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Eseidu’s descendent Margaret married Craig who died in the Korean War.

They had 3 children:

Loretta, unmarried

Theo, married to Apple who has passed away. Remarried to Ethel.

Germaine had a daughter named Samantha. Samantha was married to Big Chauncey. She died giving birth to Little Chauncey

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People by Shawn Christopher Lovell Nabors on Apple Music

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Listen to the People playlist by Shawn Christopher Lovell Nabors on Apple Music. 46 Songs. Duration: 3 hours, 1 minute.

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The Blackwell's Kinfolk Family Tree highlights two prominent members. Arthur Ashe Jr.'s name is in gold, right. Family genealogist Thelma Short Doswell is highlighted in yellow, left.

When the Library opens its new Treasures Gallery next year, displaying some of the most striking papers and artifacts that span some 4,000 years, one of them will certainly stand out: The Blackwell's Kinfolk Family Tree.

It's a dizzying, almost overwhelming piece of folk art that depicts the genealogical history of an African American family from Virginia. It's 8 feet tall and 6 feet wide, contains more than 1,500 names spread out on curving trunks, branches and leaves and details family connections from 1789 to the 1970s. Its most famous member? Arthur Ashe Jr., the tennis great.

"The first time I saw it, my chin nearly dropped to the floor," says Ahmed Johnson, the reference librarian in the History and Genealogy Section who worked with the family to donate the canvas. "And the fact that it's an African American family that can trace its way back to the first ancestor? Slavery usually made that impossible."

The research, and the strikingly original canvas, comes from decades of work by the late Thelma S. Doswell, a D.C. school teacher and genealogist who wrote several books on the field. She got started early, being entranced by all the people she did not know at a family reunion.

"I met so many people I didn't know," she told a family newsletter in 1982. "I told my mother then that I had to know who these people were."

She dug into files at the U.S. National Archives, state and local courthouses and antebellum census documents that listed names of the enslaved and sending detailed questionnaires to relatives. The genealogical work, as Johnson pointed out, succeeded in undoing what slavery was designed to do: dehumanize the people trapped in its clutches. Her work was admirable by any standard, Johnson said, but considering the historical hurdles faced by Black American families, it was exceptional.

"It's always a hit every time we display it," Johnson said. "People just can't get over it."

Doswell created the tree's folk-art design and artist Wilfred T. Washington put ink to canvas, writing in names by freehand. It was unveiled at the 1959 family reunion.

"I was just a kid then," says JoAnne Blackwell, president of the Blackwell Family Association, in a phone call from her home in New Jersey. "But it made such an impression on me and everyone else. It made me want to go back to the reunion every year."

At the foot of the tree is a heavy black rectangle with "The Blackwell's Kinfolk" written out by hand, in red ink and capital letters. "From 1789" is in gold lettering at the bottom right corner.

A gray rectangle lies directly below that, with an explanatory code in red and black lettering. It spells out the abbreviations used in the tree: "M/B" means marriage bond, "U/M" means unmarried, "N/C" means no children and so on.

The spreading tree above is massive and irregular - it sometimes resembles a meandering river breaking off into multiple streams and creeks rather than orderly tree branches marking the procession of time and generations.

Another striking feature: The tree follows the Blackwells' matrilineal heritage, with women's names as or more prominent than the men's. JENNIE BLACKWELL is the huge name at the base of the trunk, from which everyone else descends, with a smaller notation of "M/B" MIKE below it.

Most names are in small, neat black lettering tucked within the boundaries of a green-bordered leaf. Jeanette. Alvin. Cleotis. Josephine. Cordelia. The name of Ashe, the tennis star, is marked out in gold leaf. Matching gold lettering at the bottom explains: "Tennis Champion - World." (Ashe won five Grand Slam titles, playing singles or doubles.)

"I chose the oak tree for its characteristic strength," Doswell told a Washington Post reporter in 1987 in a feature story about the family tree.

Doswell hardly stopped in 1959. She kept at her research and, aided by enthusiastic family members filling out their own histories, completed two more family trees. Both are larger, more detailed and more straightforward in design. The second version, completed in 1971, has 3,333 names and is at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture in Baltimore.

The third tree, completed in 1991, documents some 5,000 names and is at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture in Richmond.

