Web site links African-Americans to ancestors' voyage

Researchers open online database showing journeys of 12.5 million slaves

By Dahleen Glanton |Tribune correspondent

January 4, 2009

A Robert Riggs painting depicts how slaves were transported from Africa. The United States represented 4 percent of the slave trade, according to David Eltis, an Emory University professor. (AP / January 4, 2009)

ATLANTA—In a major advance in genealogical research, African-Americans will be able to trace the routes of slave ships that transported 12.5 million of their ancestors from Africa as early as the 16th Century.

The free Internet database gives African-Americans the opportunity for the first time to explore their African heritage the way whites have long been able to chart their migration from Europe.

Voyages: The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database is the result of 40 years of research by hundreds of scholars. Two years ago, Emory University researchers, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, began compiling maps, images and other records of about 35,000 slave-trade voyages from Africa to North America, Brazil, the Caribbean and Europe. It is the first time such a large amount of data on the subject has been available to the public.

"Everybody wants to know where they came from, and for people from Europe, it has been possible for several centuries now to trace migrant communities," said David Eltis, a history professor at Emory and a director of the project. "Now it is possible to do the same for people of African descent.
"The records for people of Africa and the Americas are better than the records of connections between Europe and the Americas for the simple reason that slaves were property," he said. "No one cared what happened to free migrants. They did care what happened to slaves, because they were making money from them."

While the database can establish the regions slave ships launched from in Africa and where they arrived in the United States, it generally is impossible to determine which ancestors were on board, researchers said, because the records have African names that were changed when the slaves arrived in North America.

"The data certainly is not going to be helpful in tracing individual ancestors. You can't say your ancestor came on this vessel, except in a tiny handful of cases," Eltis said. "What it can do is provide context. The big advantage is that it establishes connections between parts of Africa and parts of the Americas."

African-Americans have had a fascination with discovering their African heritage since the miniseries "Roots," based on the Alex Haley novel, was televised in 1977. Since 2003, a Washington, D.C., company called African Ancestry Inc. has offered mail-order DNA tests for $349. In recent years, other DNA research projects have been developed, attracting such celebrity clients as Oprah Winfrey, Spike Lee and civil rights icon Andrew Young.

The problem with DNA testing, according to researchers, is that insufficient samples of DNA have been collected from Africa, making it difficult to provide matches from many parts of the continent. The Voyages database will help reinforce DNA data, researchers said.

"People may not be able to trace their particular ancestor, but it is the most complete accounting of individual lives, individual ships, individual journeys to date," said Leslie Harris, an Emory genealogist and author of "In the Shadow of Slavery: African Americans in New York City, 1626-1863."

It is more difficult for African-Americans in Illinois to use the database because many of their families traveled North in the Great Migration from 1916 to 1930. To find those records, Illinois residents would have to know where in the South their ancestors were enslaved.

"During the slave trade, we don't have people who were dropped off in Illinois. The ships landed on the East Coast," Harris said. "So we are talking about people who started out on the East Coast and then, one way or another, ended up in Illinois, not necessarily as enslaved people but as free people."

The database, which is expected to become a classroom tool, contains the records of 10.5 million slaves, more than 85 percent of the slave trade. It identifies more than 67,000 of them by their African name, age, sex, origin and place of embarkation.

Though many Americans view slavery as a U.S. phenomenon, the United States represented only 4 percent of the slave trade, far behind Brazil, the leader, which imported about 45 percent of the slaves, Eltis said.

"During the time the slave trade was at its peak, it was considered to be an ordinary business, not something immoral. Slave ship owners used to name their voyages after their family members," Eltis said.

"So the difference between attitudes then and now is quite considerable."

dglanton@tribune.com

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-slave-trade_bdjan04,0,6302223.story

Republicans have become a party of whiners

Op-Ed Columnist

Bigger Than Bush

By PAUL KRUGMAN

Published: January 1, 2009

As the new Democratic majority prepares to take power, Republicans have become, as Phil Gramm might put it, a party of whiners.

Some of the whining almost defies belief. Did Alberto Gonzales, the former attorney general, really say, "I consider myself a casualty, one of the many casualties of the war on terror"? Did Rush Limbaugh really suggest that the financial crisis was the result of a conspiracy, masterminded by that evil genius Chuck Schumer?

But most of the whining takes the form of claims that the Bush administration's failure was simply a matter of bad luck — either the bad luck of President Bush himself, who just happened to have disasters happen on his watch, or the bad luck of the G.O.P., which just happened to send the wrong man to the White House.

The fault, however, lies not in Republicans' stars but in themselves. Forty years ago the G.O.P. decided, in effect, to make itself the party of racial backlash. And everything that has happened in recent years, from the choice of Mr. Bush as the party's champion, to the Bush administration's pervasive incompetence, to the party's shrinking base, is a consequence of that decision.

