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In Support of African American Family History Research: 27 Actions White Descendants of Enslaver Families Can Take

Developed for the Linked Descendants meeting, May 2022 African American family history and genealogy researchers often find their work made more difficult or blocked altogether by the legacies of slavery…

BitterSweet EditorsMay 27, 2022

Healing, Repair & Action

Repossessions

Repossessions is a group exhibition inspired by the concept of reparations: the effort to repair the economic and psychological devastation caused by slavery for descendants of enslaved African Americans. It…

BitterSweet EditorsApril 23, 2025

Research & Finding Documents

Protecting our Precious History

Breaking news, March 28: “Trump Calls the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History ‘Divisive, Race-centered, Corrosive'” and issued an executive order to “redefine the narratives presented by the Smithsonian”…

Prinny AndersonApril 1, 2025

History, Culture, People, Places & Events

Unearthing the White Supremacist in the Basement

TW: Violent imagery Originally published by Deceleration, a nonprofit online journal of environmental justice. Sign up for the Deceleration In Depth newsletter. Franklin Oliver Adams and wife Susan Drake Adams, my great grandparents…

Annie HartnettJanuary 24, 2025

Healing, Repair & Action

Reclaiming a Plantation

Plantation. No matter the location, the word added to any conversation has weight, and with good reason. Plantations were known to be death camps for thousands of Africans, ripped from…

CourtneyOmega DossNovember 21, 2024

Healing, Repair & Action

“We Would Love to Home Your Basket”

Beginning in the 1930s, my grandmother collected scores and scores of Native American artifacts: baskets and pots, cradleboards and garments, flutes and blankets. My cousins and I inherited these upon…

Sarah FlemingOctober 29, 2024

Linked Descendants

Linked by Blood or Circumstance

A few days before the spring semester was set to begin, I received a telegram-style email from Clarence White: “I love your writings and I think I fit in with…

Emily R RutterOctober 15, 2024

Healing, Repair & Action Linked Descendants

Shared Stories: Coming Together, Staying Together

Have you wondered what it would be like to discover a shared historical or genetic connection with another person defined by slavery? Or, while researching your ancestry, discover a link…

BitterSweet EditorsSeptember 30, 2024

Healing, Repair & Action Linked Descendants

New Book: The Reparations Project

Fellow BitterSweet participant Sarah Eisner has just published a book, The Reparations Project, with her Reparations Project partner and co-founder, Randy Quarterman. The book is written in alternating chapters by Randy…

BitterSweet EditorsSeptember 26, 2024

Sharing personal stories about our past & present connections to slavery & racism in this country.

Facing hard truths with honesty & compassion, so healing may begin.

Studying the role of enslavement in the evolution of the United States & its enduring legacy.

In Support of African American Family History Research: 27 Actions White Descendants of Enslaver Families Can Take

Repossessions

Protecting our Precious History

Unearthing the White Supremacist in the Basement

Reclaiming a Plantation

“We Would Love to Home Your Basket”

Linked by Blood or Circumstance

Shared Stories: Coming Together, Staying Together

New Book: The Reparations Project

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RESEARCH & FINDING DOCUMENTS

HEALING, REPAIR & ACTION

HISTORY, CULTURE, PEOPLE, PLACES, EVENTS

SLAVERY & ITS LEGACIES

LINKED DESCENDANTS