I just finished re-reading Julie Dash's Daughters of the Dust. For those of you who are familiar with the movie, her novel picks the story up and introduces you to the next generation in addition to giving background information about characters from the movie. The book is extremely well written and takes you back to the Sea Islands and what life was like for our ancestors and elders. As a child of some Geechee folks but having never been to the islands (my great grandfather was the last of my folks to live there; he raised his family in Arkansas), revisiting this book was like talking with family that I hadn't seen in a long time. I felt homesick for something I'd never had and probably never will. It was truly bittersweet.

As I was reading this book and thinking/remembering my folks, I thought of how hard it would be considered by our standards but how worth it their struggle was. My grandma and her brothers and sisters used to tell us tales of rising before the sun came up to do farm chores, taking care of livestock, cooking for large families, sharecropping and other things that I have no reference for outside of books and movies. In case you didn't know, I am a true city girl. I grew up on the southside of Chicago and have only been to the South a handful of times. My idea of gardening is trying not to kill the plants my husband got for me at Home Depot. I am amazed at how soft I am in light of what my ancestors went through on a constant basis. I'm not even talking about their dealings with white folks, that's a whole story in and of itself! I'm just reflecting on how they made a full family life while dealing with the elements, being without our modern conveniences that we are so dependent on and being able to find joy in trees, the sea breeze, a baby's laughter and a good homecooked meal that they grew themselves.

Now don't think that I'm romantizing those days because I'm not. Today, I didn't get out of bed until 11:00 am because it's my day off and I wanted to sleep in. If this were 1926 on the Sea Islands, there's no way that would have happened! Even without children, I would have had to garden, make my husband's breakfast and lunch, do laundry, probably work someplace to make ends meet and still have dinner ready that evening! My day would have probably started around 5 or 6am and not ended until, at the earliest, 7 or 8pm.

It was not an easy life.

Yet it is a life I'm glad that they lived because it gave me their strength to carry on despite obstacles and letdowns. It is also because of their struggle that I have been given the opportunities that they could have only dreamed about and more. I am reasonably well educated and I have been given the resources to create a life that is pleasing to me and my ancestors. I have also been given the gifts of books that contain my history and resources to connect to my cousins (and yes, I mean you all as well) so that we can share our information. I have been given the technology of the new and the knowledge of the old to create something new and wonderful! I hope my folks are proud.

This blog is my ancestral prayer. Ase!