It’s a common misconception that writers create characters or situations that have a direct parallel to their lives or the people they know. It’s not always that straightforward, and many times happens on a deep, unconscious level. For Black History Month, I’ve invited a few
February is coming up soon and that means Black History Month stuff will abound. While it is a bittersweet time of year for us black folks, it does serve as a reminder, even to ourselves, to go beyond the surface of our history in America
In 2004 the Finley-Larkin family had a reunion in Fourth Creek, Alabama. This branch of the family doesn’t have very regular reunions, but this one is generally felt to be among the best because we all went back ‘home’. We still have people who live
I’m in the process of collecting more information for some other OurStory posts. I want to get stories on the Larkin family from a cousin and also do the interviews about my mom. Next week for sure there will be posts about my maternal grandmother
Several months ago I happened to hear author James T. Campbell on a local NPR show talking about his book Middle Passages: African American Journeys to Africa, 1787-2005. Impressed by the interview, I ran out and bought the book. (In hardcover, for $30!) It’s very
NPR and PBS seem to be as tired of clichéd Black History Month tributes as I am. Not only did we have the Percy Julian features last week, but there was also a lot of coverage for the Billy Strayhorn documentary “Lush Life”. Morning Edition,
My maternal grandmother’s grandparents were George Dallas Finley and Julia Larkin Finley. They lived and died in Sumpter County, Alabama, and are the main nexus of the Finley/Larkin clan. The Finleys, Larkins, and Tidmores (my grandfather’s people) were three of the main black families in
NPR’s News and Notes has a great interview with actor Ruben Santiago-Hudson on his role in the Nova documentary Forgotten Genius about the life of Percy Julian. Don’t know who Percy Julian is? Well, you’re not alone. When most folks think of influential black scientists,
My maternal grandomther’s grandfather was a preacher named George Dallas Finley. A few years ago I asked some of my relatives to tell me about him and I ended up with a lot of amazing stories about the whole family. As part of Our Black
Things happen fast on the Internets, kids. In my Black History Month post last week I said that I wanted to make this month useful again by having folks bring up history and people that are ignored or forgotten. Included in that was wanting to