CNN host makes discovery about his family's past that shocks him
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- čas přidán 18. 06. 2023
- CNN's Victor Blackwell visits the new International African American Museum in Charleston, South Carolina, where he traces his own family tree with resources from the museum's Center for Family History. #CNN #News
What a beautiful story. Never underestimate a mom whose protecting her children.
Powerful statement !
I totally agree!
@@entobie😊8
Amen to that
Because a father will get killed asap.
Those who want to ban the learning of our awful history also bans amazing and inspiring history like his. What a legacy!
Didn’t realize Tom Sawyer would’ve helped the cause
Yes, but I also found out the brits banned it, and the Americans made it into law. African didn't do that. Middle east didn't do that. Asia didn't do that.
NO ONE IS BANNING TEACHING ABOUT SLAVERY.
That’s why the British sea captains and crews families should get reparations, they fought for the freedom of the slaves
What books are being banned that teach about slavery? Seems like you are confused or just using talking points that you don’t understand
As a descendant of Caribbean slaves, and I am crying with you too, Victor. This story gives me goosebumps.
The Virgin Islands were a slave trade hub,like a distribution center to the south and east of the U.S.,the slave quarters building still exist,they are stores now.i visited and read the hystory.😎🌴🐊
Always reframe... they were enslaved. Not slaves.
Calling them "slaver" or "former slaves" perpetuate dehumanuzing them AND their descendants; it also makes enslaving Black ppl seem like a natural right of their enslavers (not "masters").
*What about the Dehumanization of White Slaves*
Will they explain to children that their ancestors hunted them and sold them into slavery for 1000 years and that the word *SLAVE is derived from White SLAVIC PEOPLE BEING ENSLAVED for 2000 years before blacks*
@@SS-nw4rs I prefer P.O.W's, sits better with me...
As a white dude, this makes me tear up hard. I'm proud of the strength of that bloodline, fighting for what was rightfully theirs from birth, but taken away by pasty gout ridden monsters. It breaks my heart over and over again, knowing what my race did to another for centuries. It's brutal, but I'd rather have a broken heart from the truth of the matter, than a heart that beats through ignorance.
Well said.
Oh WOW my brother; I've never heard it said better. Thank you for being woke and not the redefinition duh santis gives it. You made my day brother!!!!!!
I agree. I am a white person who has biracial grandchildren I love dearly. In my lifetime I have never looked down on someone because of race or ethnicity. I know it is a sad reality that many people do. I try and encourage everyone in my circle to do better. Be a better person and educate yourself. I can’t even act like I know the struggle of people of color. I just try to understand.
I agree, yet, if you research slavery, mor white folks were slaves than black in history. It's just in America where black history is so prevalent about slavery. Actually it all started in europe. I wish all races we aknowledged. Peace.
American slavery (is not indentured servitude) was meant to be perpetual; this was a forever position in life which laws were enacted to "keep them" ignorant. It was legal (on the books) to murder American slaves if they taught themselves to read and write (some did), if their "massas" taught them ("massas" would be severely punished but not murdered), or if they showed any inclination for advancement; this was deemed being an "uppity...". Keeping them generationally ignorant (for centuries) was one of the many means to keep American slavery perpetual.
I’m a 71 yo white male. Born in Baltimore City Maryland. I was researching my ancestor today. I know my great grandfather father arrived in the US just as our Civil War was ending, but today I was able to go back to my great great great great grandfather and grand father.
After watching your ancestral story unfold and the trials and hardships your ancestors had to endure I reached for my tissues way before you. You should and I am sure are proud at the strength your ancestors demonstrated in their years of anguish and suffering.
❤
Yup Know that feeling, one line of my family goes back to 1709 in Virginia the other to 1625 in Jamestown.
I want to pick up where my mother left off when she passed away in January 2022. I want to know my genealogy as well. She found some relative's up in P.A. not too far from where we are now in Harford county.(Hello my fellow Marylander btw✌🏾) I love stories like these and want my own.
Now we have Juneteenth creating a brand new history of violence for the Democrats to recognize as a holiday.
