Enslavement - BitterSweet

Which Enslaver Stories Should Be Told: sharing truths while minimizing harm

Foundational to Coming To The Table is the belief in the healing power of story-telling, including the sharing of stories that are difficult and have been obscured from our histories.…

BitterSweet EditorsNovember 5, 2023

Research & Finding Documents

Visualizing Our Histories, Our Stories: Pat Lowther Uses Oral History to Guide Her Research & Collage Creation

"I wish she could have looked down through the years and generations to see the family that exists today because of her." This an additional post in our series that…

Patricia LowtherOctober 8, 2023

Healing, Repair & Action

How one researcher used a Civil War pension application to uncover family history

We are happy to bring you the story of Jesse Lee, a veteran of the 1st Virginia Cavalry and the 2nd great-grandfather of LeRoy G. Potts. LeRoy wrote about his…

BitterSweet EditorsJuly 21, 2023

Slavery & Its Legacies

Why I Don’t Use the n-word

Marion Tango read this powerful original poem at the 2023 Coming to the Table National Gathering. Watch and listen here to Marion Why I Don’t Use the n-word It’s…

BitterSweet EditorsJune 21, 2023

History, Culture, People, Places & Events

Toward the truth of the 1898 Wilmington, N.C. Massacre and Coup d’etat

-- By Lucy McCauley I learned only a few years ago, while watching a documentary, that my great-grandfather, William Berry McKoy, played a significant part in the violence of the…

Lucy McCauleyApril 16, 2023

Healing, Repair & Action

Healing Histories: Can Enslaver Descendants Tell Their Ancestral Stories Without Causing Further Harm?

— By Leslie Stainton Not long ago, a colleague suggested I stop writing about my enslaving ancestors because, as he put it, “no one wants to hear the story of…

Leslie StaintonMarch 9, 2023

Linked Descendants

Approach Me As You Would A Crime Scene

-- 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

Healing, Repair & Action

You Owe Me What was Always Mine

"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

History, Culture, People, Places & Events Linked Descendants Research & Finding Documents

Part I: Facing Slavery and Finding Amanda

This post is the first of three pieces on 1) how I discovered slavery in my heritage, specifically focusing on a woman named Amanda owned by my ancestor Thomas Jackson…

E. Ann NeelJanuary 28, 2014