Edith Renfrow Smith’s 110 years of living reflects gratitude and determination. Her humble character is revealed through her joyous voice and her positive example of living. Edith Smith at 107…
Antoinette BroussardAugust 20, 2024
Editor Update, August 2023: The original title for this post was "Uncovering New Bern's Bloodless Coup of 1898" -- and the word "bloodless" has now been removed, after careful consideration…
Lee GuionJune 30, 2023
-- By Beverly Bevel This essay explores the difficulties encountered when descendants of slavery broach the elephant in the room. "My ancestors owned your ancestors." I don’t believe there is…
Beverly BevelFebruary 2, 2023
-- By Frances V. Moulder “I took this photo in 1918, when I was about your age,” my mother said to me when I was eight years old. She showed…
Frances MoulderAugust 4, 2021
"You owe me what was always mine" is the title of Briayna Cuffie's latest blog post on reparations4slavery.com. She is speaking to enslavers whose family records, letters, journals, photos, plantation…
BitterSweet EditorsFebruary 15, 2021
Maria S. Montgomery & Allison Thomas Maria Montgomery found me on Ancestry.com in 2016. Our family trees overlap because my ancestors enslaved hers. We are “linked descendants”—cousins regardless of whether…
Allison ThomasJanuary 19, 2021
Sharon Leslie Morgan moved to Noxubee County, Mississippi to research her ancestors’ history. Morgan’s great-great-grandmother, Betty Warfe Gavin, was enslaved there, and gave birth to 17 children. The father of…
Sharon Leslie MorganJanuary 4, 2021
-- By Trina Michelle Robinson I’ve always been fascinated by migration stories. Hearing the details about why a person left the place of their birth to settle somewhere new always…
BitterSweet EditorsDecember 22, 2020
Violet Craig Turner (1828-1906) When I was a child, Uncle George's stories and the serious inflection in his voice always commanded my attention. He frequently told me about…
Antoinette BroussardOctober 23, 2020