If the Bush administration became a byword for policy bungles, for government by the unqualified, well, it was just following the advice of leading conservative think tanks: after the 2000 election the Heritage Foundation specifically urged the new team to "make appointments based on loyalty first and expertise second."

Contempt for expertise, in turn, rested on contempt for government in general. "Government is not the solution to our problem," declared Ronald Reagan. "Government is the problem." So why worry about governing well?

Where did this hostility to government come from? In 1981 Lee Atwater, the famed Republican political consultant, explained the evolution of the G.O.P.'s "Southern strategy," which originally focused on opposition to the Voting Rights Act but eventually took a more coded form: "You're getting so abstract now you're talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you're talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is blacks get hurt worse than whites." In other words, government is the problem because it takes your money and gives it to Those People.

Oh, and the racial element isn't all that abstract, even now: Chip Saltsman, currently a candidate for the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee, sent committee members a CD including a song titled "Barack the Magic Negro" — and according to some reports, the controversy over his action has actually helped his chances.

So the reign of George W. Bush, the first true Southern Republican president since Reconstruction, was the culmination of a long process. And despite the claims of some on the right that Mr. Bush betrayed conservatism, the truth is that he faithfully carried out both his party's divisive tactics — long before Sarah Palin, Mr. Bush declared that he visited his ranch to "stay in touch with real Americans" — and its governing philosophy.

That's why the soon-to-be-gone administration's failure is bigger than Mr. Bush himself: it represents the end of the line for a political strategy that dominated the scene for more than a generation.

The reality of this strategy's collapse has not, I believe, fully sunk in with some observers. Thus, some commentators warning President-elect Barack Obama against bold action have held up Bill Clinton's political failures in his first two years as a cautionary tale.

But America in 1993 was a very different country — not just a country that had yet to see what happens when conservatives control all three branches of government, but also a country in which Democratic control of Congress depended on the votes of Southern conservatives. Today, Republicans have taken away almost all those Southern votes — and lost the rest of the country. It was a grand ride for a while, but in the end the Southern strategy led the G.O.P. into a cul-de-sac.

Mr. Obama therefore has room to be bold. If Republicans try a 1993-style strategy of attacking him for promoting big government, they'll learn two things: not only has the financial crisis discredited their economic theories, the racial subtext of anti-government rhetoric doesn't play the way it used to.

Will the Republicans eventually stage a comeback? Yes, of course. But barring some huge missteps by Mr. Obama, that will not happen until they stop whining and look at what really went wrong. And when they do, they will discover that they need to get in touch with the real "real America," a country that is more diverse, more tolerant, and more demanding of effective government than is dreamt of in their political philosophy.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/02/opinion/02krugman.html?th&emc=th

The Institute for Responsible Citizenship

FYI

The Institute for Responsible Citizenship is currently accepting applications for its summer programs in Washington , DC and New York City .

Washington Program

The Institute for Responsible Citizenship is currently accepting applications for its summer leadership program in Washington , DC . The Institute provides America 's best and brightest African American male college students with unparalleled networking opportunities, leadership development, and lifelong mentorship.
Through the focused and intimate structure of our program, the Institute equips these young men with the tools required for successful careers in business, education, journalism, law, government, the sciences, public policy, ministry, medicine, public service, and the arts.

Program Highlights

· Meet with influential leaders such as General Colin Powell, Congressman John Lewis, Justice Clarence Thomas, and Dr. Sheila C. Johnson;

· Take rigorous academic courses on constitutional and economic principles;

· Participate in roundtable discussions, including seminars on career development;

· Work at high level internships around Washington , DC ;

· Enjoy a host of social activities that help them to build strong bonds with each other.

Program Details

· The 2009 program will run from Saturday, June 6 to Saturday, August 1.
· Students must commit to two summers.
· Tuition and housing are paid for by the Institute.
· Students will be placed at paid internships based on their career interest (a stipend of $3000 will be provided for those placed at unpaid internships).

You should be a sophomore to apply. Although the Institute does not have a GPA requirement, students interested in applying should have a strong academic records. An applicant's GPA is not the only criterion that is considered during the admissions process. Other achievements such as campus involvement, honors and awards earned, athletics, and volunteer work are looked upon favorably.

KPMG Summer Scholars Program

The Institute for Responsible Citizenship is excited to announce a new program in conjunction with KPMG, one of the foremost accounting firms in the country. This year, KPMG was ranked among the top 100 companies to work for by Fortune Magazine, and ranked 37th among large size companies.

