Embracing Your Past to Empower Your Future: Four Families Descended from Slaves Reflect on Stories of Strength, Love and Gratitude (Unabridged‪)‬

In Embracing Your Past to Empower Your Future, descendants of four prominent Black families whose ancestors were enslaved tell listeners what life was like for those ancestors, and how their experiences shaped and influenced future generations. Their experiences had a profound impact on each of these families—and the wisdom, traditions, and values that have been passed down from generation to generation. The authors worked with family historians, gathered volumes of historical documents, and worked with historians from Montpelier, Mount Vernon, and Africatown to ensure its accuracy.

· The Allen family’s story is unique because their loved ones, Pollee Allen and his wife Rose were kidnapped from Africa and brought to the U.S. illegally in 1860 on The Clotilda, 53 years after Congress passed The Act Prohibiting the Importation of Slaves in 1807. The Allen story dives deeper into the rich culture of African communal living with the formation of Africatown, founded by Pollee, Rose, and 30 other Clotilda survivors. Vernetta Henson, Pollee and Rose’s great-great granddaughter tells the city of the success and fall of Africatown.

Environmental apartheid and eminent domain land seizures by the city of Mobile to tear down the business center of Africatown to make room for a highway have left the once vibrant city in economic shambles. Through the author's historical research, they found official city documents showing Pollee was not only a founder of the Union Baptist Church in Africatown but also used his own funds and was listed as one of three trustees on the church deed. Pollee’s family members were delighted by that discovery.

· The Madisons can trace back their family tree to President James Madison, Jr and his father. They have kept their loved one’s stories alive through the ancient practice of storytelling. Each generation has a designated family storyteller called a Griot or Griotte. These family storytellers have scoured the libraries in search of historical documents to help expand on the family’s history. One of the family’s enslaved ancestors, Jim, (whose father was James Madison Jr.) was allowed to learn how to read and write, leading to each subsequent generation appreciating and valuing the power of an education. Many became teachers, government officials, businessmen, and doctors in the Madison family. Dr. Bettye Kearse is the family’s Griotte.

· The Quanders is one of America’s oldest and consistently documented Black families. The Quander's have two family trees, the result of two brothers kidnapped in Ghana in the 1600s who were sold to two different enslavers. The first family tree has its roots in Virginia (including Mount Vernon), while the second family tree is rooted in Maryland. The Quander family has a long history of civil rights activists, educators, military, and faith leaders. Retired Judge Rohulamin Quander is the family historian.

· The Brooks family is the only Black family in U.S. history with three generals in their immediate family. They are well known for military service, but their contributions to education and civil rights have also been extensive. The family mandate, beginning with their former enslaved family member, Richard Henry Brooks, continues to be stressed today: “You must be twice as good at whatever you do to get a fair chance."