Ultimately, Doswell was able to trace the family back to west Africa. The names of the first members put on a slave ship bound for the United States: Ama and her daughter, Tab. They were forced upon the Doddington and landed in Yorktown, Virginia, in 1735. There, her research shows, they were bought at an auction by slave owner James Blackwell.

The family's newest historians, Richard Jones and Laura Blackwell Anderson, have digitized more than 6,200 family members onto a genealogical website service, making the history accessible to all family members.

The family is also planning their reunion next summer in Yorktown, so that they can visit the places where the family's story began in North America nearly 300 years ago. It has been, as Doswell's work makes clear, an epic journey.

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An African American Family History Like No Other | Timeless

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When the Library opens its new Treasures Gallery next year, displaying some of the most striking papers and artifacts that span some 4,000 years, one of them will certainly stand out: The Blackwell's Kinfolk Family Tree. It's a dizzying, almost overwhelming piece of folk art that depicts the genealogical history of an African American family from Virginia.

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"It is, at its core, biography. According to Merriam-Webster, the definition is “a usually written history of a person’s life” or “an account of the life of something.” Then, though, there is that key component: myth. Merriam-Webster defines this as “a usually traditional story of ostensibly historical events that serves to unfold part of the world view of a people or explain a practice, belief, or natural phenomenon” or “a popular belief or tradition that has grown up around something or someone; especially; one embodying the ideals and institutions of a society or segment of society” or “an unfounded or false notion.” In biomythography, the distinctions are blurred."

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When you search "Biomythography" on internet search engines, the first result that comes up will say it is a term coined by Audre Lorde to describe her book Zami. There isn't much variance in the subsequent results, either.

Let's pick apart the name in order to debunk this subgenre: biomythography. It is, at its core, biography. According to Merriam-Webster, the definition is "a usually written history of a person's life" or "an account of the life of something." Then, though, there is that key component: myth. Merriam-Webster defines this as "a usually traditional story of ostensibly historical events that serves to unfold part of the world view of a people or explain a practice, belief, or natural phenomenon" or "a popular belief or tradition that has grown up around something or someone; especially; one embodying the ideals and institutions of a society or segment of society" or "an unfounded or false notion." In biomythography, the distinctions are blurred.

It's quite fitting. Zami tells the biography that Lorde knew from her mother as a child; it was truth. The myth comes from discerning whether or not Carriacou really existed, or whether her mother had just mixed up the name. Before she, 26 years later, finds it on a map, Lorde imagines it to be a "magic" place and "came to believe [her] mother's geography was a fantasy or crazy or at least too old-fashioned" (14). The mythology of this place became safety for Lorde, but it also held truth, because even if it didn't physically exist, it existed in her heart and mind.

In her essay "Audre Lorde's Lacquered Layerings," Kate King refers to Zami as a "rewriting," telling both the individual and collective history. This idea is similar to what Faith Adiele writes in her essay "Writing the Black Family Home," that her purpose was to "wield memoir as the corrective" (78). To set the record straight. To cement it in writing. King writes that "layers of meanings, layers of histories, layers of readings and re-readings through webs of power-charged codes mark biomythography" (68). That the job of the biomythography is to unravel and include all of them in order to tell the most rounded story possible.

Although Zami examines Lorde's mother's origin story, the rest of the book engages in conversation with Lorde's black lesbian identity and power structure within lesbian relationships. This is what King explores in her essay. She observes that Lorde's biomythography is "the layerings of instance, of political meanings constrained in particularity, lacquered over so finely that they are inseparable and mutually constructing while distinct" (56). That Lorde writes and then rewrites. To use King's vocabulary, Lorde uses a structure of "ground/foreground, of dominant ideology/heterodoxy" which allows her to construct and reveal the complexity which occurs at "the intersection of race and sex" (57). Tugging at each of these threads will reveal one truth, one perspective, each one a little different. However, all of them together add up to what becomes the biography, give or take the myth. As King says (although she is speaking in regards to the power dynamics of lesbian relationships that persist in our language), "no unitary self resides" (61).

She argues that biomythography is not our truth simply and mundane, but "a writing down of our meanings of identity...with the materials of our lives" (62). We are the culmination of it all, and exploring that, teasing it out, is exciting, isn't it?

