Holidays and Family History

On this day of giving thanks, when many of us are surrounded by family and friends, it is a perfect opportunity to learn more about your families. Over the next 5 weeks, we will see many family members and what better time than to check into your genealogy and start building your family tree.

In the last few months, I ramped up my efforts to build my family tree.  It started with revisiting the tree I had started a few years ago on www.Ancestry.com, which was poorly populated and mainly restricted by me not asking family members questions and having them start asking questions and reviewing the many hints that Ancestry.com leaves you as you populate your tree. 

I started of course with quizzing my parents and started organizing my notes online.  Each day I worked on my tree, I would find new family members, solve family “secrets” and as of now track my family back to the late 1700’s in a few cases, something that is not easy with African-American families.  My journey has taken a course through California and Detroit, Michigan, and through a lot of Alabama and into Georgia.  In recent days we have found ourselves virtually traveling to Mississippi and North Carolina.  There is also a line in the family that is taking us back through New Orleans to France and one that is inevitably headed to Ireland.  Most importantly I have had a ball talking to my Mom and Dad and other family members as I fill in the gaps in our family tree. 

I also finally pulled the trigger and ordered a DNA test.  As an African-American, it was practically impossible until DNA testing became affordable to trace the exact regions and countries of the world that you were descendent from because of the lost history tied to the “peculiar” institution of slavery.  I often balked at the cost or just talked myself out of it, but in September I ordered the test and in late October I received the results.  For the first time in my life I can tell someone specifically what regions of the world my family was from.  The funniest experience came when my 9 year old son, Miles looked at the results and saw that we had European ancestry and with a look of exasperation asked, “I’m white?!”  I told him yes partly.

The common myth that we were part Native America was busted, as my results showed no traces to Native/Indigenous Americans.  No direct link to East Africa, as had been rumored.  However, the results did show that my ancestry was primarily Western African (74 percent), not a surprise.   The results:

·        Mali – 14%

·        Cameroon/Congo – 13%

·        Nigeria – 13%

·        Ivory Coast/Ghana – 13%

·        African Southeastern Bantu – 12%

·        Benin-Togo – 7%

The majority of the rest of my ancestry was link to Europe (24%).

·        Ireland – 9%

·        Iberian Peninsula – 3%

·        Europe West – 3%

·        Europe East – 2%

·        Scandinavia – 2%

·        Finland/Northwest Russia – 1%

There is also 2% Central Asia that ties into the area of the -stans. 

The experience and journey continues.  I talk about my results and the building of the tree all the time. It is the subject of bar talk and pops up in staff meetings.  I have even found several 2^nd to 6^th cousins that I am making links with to fill out our family tree and share information that will help unravel some of our family mysteries.  It feels great to know where you come from and who you come from.  I spent all my life stuck in this mystery, thinking I was going to have to take an Alex Haley type journey in my retirement to solve it, while older family members passed always and memories were lost. 

This weekend I will talk to my 93 year old grandmother and tell her about what I found out about her mother’s family that she either never new, chose to forget or was never asked.  She will fill more gaps and tell many stories and yes we will get her DNA test these holidays to further tell our story.

I encourage all people, no matter what you know about your family history to do a DNA test; they are much cheaper and comprehensive these days.  It is a path not only to your history, but it opens up many opportunities to richly connect to family members known and unknown and maybe you might turn off the T.V. and put down the smart  phones for few hours and start filling in some trees and recording stories before your living historians leave this existence.

Yoga, Super Dude and Me

Many people know that I practice yoga at least a few times a week.  Well, likely more, since I am practicing often when I am not on my mat.  From the time he was born, I have introduced some aspect of yoga to my son, Miles.  At first it was a fun kid’s yoga game that we would play and he learned some of the more kid-friendly poses like the Cat-Cow sequence.   Later when he was pushing past the terrible 2’s and making his way to the ripe old ages of 4 and 5, I started teaching him breathing techniques to deal with anger and impulses.  Last year when he was 7 creeping towards 8 I enrolled him into a week-long yoga camp put on by Yoga Across America (http://www.yogaacrossamerica.org/drupal-7.0/) and he had a blast.  He tried my yoga class once around this time, but it was tough for him and he dropped out about half way through.  I was proud of him for making it that far, if he only knew how hard it was for me when I entered that studio for the first time.  Later in the year the studio I practice at added kids classes a few days a week, while parents poured and I do mean poured into the main studio to practice.  He loved it and he went several times.

