Dr. Samuel Livingston speaks to how Juneteenth is helping families discover details about enslaved ancestors

Written by Morehouse College | Jul 10, 2024 5:50:02 PM

Originally published on Axios.com

Juneteenth's popularity is encouraging more descendants of enslaved people to research their families' history and visit "sites of memory" linked to enslavement, experts tell Axios.

The big picture: Never before in U.S. history have descendants been able to easily access so many historic family documents online, thanks to improvements in technology, AI, DNA tests and genealogy websites.

The National Park Service, nonprofit groups and some states have also better mapped or transformed historic sites connected to enslavement.

"While we are looking at how African Americans honor Juneteenth by celebrating our future, we're also tipping our hat to a past that speaks to a liberation or freedom tradition," Samuel Livingston, professor of Africana Studies at Morehouse College, tells Axios.

Zoom in: Juneteenth celebrations became more prominent across the country following the murder of George Floyd, which helped build the momentum to make it a federal holiday.

That racial reckoning sparked some Black Americans to research their own family history and explore their past with enslavement, Livingston said.
They are uncovering ancestors who were enslaved, and finding documents on how they were bought and sold as families were broken up and spread across the country, he said.
They're also discovering how their ancestors may have escaped enslavement or what their lives were like after emancipation.

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