigeria!
Gina and Stan Straughter
Mayor Goode
Plus, we had some serious African Ancestry family members in the house! One of our elders walked through the door ready to share her story. As she tells it, when she opened her results envelope, she was so happy that she “went beserk”.
Telling Her Story
Muhammad Aliyu doesn’t leave home without his African Ancestry Certificate of Ancestry! How’s that for showing your pride?
Wallet Size!
Click here for more photos from the Philadelphia scrapbook! Do You Know?
Heya my business is for your most important time period listed here. I ran across this kind of aboard i find It truly handy & it taught me to be out...
No Comments »
