I recently took a break from indexing Freedmen’s Bureau records with fellow volunteer members of the African American Genealogy Group and Afro American Historical and Genealogical Society for an interview by Ronda Racha Penrice for the Urban News Service. The article, entitled “Finding Kunta: Black Entrepreneurs Connect the Dots After Roots” highlights  Gina Paige, Co-founder & CEO of the DNA testing company African Ancestry, and Genealogy Roadshow Host Kenyatta Berry. This is truly an honor to be included with these high profile visionaries, both of whom I’ve had the pleasure of meeting.

The re-boot of the Roots story is overdue, since the younger generations may not have have been exposed to this powerful story that launched Genealogy and Family Research into the limelight back in the 70s. It is true that author Alex Haley’s story wasn’t 100% factual, but few can argue the impact it has had on the desire to learn more about one’s ancestors, and the national consciousness about the tragedy and legacy of slavery in America.

Family Pearl “launched” in March 2012! Pearls are rare, valuable and beautiful.  Finding interesting facts about your family, both ancestors and living relatives, can be like gathering pearls, and this is what we do.  Through census and other records searching, interviews and audio recordings of living relatives, or scanning of your pictures, we build a file that will delight you and your family, and will become a priceless string of pearls that can bring and keep everyone together.

Lots of exciting developments in the works. Stay tuned!