@@jack-of-all-trades1234celebrating their freedom by murdering each other .. love it
I am a 70 yo white woman & I needed tissues! Of course we were taught about slavery in school (NJ) & even learned some spiritual songs in music class. We kids loved learning about a culture that was foreign to us. I was blessed being raised by parents who taught us that skin color didn’t matter. I was doubly blessed by being randomly roomed with African-Americans women who became my sisters, and embraced by them and others who exposed me to Black culture, foods & dance. But in all of this, this one episode of your story taught me the most. It showed the intelligence, drive, and courage of those held under the weight of slavers. No more. We cannot allow the oppression of any people any longer. Not only in this country, but throughout the world. Thank you for sharing your family story! Love & Blessings in Absolute Abundance! ✨💖✨
Modern day Republicans like Ron DeSantis in Florida have introduced legislation now banning instruction on U.S. history in an attempt to rewrite/whitewash it. Thankfully Almighty God knows who he gave America to, he knows who stole it, and he knows what he will do to rectify the situation. I hope to see the outcome!
Absolutely! I was raised the same. I have biracial grandchildren and I want them to know their history and to learn more myself.
Lovely sentiments from you both, but let me assert that while it sounds like a utopian idea, skin color definitely matters. It gives life to an ideology that divides, and conquers and breeds hatred. So to erase that notion and the ramifications is an erasure of the struggle of a people who have a history of being marginalized against. Skin matters. To say it doesn’t matter assumes the acceptability of sameness and that is just not a reality in our society bc we are not all the same…there is classism and caste, two very distinct social lines that divide people and we can’t pretend they don’t exist bc that delusion just perpetuates the victimization of the people who are historically marginalized against.
@@funnyisfunny4944 I respect your response. I can’t relate on the level that you can.
Totally love your comment ❤.
I'm Cherokee & Irish, 77 yo this yr....tho I look white on the outside my heart is of the Indigenous Peoples.
We definitely need the facts from the past to better bond, spread compassion & accept/embrace the reality we are all one race....human!
My racist white religious fanatical relatives were intolerable, my grandmother used a whip on me as a child (as she did on 5 of her 6 children), a whip she boasted was the same her father used on 'his' slaves.
With each bloody bruising slash she'd reel I'd cry knowing so many peoples were seriously more severely abused than I ever was.....& my heart just could not accept the hate of another human being.
I've been chastised most of my life (a father pedophile who started when I was a baby, then passed onto others...), deemed 'unclean' & have been gaslight gossiped about since a kid so I wouldn't be believed if/when I told.
My own children have gone the way of the herd mentality brain washing with my relatives interference.
The hate in this world goes long & deep 💔 which robs us of embracing our diversities which makes us more pricrless, a treasure as a whole.
The trail of tears is 2/10ths of a mile from my home where my maternal grandmother's family trailed the path of pain, neglect, disposal, disdain, etc., by those who decreed themselves superior.
We desperately need Hugs....Not slugs! Open arms & learn from the past so we can embrace each other into the future in the realization we are ALL one & best we bond, enjoy one another as ONE rather than destroy ourselves in hateful division.
HUGS2U ❤
That was Powerful!! God Bless Mr. Blackwell and his Family…..
Brought me to tears. So powerful. Makes me want to be strong for my generations. You never know how your life impacts others.
In tears…what a line of strong women!
This is the kind of story that should be taught in public schools. It's not impossible nor will it be restricted by any state of the USA. This is a story of courage and intelligence, as well as the US court system.
I would settle for actual history, which isn't politicized by any political parties or ideology.
They won't let stories like this be told in school .
schools need to teach the moors conquered and enslaved entire white nations does it teach settlements as far as Ireland had to be abandoned does it teach that by the time the civil war ended there were still over a million white slaves in the old Moorish kingdoms does it teach there is more slavery right now than at any other point in human history because they aren't doing it now
Black women have been fighting for our community since we got here to this day! Starting movements, leading protests, fighting for our freedom and our rights! From Harriet Tubman to
Ida B. Wells to Fannie Lou Hammer to Rosa Parks! We come from strength and resilience put some respect on black women!❤
Amazing, to be able to trace his Family history and have it documented on film. Bravo, to the brave women in his family. This story makes me proud!
OMG, Victor.! Amazing story. I’m a native Virginian and have always lived in VA. May I say that there must have been some brave witnesses and judges with integrity back then doing the right thing. Wow! 🥰
Stop acting like you feel sorry. Every white person is racist white supremacist people.
