Hallelujah! I've been saying the same things for so long, that there are times when I feel like as soon as I open my mouth there is a general rush for the exits. The other side of that coin is the one that eliminates anything that may tarnish that stereotype-or knock a few feathers out of those angel wings. The same folks that pursue the neverending image you both speak about-get highly incensed if you show that those icons were also human.

I started fighting those battles when I was very young-and trying to find the truth behind some of my own ancestry-and some of those myths are so ingrained in "American History" that the majority of people don't even think to question them.....You all know them-you learned them from grade school on up. The Pilgrim/Squanto mythos. (I strongly doubt that you ever studied the great epidemic that decimated 90% of the Eastern seaboard's native peoples in 1619) The stories of the great explorers,(minus rape, pillage, venereal disease)
Westward expansion/eminent domain.........you get the picture.

It has been so wonderful, the last few years to get to know an ever-widening group of nit-picking, "just the facts, maam" historians with eagle eyes and alligator hides. (I always figured Sgt. Friday must have been a Virgo, lol.) Makes that room a little less empty-now that there are more voices in the chorus.

For those of you who have been working so hard in the Black History field-some of you know how impressed and thankful I am. Bennie has been one of the great facilitators in my own journey into this maze. He's introduced me to many people-all of whom have increased both my awareness and knowledge. Anthony-I still remember our first conversation, where you introduced me to the work of Morris Chester, Isaiah Edwards-who knows the answers to my innumerable Native Guard questions, Bennie-no one takes your place (of course it's your fault I started in this direction to begin with!)I can't begin to number the ways you have assisted me-introductions, suggestions. The inter-working network you have created among us is amazing. Without you, I wouldn't be thanking so many other folks. Tom-the notes I made during your long phone call will be added into this process, and I am delighted to begin to get to know you. There are so many-Tony Dorty, Katarina Wittich, Beverly Gray. This could become a very long list.

For everyone out there, working along on their own, know that you are not alone-and there are some fantastic researchers and historians out there. I guess the only other thing-for the new folks-JUST BECAUSE IT'S WRITTEN IN A BOOK DOESN'T MAKE IT THE TRUTH-OR THE WHOLE TRUTH! What/who/where is the source??

Whew, okay, I'll shut up now

Sharon