OUR BLACK ANCESTRY

House of Representatives Apologizes for Slavery & Jim Crow

The House of Representatives passed a resolution apologizing to African-Americans for slavery and the era of Jim Crow. The nonbinding resolution was introduced by Rep. Steve Cohen, a white lawmaker who represents a majority black district in Memphis, Tennessee. While many states have apologized for slavery, it is the first time a branch of the federal government has done so. In passing the resolution, the House acknowledged the "injustice, cruelty, brutality and inhumanity of slavery and Jim Crow."

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/07/29/national/main4305876.shtml

AMA Apologizes to Black Doctors

The country's largest medical association issued a formal apology for its historic antipathy toward African-American doctors, expressing regret for a litany of transgressions, including barring black physicians from its ranks for decades and remaining silent during battles on legislation to end racial discrimination. The National Medical Association (NMA) accepted the apology.

http://www.nmanet.org/images/uploads/Documents/NMA_Accepts_AMA_Apology.pdf

Toni Morrison Dedicates "Bench by the Road"
 

Toni Morrison has said that her acclaimed novel “Beloved,” which features the ghost of a baby killed by her enslaved black mother, came out of the need for a literature to commemorate slaves and their history. “There is no suitable memorial, or plaque, or wreath or wall, or park or skyscraper lobby...There’s no 300-foot tower, there’s no small bench by the road” for those who survived the Middle Passage and those who didn’t. There is now a bench by the road on Sullivan's Island, SC.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/28/arts/design/28benc.html

What To Do With Historic Fort Monroe in VA?

Fort Monroe, a Union oasis where fugitive slaves flocked during the Civil War, will return to Virginia’s control in 2011 when the Army pulls out, and historians are trying to protect the future of the so-called Freedom Fortress. Many slave descendants trace the arrival of slavery in the United States in 1619 to Old Point Comfort, the hatchet-shaped peninsula where Fort Monroe sits, and where slavery would be ushered into its final stages nearly 250 years later.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/06/us/06fort.html?ref=us

Bob Marley Genealogy

Acclaimed reggae musician Bob Marley can be found listed in Ancestry's online Florida death index - see: Online Florida Death Records Indexes and Obituaries. I've always found it a bit intriguing that a reggae legend, who lived most of his life in Jamaica and England, would be listed in an American genealogy database. Shortly before his death Bob Marley received treatment for cancer in Munich, but he wanted to live his final days in Jamaica. His flight home stopped in Miami where he received medical treatment. He died 40 hours after leaving Germany in Miami's Cedars of Lebanon Hospital.

http://genrootsblog.blogspot.com/2006/09/bob-marley-in-florida-death-index-and.html