Letter From Lexual: Press Recap and Personal History Journey (Patreon)

Hey yall! While I was home in Charlotte North Carolina for Christmas, two cool things happened. First, I was a guest on WCCB's The Edge, a nightly 20 minute panel featuring local personalities on cookie cutter-ish topics. You may have caught my last appearance, in which I discussed the merits of speaking politics over Thanksgiving dinner. This week, the main segment was discussing Football, something I have barely any knowledge of (or interest in). Though I could have googled a hot take an hour before the show started, I decided to use the moment to set an example. Watch the short clip above. 

There were other topics, but this was the one segment I managed to find online. So the other thing. 

While chilling with the fam on Christmas day and drinking some red wine, I pressured my nana to break out the family photos. I barely have any physical copies of photos from my youth, and I have zero pictures of older family members. The experience was definitely a treat in more ways than one. Namely now that one of my goals in 2018 is to research my family history in-depth. I'm talking digging through archives, DNA testing, and audio interviews with my family members. The photo above is just a small fraction of the frayed and fascinating pieces of media collected by a nana. Some of my notes include:

Nana's 1974 resume included mentions of her marital status, as that was something employers checked for when hiring women. It was printed on several pieces of thick card stock paper and listed out her hobbies (dancing, reading, and cooking).

My family's genes are INSANELY strong. But I knew that. Lol. 

My great great grandparents were prominent members of a church started by members of their family. This is something I consider a lead in my investigation. I'll be visiting their hometown of Rutherfordton, NC sometime in the Spring so I can look around. 

My eyes welled up with tears when I saw the photo in the upper right corner of my great great grandparents. I wanted to cry for many reasons, but particularly because they are apart of me. Their union and survival in the Jim Crow south eventually gave way to my nana, my mother, and I. Yes I know I'm corny. But I will indulge this corniness with a year long family research project. I will post sporadic updates here, but I hope to give a full presentation, write a book, or something else creative next December. Wish me luck!