amakin04
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- Posted: Wed, 29 Feb 2012 01:20:11 +0000
3nodding Hai!!!!
I don't usually pay attention to the roll of time, whether its a few minutes to a few hours to a year (unless I'm waiting for something special). But since accomplishing so much on my own in such a short time (finding my own place, keeping a stable job, going back to school, finding a better job, planning a trip and learning how to cook, sew, budget and getting everything put into my own name!!! And all in a round of four to five months!!!) I felt so good that I had to wonder, if somewhere along the line, did any of my family members had to struggle as much as I did to get to where they wanted to be. I would've asked my mother and granny, but, heh, we're no longer on speaking terms, (hense, why I had to move >.> wink So then, I would join these websites that poked a little into my family history as well as poked my head into those old boxes my great grannie kept under her bed.
I learned alot about my family, like for one, majority of my family were women. Women were very abundent in my family's genes for some reason, a son wasn't too rare but often outnumbered except for two generations that the men outnumbered the women by a few. Another thing I learned was not all my ancestors where black. Now granted, I knew there would be a few Irish men here and there and a good portion of German since my mother's father is a mix of Irish and German. But I had no idea there were so many on just his side and he even had a few black relatives himself, though they were very distant cousins (can't imagine why...=sarcasm=) I found torn pages from diaries and lists of people my ancestors knew, I couldn't read much of their righting because of damage to the pages, but I did smile alot of the time of what I read.
Even in bad situations, they seemed to pull through and hang on to whatever they had left. Then it made me think, through slavery, running from one country a city and another town to get to their promised land, they never complained, whined or even took a break, and I have racked on a number of days just because I was tired!!! I know I have alot of dreams to live but not alot of time to do it, they thought the same way I bet, and eventually, they got to their dreams, others died before they could see it through. There were pictures that looked like fifth graders drew them in ink with houses and trees and cows and a farm like I used to live on when I was younger. I could only imagine what they must've wanted: a nice home, a sweet family, and place to belong and to be free forever.
Its this month that makes me happy of what I have now, how many rights I do have and can use to my advantage, and reminds me of how much others had to sacrifice so that I could work, and complain and be a spoiled brat by some standards. >.> Either way, just looking back on my family's history has inspired me so much and studying more of the country they came from, was even better. I got into a group where they teach you how to live off the land like most villagers in Africa do and lets you experience what they do and go through during a daily basis.
We're supposed to be cooking sooner or later and we've already were given an assignment to find authentic African owned busnisses within the city. There's one I found that sold statues and handmade fabrics for clothing. When I walked in, the first thing that caught my eye was the old women in the back making these fabric. So I snuck in and watched them for a good few minutes before they realized I was there and the only one who spoke English was telling me about different stories of how these fabrics came to be in their family and what each of them meant.
One tried to translate it was lovely to see that there are young people who come in just to learn more about the shop and the people in it. I bought some fabric from them too, its like cotton but with a softer sort of feel to it. I want to make it into a dress, if I can find directions. I hope that Black History Month always inspires me like it did this year, because we all need that reminder of how far African Americans have come so that it can inspire us on going further in the future. Who knows, there maybe more black politicains, astronauts, scientists and mathemiticans in the future!!! OwO
I don't usually pay attention to the roll of time, whether its a few minutes to a few hours to a year (unless I'm waiting for something special). But since accomplishing so much on my own in such a short time (finding my own place, keeping a stable job, going back to school, finding a better job, planning a trip and learning how to cook, sew, budget and getting everything put into my own name!!! And all in a round of four to five months!!!) I felt so good that I had to wonder, if somewhere along the line, did any of my family members had to struggle as much as I did to get to where they wanted to be. I would've asked my mother and granny, but, heh, we're no longer on speaking terms, (hense, why I had to move >.> wink So then, I would join these websites that poked a little into my family history as well as poked my head into those old boxes my great grannie kept under her bed.
I learned alot about my family, like for one, majority of my family were women. Women were very abundent in my family's genes for some reason, a son wasn't too rare but often outnumbered except for two generations that the men outnumbered the women by a few. Another thing I learned was not all my ancestors where black. Now granted, I knew there would be a few Irish men here and there and a good portion of German since my mother's father is a mix of Irish and German. But I had no idea there were so many on just his side and he even had a few black relatives himself, though they were very distant cousins (can't imagine why...=sarcasm=) I found torn pages from diaries and lists of people my ancestors knew, I couldn't read much of their righting because of damage to the pages, but I did smile alot of the time of what I read.
Even in bad situations, they seemed to pull through and hang on to whatever they had left. Then it made me think, through slavery, running from one country a city and another town to get to their promised land, they never complained, whined or even took a break, and I have racked on a number of days just because I was tired!!! I know I have alot of dreams to live but not alot of time to do it, they thought the same way I bet, and eventually, they got to their dreams, others died before they could see it through. There were pictures that looked like fifth graders drew them in ink with houses and trees and cows and a farm like I used to live on when I was younger. I could only imagine what they must've wanted: a nice home, a sweet family, and place to belong and to be free forever.
Its this month that makes me happy of what I have now, how many rights I do have and can use to my advantage, and reminds me of how much others had to sacrifice so that I could work, and complain and be a spoiled brat by some standards. >.> Either way, just looking back on my family's history has inspired me so much and studying more of the country they came from, was even better. I got into a group where they teach you how to live off the land like most villagers in Africa do and lets you experience what they do and go through during a daily basis.
We're supposed to be cooking sooner or later and we've already were given an assignment to find authentic African owned busnisses within the city. There's one I found that sold statues and handmade fabrics for clothing. When I walked in, the first thing that caught my eye was the old women in the back making these fabric. So I snuck in and watched them for a good few minutes before they realized I was there and the only one who spoke English was telling me about different stories of how these fabrics came to be in their family and what each of them meant.
One tried to translate it was lovely to see that there are young people who come in just to learn more about the shop and the people in it. I bought some fabric from them too, its like cotton but with a softer sort of feel to it. I want to make it into a dress, if I can find directions. I hope that Black History Month always inspires me like it did this year, because we all need that reminder of how far African Americans have come so that it can inspire us on going further in the future. Who knows, there maybe more black politicains, astronauts, scientists and mathemiticans in the future!!! OwO