Sources:

Adiele, Faith. "Writing the Black Family Home." 78-87. Print.

King, Kate. "Audre Lorde's Lacquered Layerings: The Lesbian Bar as a Site of Literary Production." New Lesbian Criticism: Literary and Cultural Readings. Sally Munt, ed. 1992. 51-74. Web.

Lorde, Audre. Zami: A New Spelling of My Name. Persephone Press, 1982. 3-14. Print.

"Biography." Merriam-Webster Dictionary. 30 March, 2017. Web.

"Myth." Merriam Webster Dictionary. 30 March, 2017. Web.

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Biomythography: Fact and Fiction as Identity

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When you search "Biomythography" on internet search engines, the first result that comes up will say it is a term coined by Audre Lorde to describe her book Zami. There isn't much variance in the subsequent results, either. Let's pick apart the name in order to debunk this subgenre: biomythography.

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Self-Care Strategies for Black Men (including Breath)

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Self-Care Strategies for Black Men (including Breath)

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When Black Lives Really Do Matter: Subverting Medical Racism through African-Diasporic Healing Rituals in Toni Morrison’s Fiction

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When Black Lives Really Do Matter: Subverting Medical Racism through African-Diasporic Healing Rituals in Toni Morrison’s Fiction

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"Pastor cut sacred Iroko : ‘Vengeful tree on killing spree’, Benin community natives flee"

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"Pastor cut sacred Iroko : ‘Vengeful tree on killing spree’, Benin community natives flee"

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https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/03/pastors-cut-sacred-iroko-vengeful-tree-killing-spree-benin-community-natives-flee/

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Brooklyn History- Brass and Metal Casting (Newspaper, 1911)

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Brooklyn History- Brass and Metal Casting (Newspaper, 1911)

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May 20, 1911, page 25 - The Brooklyn Daily Eagle at Brooklyn Public Library

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View the digital scanned newspaper from The Brooklyn Daily Eagle dated May 20, 1911, page 25.

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"People worship the trees and the forests because they believe the spirits of their ancestors live on in them. Trees that are considered sacred are often highly manicured and sculpted, and provide a sheltered place where community gatherings can be held, such as dances, rituals and court sessions. "

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"People worship the trees and the forests because they believe the spirits of their ancestors live on in them. Trees that are considered sacred are often highly manicured and sculpted, and provide a sheltered place where community gatherings can be held, such as dances, rituals and court sessions. "

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The Iroko is probably not a tree everyone will be familiar with. However, given its rich folklore and plethora of potential uses, it can capture the imagination like few others. Following our look at the Cedars of Lebanon, the second in our 'trees in folklore' series explores the Iroko's symbolic significance in African culture, and what makes this immensely strong and durable timber so special.

What is Iroko?

The Iroko tree is a large hardwood tree that grows in the tropics of Africa, particularly on the west coast in countries like Ghana, Guinea, Angola, Benin and Mozambique. While it's also sometimes known as Nigerian or African Teak, the Iroko tree is not in the teak family. In fact, the timber actually compares very favourably to teak, making it an increasingly popular and more affordable alternative.

The strength, durability and rot resistance of Iroko timber give it a number of potential applications, ranging from construction, furniture and joinery to panelling, boat building and flooring. Iroko wood was also chosen for the pews in the Our Lady of Peace Basilica . Iroko can also be used in herbal medicine, with the bark milled down and used to treat coughs and even heart problems, while the latex can clear stomach and throat obstructions.

The tree grows to an average of 50 metres (164 feet) and has a diameter of 75 - 250 cm. But, as well as being a vertiginous tree, the Iroko is also surrounded by a number of tall tales, myths and folklore. In fact, the tree is both feared and revered in various cultures.

Tree worship in Africa

In Africa, people worship the trees and the forests because they believe the spirits of their ancestors live on in them. Trees that are considered sacred are often highly manicured and sculpted, and provide a sheltered place where community gatherings can be held, such as dances, rituals and court sessions. In some religions, sacred trees are also thought to have magical powers to punish, cure and even carry out miracles. Three of the most notable African groups that worship trees are the Yoruba, the Olukomi and the Voodun.