What an amazing story. Both of my grandparents on my mom's side of the family were the first to be born here in the US after their families moved from Poland and France. The number of times he said "great" before he got to the word "grandparents" blew my mind. It made me think about how long his family has been here in America. Then it made me think about when I hear people use phrases like, "go back to where you came from", and how high a likelyhood that the person who they're trying to shun away, has had family here longer than they have. Yet I'm only a 3rd generation American, and will likely never hear such a phrase directed at me, since I happen to match certain visual characteristics that somehow make some think my being here is more valid than someone else's presence here. Anyway, I'm not sure where I'm going here, lol. Just kind of airing my thoughts. I hope I get a chance to visit this museum someday!
You get it my friend: We people "darker than blue" born here still, here for generations... Yet anyone "white" comes tomorrow and gets treated...
We get the ignorance, injustice... More, some have a higher vibration - like you.
This reminds me of so-called ‘Mixtecs’ or mixed Aztecs - the catch-all name given to the indigenous people of Mexico.
They tend to come from tiny villages in mountainous or desert regions, where the Spaniards who took over Mexico left them largely alone. They live somewhat isolated and in extreme poverty by today’s standards. Some speak only their native language, which differs from village to village. Most people under 40 have had some kind of schooling, which would have been taught in Spanish.
A lot of indigenous Mexicans now live in the United States, and a fair number of them are undocumented.
These are people who usually speak two or three languages - their native language, Spanish, and English.
Science has shown that bilingual and multilingual people have more neurons in their brains, essentially making them smarter than monolingual people, like most Americans are.
Some Americans consider them inferior and even criminal for being in the US and want these usually very hard working people out, when they are native to this continent. Yet the racists who are so het up about “illegal immigrants” are descended from immigrants who came to this continent from Europe a hundred or two hundred years ago.
@@terredee So true! One of my German grandfathers came over in 1923 and never learned to speak English, yet he was treated with respect. We know why, unfortunately.
Thank you for taking the time to write this, but also having the mind capable of such reflection.
Great comment!
When I heard Nikki Haley said that Senator Warnock, who is a black American, should be "deported," it was obvious that she meant deported to Africa.
Haley is the first generation from her family, who emigrated from India, to be born in America, but Senator Warnock ancestors have been in America for generations.
I think it’s astounding that because of these careful records kept in the past people can now trace these diamond details - I think that for anyone, knowing about the journey of your families heritage and journey of survival adds to a person’s sense of self. It’s amazing that researcher’s methods are becoming so much more accurate. Amazing story.
Hopefully the museum contains the fact that slavery was the business of the democrat plantation owners who resisted every attempt to set the slaves free.
An amazing story! I’m grateful that my state of Minnesota doesn’t restrict the important historical facts taught to children in school. Shame on the states that do; depriving kids to learn about historical gems like this.
I agree! It’s disgusting to deny the horrible truth of slavery and the oppression of the native Indians.
like hell it doesn't does it teach the moors conquered and enslaved entire white nations does it teach settlements as far as Ireland had to be abandoned does it teach that by the time the civil war ended there were still over a million white slaves in the old Moorish kingdoms does it teach there is more slavery right now than at any other point in human history
I'll bet Minnesota restricts the historical accuracy of The Confederacy and the Southern Cause for secession...
Also it censors truth like all 50 states have done in destroying, censoring and removing Confederate Landmarks and the Historical Record.
I'm utterly confused. I do understand English, but let me get this right. Are you saying that American schools cherry-pick what parts of American history are taught? I thought I heard it wrong in the video, but now I read your comment, and what the hail!? Please tell me I've got this all wrong.
@@karinberonius8799 you have it right. They don't teach African American history on purpose. It's disgusting.
Absolutely rips my heart out! The power of these women is unspeakable.
I remember when I was a teenager and my grandmother finally got a chance just me and her to break down my family history to me. Inside felt a lot like what kinds of emotions he was just displaying. Learning about your past and that you came from something, it means a lot.
It certainly means a lot. I did just the beginning of my ancestral search and going into their lives and the times they lived in made me thirst for more history of "The people who came and from whence they came". A man like they say is lost without his history. Ever wondered why verbal history is so important.
That is so great for Victor and his family! It shows that you never let anything OR anyone hold you back from what is meant for you! WOW! 1700-1800 black women rising up for their family!
