In the latter part of 2010, I took an inventory of all the twenty-five plus years of genealogy research I have conducted on my own family.  I realized that even though they came out of slavery, they had embraced very high principles which they worked to instill in their children.  

I owe them so much.  They came victoriously out of slavery.  While the onlookers feel that should be sufficient and that we should forget about it and move on, we know we have not yet been made whole.  I embarked on a journey that started with About Our Freedom.  I realized we have incorporated the best gifts of the ancestors and have progressed beyond what they could have imagined, however, we also bear the wounds of the abuses that they endured, and we need to be free from the shackles brought on by offense in order to experience increased happiness and success.

We talk about sin and repentance a great deal, but we neglect to speak of the Healing Balm available for those who have been treated unjustly.  There is a process we each must undergo individually and collectively in our families and communities.  We are all at different stages in this healing process.  We need to seek an environment conducive to healing, and we need to start a dialog that facilitates that process.  

Over Troubled Water is set to become one of those avenues.  There is a saying, "when the student is ready, the teacher will appear."  Out of my desire to experience freedom to the fullest extent, I knew I would need to identify and fix what was broken.  A kind, wise, and loving Heavenly Father has blessed man with the knowledge and the means to heal the sick and bind up the feeble knees.  

You never know what form the teacher will take, but you can be certain that if you move forward with faith, help will come.  I am in the midst of coming to intimately understand how slavery effected my family and the effect that had on me. I have nothing to be ashamed of, but rather marvel at what they were able to accomplish.  I have so much hope for my future posterity that I can sufficiently keep the effects of abuse from reaching the next generation.  I am finding it hard to contain myself.  I am not going to keep this to myself. I am happy to begin  to share some important resources with you starting this week.  Gather your family together to participate.

The most important part about this exchange will be your feedback.  When someone takes the time and energy to share something to be helpful, take the time to tell that person whether you liked it or disliked it.  This is how that person can know to either keep sharing or go back to the drawing board.

Remember what I said about dialog?  We share similar stories and experiences.  Our exchange can benefit both of us, as well a those who happen by.  Please, please, please, share your insights about the historical African American lectures and documentaries that will be reviewed and linked here thanks to Conscious Media Productions. 

There is a new kind of freedom coming!  I just wanted to set the tone ahead of time by re-posting this Psalm from About Our Freedom that I wrote for my own posterity in the spirit of  my ancestors who continue to whisper to me:

Be grateful!  Be joyous! Be glad!  Straighten your shoulders, and look upward.  Be strengthened by the renewing of your mind.  Praise ye the Lord perpetually!  Check yourself.  Heart, mind, and soul should balance.


In all things, Praise ye the Lord!  In your in comings,  in your outgoings,  Praise ye the Lord!  Enter the Cleft of the Rock of Ages, the Rock for days to come.


He only warrants perfect trust...only He alone.  I have proven Him in days past.  I remember the night.  He proves me now.  Move on!  Move on!  Move on to victory!