1619: Searching for Answers

what are you pray to the God that let it happen well the God to let me return [Music] so this beautiful piece was made for me when I went to Cameroon so this is going back and I'm gonna wear it in one of those special moments and that will connect me with the mother man my name is Wanda Tucker I am a descendant of William Tucker a number of years ago we became keenly aware of our family's history and the larger landscape of America's history and embracing the narrative that we are descendants of isabel and anthony and william and who took on the surname Tucker who arrived in 1619 in August of 1619 we're getting ready to embark on an amazing journey going to Angola to the region of my ancestors of Isabel and Antony not sure what I'm going to feel but what I'm feeling now along with the excitement is the wonder to bridge the gap between 1619 and here we are in 2019 almost 400 years and we can't close all of the gaps but slowly but surely closing the gap between what happened then and connecting the journey to who we are now as a people as a family that 400 year connection it's my family's story but it's also the story of millions of Americans African Americans here [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] the oral history in our family has been significant we embrace it and and until they or other scientists and other researchers and historians can can prove that we are not the descendant then that is something to be proud of and to hold on to until such a time happens and so whether it's true or not until they prove otherwise I'm going to embrace that narrative but I am here because someone else was here and someone else survived that is evidence [Music] it was just anticipating what happens when I land and what's going to happen to me emotionally once that door opens and I began to take the steps off the plane I'm here stepping on this soil that has history that's meaning chosen by my ancestors to be here and yet that alone feeling away from family and I'm here where family began I hope that at some point my ancestors can speak to me in a way that reminds me of their strength well their courage so y'all want to keep hugging me so that I don't have to keep going through that right [Music] [Music] when Isabella and Anthony were enslaves here in Rwanda they were Christians and then they were baptized before they were put on the ship Nicole occasionally what was the purpose of being baptized if they were already christened in fleas meant Mustafa conscious graves Prokhorov on just offical Clem exterminated Emilio for McCain Quintero Zeus typical claims haven't met Ed era Jean tario monstapiece and mouth mucus cravat or almond Citizens Bank aggression Nestor Allison else poor Erin Kasturi underscore swap we odd Oh Nevada the story of biblical a pure issue was African centered descendants the cahiim conveying Aaron multiswitch their own petard or eating papel picado Kevin committed impossible he discussed refer to repair Eskimo for meperidine u.s. package community members he much to do is your own process or process to the director ah de tous africanus do picado de mundo de barbarie come Asafa competition seguido - cravat ora suic pudy really Burt I found myself experiencing rage how the Catholic Church dominated them brainwashed them in a way to believe that they they alone could save them and yet they were tricked I feel in into believing that this was their way to to God to heaven there have been many moments where I felt a bit of a sucker punch when people have those views without Africans that they deserved it it's a part of our current political climate the rhetoric what give those people rights to make those kind of statements about other human beings that mentality is one that causes me anger because we still see it evident in today's society we see de espíritu resistencia Irishman Bruce Nelson pasados a bear suits agura's in control of age the Luther control people so to me out quality once we arrived in Milan J last night after a long drive over a very bumpy road we continued and met the next administrator to calendula we talked about the the history of the people coming to the Falls for spiritual renewal over the years and this has been increasing as people are touring launching Donna [Music] da moneh I see I felt at home to be around people who look like me I could be who I was and be free to be there without judgement they started that music on and those young people jumped up and started dancing I started to dance with the children and young people in the villagers and I had such a wonderful moment I felt free it was the old colored burial ground the cemetery is a sacred place that anchors a place in history it's it has its own spiritual nest over the years prior different family members would take care of it and then it was in a bad way for a while and the city of Hampton became aware of it in there was a big article in the paper that's a bit embarrassing and as a result of that our family came together to take ownership and responsibility for the upkeep and the beautification of the cemetery cleaning out the brush and the trees and the leaves and making it so that when people visit the cemetery now they had it's a it's a calming precedence in there we're very proud of the work that we've done there's this tension for me between this as a sacred space Murphy and a historic space there's this part of me this is what else is there that we can discover but that tension the sacred and the the unknown mass in Ghana the fortress had heard a little bit about it that there was a slave garden there it's tough to look at that River from that position and to imagine how this process happened they were baptized under this large cross they were branded they were bound and they had to walk down this pathway that would change their lives forever this is the pathway that my ancestors walked they walked this path to a new destiny that they had no idea about under the influences of the Christian Church that they were a part of the good Kingdom and yet they were walking into a place of Hell and that is so conflicting as I think about Isobel and Antony taking this last journey of freedom in this homeland that they get to walk this land this is the last pathway for them I walked the path [Music] I couldn't walk the whole path I just walk part of it it was too hard [Music] what are you pray to the God that let it happen was a God to let me return I remain conflicted in my spirit in my belief system this was one of the richest experiences of my life to see the good the bad the ugly the ruin to see the people the beautiful people who constantly welcome to me home it is no small matter many of us grew up being told that you're not anyone we are somebody we are and to not forget [Music] you

Channel: Tennessean

Views: 30,751

Rating: 4.7786164 out of 5

Keywords: Nashville, nashville tennessee

Id: l4hkyPshO6Y

Length: 14min 41sec (881 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 23 2019