that they develop an awareness of their cultural heritage.[…] If black people are to know themselves as a vibrant, valiant people, they must know their roots,” (Ture 38-39).
This sentiment carries a weighty significance, which is not dissimilar to the weight of the legacy of African-Americans in the United States. This renewed interest in many African-Americans to reclaim their history comes from a desire to know their roots. Yet how can African-Americans reconnect to their roots?
The history of the African-American is a silenced past. While many African Americans, be they historians, scholars, or individuals have documented this history there is still so much deep richness and truth in our history and culture that has been whitewashed, watered down, written out of the textbooks, unspoken or unshared. This has left the African-American community feeling disconnected to their own history with little understanding of the truth of their heritage. Despite this palpable feeling of distance from our own history, we know that the story begins on the shores of Africa.