The Yoruba and the God Iroko

The Yoruba people, who originate from south-western Nigeria and the adjoining parts of Benin and Togo, believe that the Iroko tree is inhabited by a spirit called the Iroko-man. Anyone who stands face-to-face with the Iroko-man becomes insane and speedily dies, which is why the tree is so feared. Anyone who tries to cut down the Iroko tree will have terrible misfortune unless they say a prayer afterwards to protect themselves.

Photo sourced from Portal Africanista - art by André Hora

African legends say that Iroko lives at the top of the tree in its canopy, with the limbs reaching so high into the sky that it's considered the throne of God. There are spirits of all kinds that live at the core of the tree and their job is to keep Iroko from descending below the earth's core. It's also claimed that the spirit of the Iroko-man can be heard in houses that use Iroko timber, as his spirit is trapped in the wood.

Iroko and the supernatural

While you might dismiss it as a fanciful tale, there are plenty of stories of people falling on huge misfortune shortly after cutting the Iroko tree down. In the Local Government Area of Edo State in Nigeria, hundreds of natives decided to flee their homes following a number of mysterious deaths. The deaths began shortly after a 500-year-old Iroko tree was cut down, allowing the spirits living in the tree to escape. Until they appease the gods, it is said that those who cut the tree down and their families will continue to suffer.

Order quality Iroko timber

Tough, dense and extremely durable, the Iroko tree may strike fear into the hearts of some religious groups, but here at Thorogood, we can't resist the finish of this ancient hardwood. The Iroko timber is unlikely to split and warp over time and does not require regular treatment with oil or varnish, making it perfectly suited to outdoor applications. Find out more about Iroko timber at Thorogood and get in touch with our team today.

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The Iroko's Indomitable Role in African Culture | Thorogood

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The Iroko tree has symbolic significance in African culture, but why is it feared and revered in equal measure, and what makes its durable timber special?

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Black People Have Always Been Able to Fly

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Black People Have Always Been Able to Fly

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The people could fly, by Virginia Hamilton

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How legacy of medical racism shapes U.S. health care today

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How legacy of medical racism shapes U.S. health care today

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How legacy of medical racism shapes U.S. health care today

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Many physicians know their profession needs to make amends with victims of its historical abuses. Experts weigh in on how this should happen.

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Summary of Panel on Medical Distrust Due to Research Violations in the Black Community

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Summary of Panel on Medical Distrust Due to Research Violations in the Black Community

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Along with being a beautiful person and leading a productive life, Henrietta Lacks is the mother of modern medicine. Her scientific child was born without Henrietta's consent through the clinical breakthroughs and medical miracles achieved with the help of her cervical cells - HeLa cells - stolen without her knowledge when she sought healthcare. Ironically, the same treatments developed from the cells of this Black woman are inaccessible for many Black Americans contemporarily. Though Ms. Lacks passed away from cervical cancer at the premature age of 31, her unique cells have become immortal. Her story lives on as a pertinent reminder of the importance of building trust between medicine and the Black community. In honor of her birthday, expert panelists met to both celebrate Ms. Lacks and discuss the path forward in trust-building, equity, and reckoning with our history to change the narrative of healthcare for Black Americans.

The panel honored Henrietta Lacks through discussion of the path forward for biomedical research and Black communities. The panel was hosted in August in remembrance of Ms. Lacks' birthday on August 1st.

The panel, which took place on Tuesday, August 31, began as a conversation between Nadine Barrett (Ph.D.), Robert A. Winn (M.D.) and Vanessa B. Sheppard (Ph.D.). Among their many other titles and positions, Barrett is Director, Center for Equity in Research, Dukev CTSI and Associate Director of Equity, Community and Stakeholder Strategy, Duke Cancer Institute, Dr. Winn is the Director of the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Massey Cancer Center, and Sheppard is the Associate Director of Community Outreach Engagement and Health Disparities at VCU Massey Cancer Center. The trio were joined by Reuben Warren (D.D.S., M.P.H., Dr. P.H., M.DIV.), Director of Tuskegee University's Bioethics Center, along with a handful of other contributors including Veronica Robinson - Henrietta Lacks' great-granddaughter and a registered nurse who represents the Lacks family on the NIH panel that reviews applications to conduct research using the HeLa genome.

A screenshot of panelists who took part in Tuesday's conversation.

