if the pain of  losing one of our ancestral project students wasn’t already enough, it got even worse when we discovered tonight that yet another was senselessly killed…in front of her son. (photo source: facebook.com)

this july, i’ve been given the esteemed honor of speaking at the midwestern african american genealogy institute.  the event is taking place july 7-9, 2013 at harris stowe university in st. louis, mo.

number 9 for 2013…tyler jamison.  death number 9 in oakland from gun violence in 2013.  crime stoppers is offering yet another $10,000 reward for information, the victim is one of my former students.  :( 

somehow, don’t ask me how, i managed to come across this parody ad and i literally hollered. 

isaac rogers was killed april 21,1897 at a train depot in fort gibson, indian territory. as he stepped off of a train, clarence goldsby shot him once in the body and then three more times in the head.  goldbsy was never found.  what a way to go out when going to pick up your check.

how many times have i heard this? 

as i’m sliding into 2013, i have decided to make myself go back and look at all that i’ve done this year. as crazy as it sounds, i sometimes feel like i’m not doing enough, especially when it comes to the community. then i take a look at posts on this blog, my facebook page, tweets, all that, and realize, i am doing A LOT for one person lol  

i’ve been having some interesting conversations lately with my artistic friends.  in these conversations, i’ve talked about how there’s been a longing in me to do a project on a family.   something raw and real, that’s a deviation from the reality television crazed world we live in.  a unique project where i merge my two worlds – genealogy and photography (what i call geneatography) – into a multimedia documentary project.  one where i could show a family’s successes and adversities, their joys and pains, from both a historical and current context, all in one year’s time.  i’ve made the decision that i want to pursue this project during the year 2013, and perhaps beyond.

during my last series of speaking engagements, i’ve been wearing a t-shirt i designed some months ago.  many people have been asking me where i got it and when i said that i made it myself, the first question they had was “where can i get one?” lol

the 1940 census release has definitely been one of the biggest highlights of the genealogical year.  of course i am no stranger to participating in all the hype since i had some questions of my own that i thought this census would answer.  four months after the release, i still have one question. where in the world were my uncle and many cousins?

since february 2012, i’ve been working with youth at mcclymonds high school and the weekend training academy for the second installment of the ancestral project.  created in february 2011, the ancestral project is the brainchild of alameda county supervisor keith carson (district 5) and aims to teach youth the value of their family history, how to document it, and ways that they can share it with their own family and the community.