I ran across the below PBS documentary and thought it was worth sharing. It premiers June 24th. It is called Homegoings. It is about an African American funeral director in Harlem, NY. Watching the trailer got me thinking about this reunion and the themes of both burial and resurrection. We expect a little over 100 people to join us Fourth of July weekend in Chambers County, Alabama, to put an end to a long standing familial separation. We will bury our collective strangeness and isolation. Together we will resurrect our one family, become a new clan, united by the blood flowing through our veins and hundreds of years of history in America. July 4th-7th will not just be a reunion it will be a Homecoming!
Watch Homegoings - Trailer on PBS. See more from POV.
Oh, I wish you the very best! People need to know their families, even though sometimes they are afraid and reluctant! A hundred people in Chambers County, Alabama, is a good crowd. Last year we had 80+ people in Sumter, South Carolina, as a "first cousins" reunion. One second cousin came also, with his wife and a family tree in hand. Everyone was a little timid at first, but they ended up having a great time. I went around taking everyone's picture, and I also had a chart and handouts to explain (briefly! 8 minutes!) how they were all related. I hope your reunion is a big success and a wonderful feeling!
ReplyDeleteThank you Mariann! So how did you get everyone talking? I'm trying to come up with some quick get to know you games so people will mix and mingle. the 100+ people will all be descended from a single woman via 8 different lines. 6 from her oldest son and 3 from her younger son. Among the 9 different family lines we expect that very few people will know anyone outside their line.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking that maybe I could get a cheap polaroid camera and take a photo of each person as they register then on the last day have an activity where everyone has to place their photo on a big tree chart. Still not exactly sure how to do that. Ive tried printing large scrolling trees from Ancestry.com but they are not always very complete.