Winn began by referencing the U.S. 1932 public health service study that took place in Tuskegee, Alabama. The experiment exploited Black men in Tuskegee when an effective form of treatment for syphilis was discovered 15 years into the study but withheld from participants "to track the disease's full progression." In 1972, 40 years after the study began, it was the associated press, not the scientific community that finally led to the experiment's demise and the issue of an apology from the U.S. President.

As Warren pointed out, the issue with the study was less about the treatment and more about the dishonesty, the falsifying information, and lies. "Stop calling them poor, stop calling them all sharecroppers," Warren said of the Black men who participated in the study, "They were far more than that." "[The study] was an issue of trust, not an issue of ignorance," he continued. Unfortunately, when talking about this story, Winn said that Black Americans "don't always talk about the power of us standing up and saying not again. "

Bioethics violations have been a continuous part of the biomedical research enterprise in the U.S., and race and racism have been part of scientific inquiry, which continues to be of great concern, Warren said. Often, rather than putting preventative protections in place, bioethics regulations have come as a reaction to extreme violations of justice. Thus, Warren laid out a central theme of the panel that "You build trust by making yourself trustworthy and that takes time." Rather than initiating transactional research with Black communities when the scientific and medical community needs something, Warren offered that they should start when they want to help with something.

Dr. Rueben Warren presenting examples of bioethics violations in the history of biomedical research, with most examples stemming from the United States

As Sheppard said, "[Black people] have earned a mistrust" for medical communities. This is largely hinged on Barrett's argument that the American systems from health to education to criminal justice "are working as they were designed" - to ensure that the very inequalities that exist today came to be. Using the analogy of a marathon, Barrett said while white men in the U.S. started the race 450 years ago, Black men and women only began running this race hundreds of years later. "Those who start the race are going to...ensure that they thrive," Barrett said. This has led to Black people dying disproportionately from often treatable diseases, Sheppard said, continuing to add that these sorts of disparities were front and center for the world to see during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the creation of our structural inequalities, the system created "two bookends: Black and white." But there has to be a narrative that keeps this story alive. "In order to create the change, we have got to do the work to change the narrative," said Barrett.

Nadine Barrett (Ph.D.), Director of Health Equity and Disparities at Duke Cancer Institute

Robinson pointed to the importance of history, paralleling Warren's comments that in focusing on health equities we are fully focusing on the future in a way that ignores the past and does not deal with "what really brought us into health disparities " in the first place. Robinson said that we "can no longer sweep [conversations on the historical injustices of medical racism] under the rug." She continued to say that the reason why Tuesday's conversation and the ongoing dialogue that is sure to follow is so powerful is because "we are no longer victims in our own legacies" by taking over conversations at the table rather than being the topics of discussion at the table.

Mistrust in the Black community for systems of medicine and healthcare are based on hundreds of years of action. Hesitancy - from Covid-19 vaccinations to participation in clinical trials for cancer research - amongst Black Americans "aren't us saying no," said Robinson, "We're saying something happened." Sharon Ribera Sanchez, Founder-Director of Saving Pennies 4 A Cure, is a cancer survivor and advocate for people of color to engage in clinical trials because of the difference they can make in medical developments that draw on more diverse and robust data.

But there is a bigger conversation than just having more Black folks take place in research and clinical trials, Winn said. "How are you going to look at my biology without looking at my history?" he asked, referencing the genetic implications of environmental conditions and stressors from socially constructed race that impact DNA.

An image of HeLa cells

The dialogue, which was opened and closed with a prayer, also spoke to the importance of establishing regular, ongoing, transparent relationships between the Black faith community and the medical community. This should happen, not just in times of crisis, because "mass hysteria is prime for miscommunication," Ralph Hodge, pastor of the Second Baptist Church in South Richmond, Virginia, said.

"Today was a big way of us looking back at the past, looking at where we are at now, and moving forward to the solutions," said Barrett. This comes by letting communities know that we care, said Winn, along with "doing things with our communities, not through them."

A key factor in deconstructing this issue and achieving health equity is time. Time to reflect on the past in order to avoid reliving it; time to generate innovative solutions to the problems at hand; and time to invest in Black communities - to learn from them, support them, and earn their trust not because they can offer science something, but because science has something to offer them.