Then…

This summer arrived and he turned to me one day and asked if he could come to my class again.  He wanted to spend more time with his dad and I was pretty committed to my trips to the studio.  Let me explain a bit to about where I practice yoga.  It is at Zuda Yoga (http://www.zudayoga.com/) in Sacramento.  Zuda teaches Power Vinyasa yoga.  This means that a bunch of Type A personalities pack into a room that is heated to 90 or so degrees and flow through a practice that includes many moves that build strength.  On my first visit to tour the studio a few years ago the lady at the desk said, “....this practice will get you cut, MMA guys practice here.”  Mind you I had spent the previous 6 months in a more gentle and restorative practice and was headed to a Ashram for a week upon hearing this news, but 10 days later there I was in the back of the room sweating out all the toxins in my body and observing which of my muscles I had never used or wanted to use.  I never drank so much water or created greater pools of water from my own flesh.

I turned to my then 8 year old son (he turned 9 in July) that day and said, “Okay.”  This would begin the summer’s journey of about 8 classes of yoga I would attend with my son. I was excited and a bit skeptical and pretty sure I was leading him to a pretty big life lesson.  This was true, but the biggest life lesson would be for me, not him.  As all parents know, it is hard for us to watch our kids do something and not want to assist or fix or make sure they do it right and follow instructions.  This is particularly true with Miles and I, his independent spirit has you keeping an eye on him at all times and this does not mix well with yoga.  Yoga is you on your mat, pushing through your crap or knowing when to back off or rest. 

Well…

At first this was not an option for Miles.  As we sat in the back corner that I occupy every time that I practice at Zuda.  Yes, I arrive 30 minutes before class to ensure that I sit in that same spot each time and have time to meditate.  My son would plop right next to me and we would begin the routine of filling our water bottles, and laying out our mats and grabbing our blocks.  I would meditate and he would go to the reception/shop area and talk with the friendly staff and other yogi’s as they came in and hide under the clothing racks.  Sometimes he would pop in to give me a kiss and then disappear back out front.  As practice would near, I would get nervous and start going out to get him back into the studio and on his mat.  I was mostly worried that he was disturbing someone or would try to skip out on class, but each time he would walk back in with me, partially complaining about the heat.

On the first day he was great, Miles made it all the way through, tried most of the poses and only left midway for a few minutes to go to the bathroom.  The bathroom break would become part of his routine and I would be filled with anxiety each time, until he returned to his mat and he returned each and every time.  The next 2-3 times would be more difficult, there was more complaining from him, more correction of his poses from me, more breaks on his mat from him, less pre-practice meditation from me.  I was struggling in my practice and was clearly focused on his mat, not mine.  What is a dad to do?  Here he was typically the only kid in the class and loved by the teachers, staff and other yogi’s.  They all ask about him every time I go to practice.  However, for me it was not enough and this is where the learning begins.

Through the last 6 classes he would attend with me, I begin to notice I was journaling in the morning before each class more and more about my relationship with my son and how I could be more patient with him, not yell so much, allow him more space to roam in the world.  So, I made a commitment to remain on my mat physically, mentally and spiritually and to let his practice be his own.  There was nothing easy in this proposition and I can say I never fully lived up to it, but I struggled through it each time.  I found that the more I focused on my practice and me, my heart opened up more, the kinder I was to him and the more space I gave him to explore his practice.  We always got along better after yoga class. Despite the struggles for him to complete each class, he always said he felt refreshed after class.  It also meant that we were headed home to change and find food and lots of it, since we were always really hungry afterwards.

These days I miss his presence in class and cannot wait for him to join me in December for a few classes during his break from school.  I am thankful that yoga has deepened and improved my relationship with my “Super Dude” son.  However, in the end the one that really grew was me.  I have grown as father, a yogi and a being, whose self and relationships have expanded with more kindness, patience, tolerance, compassion and love and all because my son wanted to do more things with me.