More information about KPMG can be found at http://www.kpmgcareers.com. Twelve black male college sophomores will be selected to take part in this year's program. The program runs from the first Sunday in June until the last Saturday in July.

Students selected for this opportunity will spend the summer in New York City and work at the company's headquarters for eight weeks. The twelve young men will live together in housing provided for program participants. Students will be placed in the departments of Audit, Tax, or Advisory Services and be paired with a high level executive to work with for the summer. Exemplary performance will be rewarded with an invitation to return for a second summer and possibly result in fulltime employment following graduation.

Other program highlights

· Salary of $21 per hour (2007 rate), while working full time

· Laptop provided for duration of program

· Possible international travel

· Seminar series for academic credit

· Students majoring in Accounting with a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or better should send their applications in for the Financial Services Program.

The application deadlines for both programs are:

Early Decision – November 7th
Regular Decision – January 15th

For more information, go here: http://www.i4rc.org/announcement.htm.

Inquiries should be directed to info@i4rc.org or (202) 6592831. Those considering applying are highly encouraged to review the website in detail and contact our office with any questions before submitting an application.

"When are we going to get over it?"

Dr. Andrew Manis: "When are we going to get over it?"

Posted By tpv On December 12, 2008 @ 12:00 pm In Guest Commentaries, OP-ED, Weekly Commentaries | 1 Comment

Dr. Andrew M. Manis

For much of the last forty years, ever since America "fixed" its race problem in the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts, we white people have been impatient with African Americans who continued to blame race for their difficulties. Often we have heard whites ask, "When are African Americans finally going to get over it?

Now I want to ask: "When are we White Americans going to get over our ridiculous obsession with skin color?

Recent reports that "Election Spurs Hundreds' of Race Threats, Crimes" should frighten and infuriate every one of us. Having grown up in "Bombingham," Alabama in the 1960s, I remember overhearing an avalanche of comments about what many white classmates and their parents wanted to do to John and Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King. Eventually, as you may recall, in all three cases, someone decided to do more than "talk the talk."

Since our recent presidential election, to our eternal shame we are once again hearing the same reprehensible talk I remember from my boyhood.

We white people have controlled political life in the disunited colonies and United States for some 400 years on this continent. Conservative whites have been in power 28 of the last 40 years. Even during the eight Clinton years, conservatives in Congress blocked most of his agenda and pulled him to the right. Yet never in that period did I read any headlines suggesting that anyone was calling for the assassinations of presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan, or either of the Bushes. Criticize them, yes. Call for their impeachment, perhaps.

But there were no bounties on their heads. And even when someone did try to kill Ronald Reagan, the perpetrator was non-political mental case who wanted merely to impress Jody Foster.

But elect a liberal who happens to be Black and we're back in the sixties again. At this point in our history, we should be proud that we've proven what conservatives are always saying -that in America anything is possible, EVEN electing a black man as president. But instead we now hear that schoolchildren from Maine to California are talking about wanting to "assassinate Obama."

Fighting the urge to throw up, I can only ask, "How long?" How long before we white people realize we can't make our nation, much less the whole world, look like us? How long until we white people can -once and for all- get over this hell-conceived preoccupation with skin color? How long until we white people get over the demonic conviction that white skin makes us superior? How long before we white people get over our bitter resentments about being demoted to the status of equality with non-whites?

How long before we get over our expectations that we should be at the head of the line merely because of our white skin? How long until we white people end our silence and call out our peers when they share the latest racist jokes in the privacy of our white-only conversations?

I believe in free speech, but how long until we white people start making racist loudmouths as socially uncomfortable as we do flag burners? How long until we white people will stop insisting that blacks exercise personal responsibility, build strong families, educate themselves enough to edit the Harvard Law Review, and work hard enough to become President of the United States, only to threaten to assassinate them when they do?

How long before we starting "living out the true meaning" of our creeds, both civil and religious, that all men and women are created equal and that "red and yellow, black and white" all are precious in God's sight?

Until this past November 4, I didn't believe this country would ever elect an African American to the presidency. I still don't believe I'll live long enough to see us white people get over our racism problem. But here's my three-point plan:

First, everyday that Barack Obama lives in the White House that Black Slaves Built I'm going to pray that God (and the Secret Service) will protect him and his family from us white people.

Second, I'm going to report to the FBI any white person I overhear saying, in seriousness or in jest, anything of a threatening nature about President Obama.

Third, I'm going to pray to live long enough to see America surprise the world once again, when white people can "in spirit and in truth" sing of our damnable color prejudice, "We HAVE overcome."

Andrew Manis is author of Macon Black and White and serves on the steering committee of Macon's Center for Racial understanding.

It take a Village to protect our President!!!

http://www.peoplesvoiceweekly.us/wp/?p=13&print=1