So powerful!! Thank you for sharing your family with us. 🙏🏽
This brings me to tears with absolute joy, such strong ladies who fought for their freedom, which they deserved from the beginning!!
They evidently had their freedom from the beginning it was stolen from them, but they fought back, and they got their freedom reinstated. Very strong women love the story, and I wish there were more with positive outcomes
Strong Women in this Family!
Man this was deep and it gave me true chills! God bless and thank everyone involved! 🙏 ❤This is so inspiring!
Hearing this story really warms my heart. I am so thrilled this was uncovered for you and all of us. Great Juneteenth story too!
“None of us are free until we are all free”. We are one step closer to that deep realization for all.
Powerful history. "Two women, the freedom fighters who changed the course of your family."
This was intense. So _interesting_ and moving. Happy for Victor and his family that their amazing family history was uncovered!
Am African, from Kenya. These kind of stories can be heartbreaking. It always feels like that is my brother, my cousin, my uncle... We can't change history but we can chat the future at our or terms. Viva
I'm in tears! What a wonderful gift for your whole family.
❤❤❤❤
Wow! Thank you for such a beautiful and heartwarming story. So sorry that slavery ever existed at all, so much unnecessary cruelty. I hope your family and all peoples who come from enslavement of any kind, triumph over this & all adversity. We are more alike than different.
Thank you Dr Tanya Matthews and CNN's Victor Blackwell for this video. I truly enjoyed it. He traces his family back to 1712 as free people. Not many black people can say that. Sarah, changed the trajectory (1705) of his family. Sarah made the lawsuit and he was able to see the actual lawsuit. In 1791, the court agreed with Sarah and the descendants of Mary and Beth. This was a great story for Victor to learn of his family. I love that Rachel found that out (1807) and they also were awarded their freedom. What a blessing to be women strong enough to fight for their freedom.
You should now look for the other family members of the 18 children and have a great family reunion.
I love that those women fought lawfully. That is just so cool!
Wow - thanks for sharing your journey and the museum info, it's a great resource!
This is an important story that everyone should learn about!
Republikkkans don't want people to know this
So moving.
Thank you for this piece.
Incredible women to do this. Education, critical thinking, and civics can save the country.
Relentless Democracy.
here here
You think ur capable of critical thinking when you cant even handle a “mean tweet” or a presidential debate where trump is present in it😂Golden⭐️
I cried for his moment, this is a gift that he will enjoy for the rest of his life ♥. I can't wait to visit the museum
I am in tears …. It’s amazing … to hear of the courage the women exhibited even at the face of adversity….. it’s amazing …..
What a tragic but remarkable experience your family went through, and what a happy resolution at that, twice over ! Bravo to the women in your lineage, and those witnesses that supported their stories, bless their souls and their descendants.
It is important to teach this in our schools. That there were amazing and strong people who fought the wrongs done so their future family are given a better future. These women are so strong and he’s a blessed man. Great story. Blessings
Yeah they need to teach good, bad and ugly.....they trying to erase the bad and ugly
Thank you for sharing this. I also came across that document a few years ago from David Veney, who is my great great great grandfather.
Each story is unique. Not just full of pain, but beauty and strength and courage.
They were educated enough to be able to write and perhaps teach the people around them. That is power.
how wonderful the ladies that line up behind him are…this will give all his family strength from now on! ❤ Bless them and you all.
Thank you for sharing such a powerful history! 👏👏👏
This is phenomenal. I've done a good amount of research on my own family...I'll be taking a trip to the museum.
Astonishing! What a gift to your family! Brought tears to my eyes as well. Cudos to those who pursued and compiled this legacy and information!
It has to be hard to look back and see the pain and suffering your ancestors had to endure knowing who you are and where you came from has to be an amazing journey
This is an outstanding story. We need to hear more like this.
I got goosebumps listening to this story. Victor your bloodline is strong. I'm happy for you to get answers to your roots.
Genealogy is an emotional journey. What our ancestors went through so that we are who we are today is amazing.
Those women are brave and brilliant....i just can't hold my tears ❤
WOW - what a great piece , love that he was able to get answers … so amazing the research that was done … I’m glad that he and his family have answers
"Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it!"
Amazing story, one of millions that needs to be told. Thank you for sharing.
I'm floored, Victor. What a heartwarming story. To learn so much about your roots and in such granularity must have been overwhelming. I'm so happy the records were actually available to be found, and the details so incredible, that the women in your life put forth such effort at a time when we know it couldn't have been easy for them at all. It brought tears to my eyes. Thanks for sharing.