Post by Cydney Livingston

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Trust-Building, Re-Visited History, and Time Pertinent to Achieve Health Equity for Black Americans - Research Blog

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Along with being a beautiful person and leading a productive life, Henrietta Lacks is the mother of modern medicine. Her scientific child was born without Henrietta's consent through the clinical breakthroughs and medical miracles achieved with the help of her cervical cells - HeLa cells - stolen without her knowledge when she sought healthcare.

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Anxiety disorders are the most common mental health disorder in the United States. Data show that for Black women, anxiety is more chronic and the symptoms more intense than their White counterparts. This description, however, only tells half the story. What it does not tell us is how anxiety is perceived and experienced daily by Black women.

Images of Black Women

To fully understand anxiety and Black women, we must understand how Black women are viewed in this country. Research and history tell us that three basic images exist- the Strong Black Woman, the Angry Black Woman, and the Jezebel/Video Vixen. These images affect how other people see Black women and how they see themselves. They also play a role in the development and maintenance of anxiety.

Strong Black Women are legendary. Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, and every Black grandmother is renowned for her persistence and perseverance. There are many positive aspects about being a Strong Black Woman, but there are negatives as well. A Strong Black Woman "keeps on keeping on "even when she knows she should stop, placing her mental and physical health at risk.

An Angry Black Woman will "cuss" you out before hearing you out. Tyler Perry's Madea is a classic example of the Angry Black Woman. Our work with these women has found that many of them are anxious. The anger is an outward expression of their discomfort with negative affect associated with anxiety.

The Jezebel/Video Vixen represents the sexualized Black woman. The term Jezebel comes from the Biblical Queen who turned her husband against God. Since slavery, Black women have been sexualized in derogatory ways, often represented in rap and hip-hop videos. Black women, particularly professional Black women work hard to dispel the Jezebel/Video Vixen image.

Social Anxiety

In workplaces, college and professional school settings around the country, Black women often find themselves the only one or the first one. In these situations, they have been taught that they have to be twice as good to go half as far, that they are representing the race and that they are being watched more closely than their white counterparts; beliefs that are not necessarily inaccurate. These beliefs coupled with the Strong Black Woman image increase risk for social anxiety.

Another social anxiety risk factor in the workplace and college/graduate/professional school setting is the acting white accusation. As the images attest, far too often we forget that there are more than three (3) ways to be a Black woman in this country. The acting White accusation, has nothing to do with wanting to be White and everything to do with what it means to be Black. In other words, it is an attack on one's racial identity which in turn, can create anxiety.

PTSD

The rate of sexual assault among Black women is 3.5 times higher than that of any other group in this country. Black women are also less likely to report their assault. Many suffer in silence for years, never sharing with anyone what has happened to them. Thus, the trauma remains unnamed, unknown and untreated and the symptoms worsen.

Racism is a form of trauma that disproportionality affects Black women (and men). Trauma in the form of racism can be directly or indirectly experienced. Driving while Black, shopping while Black, and everyday racial micoraggressions are direct examples of racial trauma. The most common indirect examples are the viral videos of unarmed Black women and men being killed. Vicariously witnessing race-based trauma, can be as devastating as the direct form.

Help Seeking

Slowly, the stigma associated with seeking help for anxiety is disappearing. Women have begun to understand that an anxious Black woman is not crazy, she is simply anxious and with assistance can reclaim her life. Black women who seek help want a therapist who understands their issues. Imagine telling you someone you are tired of being a strong Black woman and they recommend you stop working out. It's happened! Therefore, it is important that therapists enhance their cultural competence and be open to culturally adapting anxiety interventions. Cultural competence involves, but is not limited to, familiarity with stereotypical images of Black women, racism as trauma and the acting white accusation. Cultural adaptation can include assessment and discussion of racial trauma and the deconstruction of images of Black women.

Another form of cultural adaptation involves how an intervention is delivered. In our program, we use sister circles, an indigenous form of healing. Within the circles, we adapt CBT for a Black female populations. As example, rather than use cognitive restructuring to replace erroneous thoughts, we teach musical cognitive restructuring. Research has found both the method and content to be feasible and effective.

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Anxiety disorders are the most common mental health disorder in the United States. Data show that for Black women, anxiety is more chronic and the symptoms more intense than their White counterparts. This description, however, only tells half the story.