Inconsistent times, thoughts, events, people, places and things. One thing known for sure is we are not in control of what's going on. I think of those things now and wonder how our ancestors accepted those things. Word of mouth may have been the source of what they learned on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. Today, we are flooded with news on a minute by minute basis. My second great grandfather knew most white land owners would not sell their land to him, a black man even if they needed the money. He and a white "boss" that became a friend avoided conflict. How? The friend purchased the land for him and later turned it over to Henry Carroll/Cal in northeast Alabama. They accomplished this by working together around the system. Henry ended up with one thousand plus acres of land that is now known as the Cal Bottom. I'm sure people that work together are still doing things to work around systems that are not working for all of us.
Branches of my family gained by working with those of other races. How could at least two relatives own land when they were enslaved by their owner, Colonel Benjamin Sherrod in northwest Alabama? The laws didn't allowed enslaved people the right to own land, yet they came out of the enslaved period owning land and passing it on to their family after death. So surely, what we hear or see about this turbulent period today didn't fit everyone. Bottom line is while there is a great deal of negatively coming forward, people regardless of race helped each other move forward. Not everyone was a part of this move forward, yet there were enough people that quietly did their part to help each other. No coverage was given in the news in the form of a sound bit. It happened and we cannot let anyone else tap into the insecurities we have within.
There are obstacles that each of us face and at times brings out our doubts about each other based on race. We must keep our eyes open for those that are genuine interested in each other based on common ground. During my twenty plus years of genealogy research, I've connected with some real people that helped me based on our interest. Those people that taught me how to move forward or encouraged me along the road are priceless. Let's not let these negative forces impact our purpose.
