My father left this world on June 24th 2021. He died peacefully in bed in the comfort of his own home with his loved ones after deciding to go on hospice a few months before, when doctors at the hospital informed him his chemotherapy treatments were no longer working. I…

Last week, my father joined the pantheon of ancestors after a decade long battle with cancer in the comfort of his home with family early in the morning. He left behind my mother, the love of his life for 44 years, and four children. As a genealogist, I’m surrounded by…

Just over 200 years ago at the slave markets in Baltimore, Maryland, a 20-year old woman named Rose and her 3-year-old child boarded the ship “The Missouri” bound for New Orleans leaving her home and perhaps family forever. She was bought by Moses Littel, a physician from New Jersey recently…

Growing up, I learned about the institution of slavery in the United States and the fact that I, Rodney Sam, was a direct descendant of African captives sold into slavery and forcibly taken to work on the plantations and farms in the colonies of Englishman and French slaveowners. When I…

On July 19th 1908, The “St. Helena Star” was one of many newspapers informing the world of the death of Thomas “Blind Tom” Wiggins, a famous African American pianist, in Hoboken, New Jersey. At the time of his death, Wiggins was known around the world for his remarkable musical talents…