Marching Down Auburn Boulevard

This morning I drank from the mug I purchased at the King Center in Atlanta back in April during a trip to the National Brownfields Conference.  I remember as I left my hotel at the CNN Center and walked through Olympic Centennial Park and eventually onto Auburn Avenue, headed to the King Center, unaware what emotions would rise up in me during my final day stroll.

I was not surprised when not long after I left downtown and edged towards the freeway underpass that there would be signs of blight in the neighborhood, but was pleasantly met by the construction of the new trolley that would eventually link the Martin Luther King Historic Site to Centennial Park.  You could see the signs of change emerging along the way.  I accidentally found the site of Madam C.J. Walker’s shop, which stood across the street from a large community garden.  Around the corner was a bake shop called Sweet Auburn, where an African-American woman has toiled in her small shop generating bake goods, jams and syrups, since 1997, anticipating the revival of the once vibrant center of African-American life.  There was the headquarters of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and a mural of John Lewis on the side of a decaying building that screamed with hope.

As I stepped onto the grounds of the King Historic Site, I was greeted by the old and new Ebenezer Baptist Church’s and the immediate confusion of which way to turn.  I also remembered Nathan McCall’s book, “Them,” and realized I was in the gentrifying neighborhood depicted in the book, similar to my own adopted neighborhood in the Oak Park section of Sacramento.  It was at this moment that tears staged under my eyelids and would remain their through every step.  My body felt like spirits from the past were talking to me and I walked deliberately slow, as I observed each part structure.  The beautiful collection of roses in front of the National Historic Preservation building; the footsteps in the Civil Rights Walk of Fame, where I compared my feet to the likes of Desmond Tutu and Sidney Poitier.  I rejoiced at the statue depicting the movie’s Root’s “Behold” scene, smiling fondly of my recent viewing of the series with my 8 year old son.

My backpack continued to grow as I added souvenirs for my family and myself at each stop.  Finally, I stumbled upon the Reflecting Pool, where the bodies of Dr. King and his wife, Coretta Scott King are enshrined.  A young lady asked me if I would like her to take a picture of me in front of the pool, she was a recent transplant from my hometown of Los Angeles and was working at the King Center for Nonviolent Social Action.  It was there standing in front of their crypts and staring at the eternal flame that tears leaked under my glasses.  I found the connection to my current work and journey in life.  I could see through the portal of the Civil Rights Movement of our past to the our current struggles to address ongoing environmental, social, legal, food and other injustices that still permeate our society.

Most that walked around me seemed to be having similar revelations, we all smiled at each other softly, even in the museum exhibits that depicted the violence of the struggle, with soft tears in our eyes.  My journey back to the hotel and conference, in the increasingly hot sun, were simple steps in my modern athletic shoes, and paled in comparison to the hard, stubborn, leather business shoes that King, Lewis and many used to traverse roads, bridges, cities and towns.

The Arena and Basketball and the Community

In the past few months the City of Sacramento was able to secure the arena deal and the NBA’s approval to keep the Sacramento King’s in Sacramento. They waged a battle with the City of Seattle that was robbed of their team several years ago after an ownership change and at times with the electorate and other opposition in the City.  Mayor Kevin Johnson worked diligently on this venture and set in place an economic engine that will revitalize Downtown Sacramento and generate thousands of jobs.  As a 10-year resident of Sacramento, I fully realize the benefits of the arena and related development to the economic health of the City and region.  I have been fortunate to witness the boom of restaurants and bars in the Midtown/Downtown area in the last 10 years, which was sorely needed.  Also, as an advocate of infill-refill development, I hope to see the former vitality of the Downtown area return that was decimated by Urban Renewal, which displaced many residents, with no return on investment, with a disproportionate impact on low-income communities and communities of color.

