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It’s common for Black families to not know their historical archives because of centuries of inhumane treatment, from being kidnapped in Africa and sailed into slavery in the U.S. to other inequalities that continue today in the shadows. Due to this immediate adjustment, there weren’t many opportunities to hold onto our history, heirlooms, or property. One thing we did keep is recipes, passed down by practice or word of mouth.
Traditionally, elders and youth observed each other. Then, the scribes and griots kept tradition. Thanks to improved technology and this generation’s efforts to immortalize elders’ stories, African Americans are better at documenting the previous generation’s struggles and triumphs. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to become your family’s archivist.
Know Who You Are
“Before going to the foot of your elders, you first must develop an internal voice,” says Kesau’c N. Hill, a Los Angeles-based healer who teaches people how to develop an inner dialogue by journaling. “Learning Thyself comes with a new sense of purpose and dignity that we are missing across the consciousness of African Americans.”
He said acknowledging Ubiquitous Assimilation all day, from every direction, all the time, allows one to disconnect and go within. One has to physically dissimulate, unplug, and get out—go where nothing but nature exists. The Earth holds bones for thousands of years; they know one’s ancestors.
“Writing is what they call magic, and it has always been that; that’s why when you put alphabets together, it’s called spelling,” he says. “It symbolizes a vibration that is life. That tone is called the word. This is why griots are important, and knowing our sacred languages holds the key, because in the beginning was the word.”
Develop an inner monologue. Communicate with the world around you. Spirits—your ancestors, don’t yell, they whisper. The word journal comes from the word journey. When you journey, writing the experience becomes immortalized. Hill utilizes the art of journaling, poetry and talk therapy as a creative means to address various traumas and connect within.
The last time a person speaks your name is when the soul dies the second time. He put an emphasis on “speak” and not just “remember” because he says you can’t draw from your reality if it’s in your mind.” He references a time when people would recall the names of ancestors just in their names alone. “My name is Kesau’c N. Hill, born to Shar’on Daire’ and Louis Hill.” Some can’t even remember who their great-grandparents are,” Hill says. Embrace the opportunity for self-reflection. Record your story using a tape recorder, voice memo app, video, or written responses. Our individual narratives will be part of Black History, too.
Speak With Your Elders
Preservationist DeMarco Smith credits his grandmother, Eulise Barbara Dillard, with why he was introduced to history at such an early age. He witnessed her scrapbooking everything he wrote and did. She would decorate her walls and kitchen with his work. She even had a built-in library in name order: Jet, Ebony and Essence Magazine. She kept a big cassette of Marvin Gaye and all the Black History.
Smith’s best friend from his youth was Feltus Quartet, 91, who helped build the 110 and 405 freeways in Los Angeles and marched with Martin Luther King. They often hung out at Winchell’s donuts and discussed the elder’s legacy. Smith recalled being a young cat reading the newspaper and watching Sanford and Son and The Jeffersons. “In the Black community, your resources can come from aunts and uncles,” Smith says.
Even in America, Black History starts with oral and our elders passing it down. Before the Civil War, Black People were considered property without last names or legal marriages. Finding someone’s family tree can be hard; people often hit brick walls. The next time you talk to your elders, ask them about their life. Interview everyone at the next family function to weave a quilt of your shared history.
Don’t know what to ask? Ask questions like: Who were they born to? Where were they born? What were their grandparent’s names? What is their message to the youth?“We’re returning back to our Oral History traditions,” says Archivist David Steele Ewing.
Collect Physical Memorabilia
These days, we can rely on stories, family bibles, photos, newspaper obituaries, photos, birth/death, and marriage certificates. When someone passes away, where do their family photos and artifacts go? People worry about life insurance and deeds of the material world but don’t realize that keeping family traditions and the family name is where the true richness sits. Use acid-free binders and photo albums to protect the integrity of the images over time. Put artifacts in glass cases.
Preserving family photos is vital to your heritage; we don’t want to lose them. They hold the spirit of our shared stories and cultural legacies. Losing these visual treasures can feel like a piece of our identity is fading. Add pictures of your transitioned loved ones to your altar to honor those who aren’t living.
Visit A Place With Archives
Smith’s process started with using the public library’s resources, including free Wi-Fi and computers. He treats archiving like a puzzle piece. He says he can only get the puzzle pieces from the journalists who wrote the story, like Slauson Girl, Miriam Matthew, Mayme Clayton, Charlotta Bass, and Leon Washington. “The newspapers are the proof that it happened,” Smith says.
You can be an archivist by telling your story and preserving it by learning from elders, journalists, librarians, archivists, and others who have done this work. Ewing said Alex Haley, the author of “Roots,” traveled to courthouses and experienced hostility for asking about deeds and records while preserving the story of his ancestor, Kunta Kinte. Today, you have a little more liberty.
Create A Digital Database
Preserving digital information, including historical content and digital data, and scanning pictures is a crucial step in safeguarding against losses caused by moving, disasters, or even theft by your cousin during a family reunion. Landmarks can also become personal identity and community memory. The psychological impact of losing landmarks on individuals and communities is catastrophic. It’s important to understand one’s roots and preserve its cultural heritage, as well as the potential consequences of not doing so.
“What is the psychological impact of paths that can be erased? When it’s no longer there after being in movies and TV shows, replace it with something with no character, stripping us from our sense of home,” Smith says. When he started, he had to dig, and it was not easily accessible, meaning platforms and known websites weren’t even aware.
Have Physical Copies Of The Digital Database
Smith says archiving is valuable because of our culture. Materials like music, digital tapes, and songs can be lost if they are not part of an official archive. “If anybody presses a button and it is deleted, the only way to access it is gone forever,” says Smith. So he started moving the archive from Twitter and Instagram to text and wrote his first book, “South Central is Mecca.” “I didn’t come up for air at all; it was a sign from the higher power to do his work,” he says.
The curriculum is designed to dive into the history and archives of the great migration; transportation; employment; housing laws; business; Black Panthers and Crips; Cointelpro sabotage, finding weak links to be double agents and informants to bamboozle the people; and the movement to create detachment and destruction.
About the Author: Nabou Ramu, born Seynabou Clark, is an afrocentric journalist who covers all things art, culture, and business. The griot’s word is an album for archiving and preserving time and memory within those beats. She is jazz to classical, documentaries to cinema, a ratio of soulful truth and naturally practiced. When she’s not writing, she is playing her saxophone, La Sirene, or painting.