As the development moves forward there are three key areas that I hope the City, new billionaire owners, Mayor Johnson and other influential parities prioritize:

• Community Benefits Agreements – The arena and related developments include community benefits agreements that includes a real and meaningful process where community needs are addressed, especially for surrounding neighborhoods and businesses, populations in the City and County that are at greatest risk and address environmental risk that may arise during the development process.  The developers and City should and must sit down with all interested parties to address these issues.  Included in these agreements:
• Local jobs to local people – Jobs during construction should prioritize local Sacramento residents and where skill gaps exists, job training should be put in place to increase opportunities for employment for low income individuals and individuals of color.  This should remain the same for jobs in the arena and surrounding economic development projects.
• Contractors/Business Opportunities – Prioritization should be given to local and minority contractors/business owners/entrepreneurs or fair partnerships that involve a diversity of groups to include all of the above.
• Affordable housing – Any development that includes housing should provide for 15-25% affordable housing, with some of that housing dedicated to workers who will work in the new or renewed developments.
• Green and Greenwise Sacramento – The Mayor through his Greenwise Sacramento initiative a few years back, touted making Sacramento the “Emerald Valley” of the United States.  There is not a greater opportunity than the arena and related development to prioritize creating an energy neutral arena and related projects.  In this time of climate disasters, rising utility cost and economic challenges, we must strive to build major projects that speak to our future and not just the current bottom line.  The Mayor has brought together an impressive group of billionaires and millionaires to Save the Kings, now it is time for Sacramento to truly emerge as the “Emerald Valley” of Sacramento and lead the way.  Many standards exist such as LEED Platinum, Built It Green, Living Building Challenge and others that point us to sustainable building, but also to sustainable environments, incorporating urban agriculture, reuse of materials, rain water capturing, green roofs and walls, recycled/reclaimed material and many other innovations in green and sustainable development.
• Future Efforts – The efforts to bring billionaire attention and investment into Sacramento from across the state, including the support of Senator Darrell Steinberg and others was an amazing rallying of the local, regional and statewide troops.  As we move forward and dream of Sacramento being an economical, socially equitable and environmental safe model for the country, if not the world, we cannot achieve these goals without ensuring that the most vulnerable in the region are benefitting from such dynamic investments. I lived in Washington, D.C. during the installation of the downtown arena that turned previously underserved areas, littered with drugs, prostitution and abandoned businesses and homes into million dollar homes and condos, while displacing the residents that suffered and struggled in those communities for years.  Sacramento has the chance now to focus that billionaire investment in our City to not only help our downtown core explode, but to also help to impact the Mayor’s native Oak Park and Del Paso Heights and West Sacramento and Meadowview and North Highlands and South Sacramento and all of the communities that could be transformed by the multi-million dollar investment that is going into the Arena Project, with a focus on lifting up current residents that love their communities and hope to stay in them for years to come.

An Arena, Downtown Development and community development for ALL Sacramentans can be achieved through a cooperative process that includes and involves all members and sectors of our community. I look forward to observing and participating in this local historic process.

Health Care, A Twinkie, Some Coke and a Dose of Pesticide

I have been thinking about last year’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court and contrasting the debates against any form of universal health care with the discussions in the country about eating and other lifestyle choices that cost the country billions of dollars each year.[1]  Regardless of how you feel about health care reform, we should be concerned about the impact of fast food, junk food, pesticides and chemicals, genetically-modified food and other factors have on our health and well-being, which all impact our economy.

Should we not require individuals in society to have health care, with strong preventive requirements, if we are going to refuse to responsibly regulate what they consume?  Especially, since it will potentially impact their long-term health and cost dollars in premiums, emergency room visits and long-term care.  In addition, potential cost to our mental health, criminal justice and disability systems.

If we are going to support the proliferation of unhealthy choices in our society, bolstered by food infused with pesticides and genetic alteration that cause unhealthy and unwanted outcomes.  See, the early onset of puberty in young women throughout our society and especially in populations reliant on these unnatural choices.[2]

Many want to blame the rising cost of health care on recent immigrant populations in our county, but studies have shown that 1^st generation immigrants have equal or better health outcomes than their American counterparts.  We don’t see the negative consequences until subsequent generations.[3]

Obama Care may not be perfect, but neither are the food and beverage choices we consume and support in this country, in the name of economic profit for a few.  We defend the right to drink a Coke or eat a Twinkie as vigorously as we oppose having to pay for health care, unknowingly or oblivious to the impact our choices have on the cost of health care for our fellow American’s.  

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[1] http://www.fairfoodnetwork.org/connect/blog/obesity-and-rising-cost-healthcare-america

 

[2] http://thegrio.com/2013/02/12/hormones-in-food-may-lead-to-early-puberty/

 

[3] http://www.unnaturalcauses.org/