Edited to add: I hadn't read any of the comments until I had written mine, and now that I have, the tears are flowing from this 69 y/o white man's eyes like water. It makes me even more determined to do everything I can to oppose my Gov DeSantis' efforts to erase Black history and the truth from generations to come, to keep from hurting snowflake white people's feelings. SMH!
Tell them it's already in our minds😆no deleting,too late we know it
Amazing !!!!!!!! Bless to this remarkable museum and staff.
This is a fantastic story. Wasn't expecting this, thanks CNN!
Amazing that these women were able to do what they did! It also blows my mind the history that was uncovered.
So happy you have it all written down! AMAZING!! ❤
WOW I donated to the building of that museum. The best 🤑💰 money I ever spent in a long time!
Awesome story!! What a blessing to be able to track you ancestors that far. Especially in the South. ❤
A beautiful, if still shocking, story. And this is why all our storys need to be told. Shame on politicians closing this down. Shame on them.
Absolutely Amazing! I was in tears myself.
What a beautiful story of the strength & courage of your ancestors!❤️
This is a moment in history that somewhat reframes your perception of history and is why I love reading, listening or watching history. This story would make a great movie. Unfortunately there are to many uneducated historically, politicians out there that wish for the children to be as ignorant as they are, and would fight against such a movie. A failure or mistake that you don't learn from is a waste and a sin.
Most Americans are ignorant of history. Most Americans barely know anything about the history of the United States, much less the rest of the world.
So wonderful to hear that witnesses stepped forward. How many situations would be different across the ages and today had individuals been willing to speak up.
It's quite likely those witnesses were Quakers. Part of the little known history of eastern Virginia is that there were many Quaker-owned farms and they were setting people free from the late 1600's and would sell land to anyone with money (unlike other whites who would block the sale of land to non-whites). In some cases, they willed land to former African slaves when freeing them. Slavery and slavers were not a monolith!
Wow. So wonderful. It's so hard to imagine that anyone would have to go through this, but to be able to come out prevailing, TWICE! Beautiful.
What an amazing story! So glad you were able to become aware of your heritage.
Wonderful story to share with us! Had me in tears! Yes~the history and the stories of where we come from are important and powerful!
This is embarrassing
czcams.com/video/6KVcumEnB9o/video.html
Thank you for sharing your story with us. So proud of the strong women in your family.
Very moving revelations. Thank you for sharing with us.
The story of America lives through the experience of its people. Thank you Victor for enriching our knowledge and kudos to this wonderful museum - more and more and more is needed to illuminate the past for present and future generations. ❤
Those that do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
What a fabulous story Victor. You have been blessed with this incredible gift. Your story was written so long ago. So happy it has reached your ears
Wow - what a marvelous history your have and how fortunate it could/can be traceds so far.
Awesome! We didn't get taught that in history. GOD bless you and your family 💜
That is an AMAZING story & fascinating that she was able to go back that far. Just imagine what we could find out if we all were able able to look back that far…my parents were immigrants to Canada so for me it’s been hard to find out a lot about their histories back home.
Keep searching my cousin served in WW2 and when he came back home to Virginia he started searching the olde way, by the time he passed at 93 in 1995 he had complied three thousand pages from courthouses in the Virginia and the East Coast plus three trips once a decade to England and Germany. He got one branch the Albert's back to ABOUT 800 AD in German Alps.
My mother retired and spent 20 years digging through different databases as they came online (90s), pushed back to 1066 the Norman invasion of Britain and 1000 AD in Wales, pushed five Branches back to the 1000s.
It can be done from your own home today. All totaled she used about 100 databases.
Well she always was a History Geek 🤓.
@@ablewindsor1459 and records for some do exist in Africa. Especially the coasts were quite civilized as in keeping records then selling the less civilized mainly interior into slavery. But there were civilized places in interior as well. Conditions thanks to heat and humidity make for poorer document survival plus falling appart of governments over time. This story sounds like it starts with two legal immigrants who came over for same reason whites immigrated.
Note Dr Livingstone was sending and receiving mail and relief supplies sent in from the coast. I have read Stanley's history and don't know why he simply did not follow the mail to get a good route to Livingstone. He went cross country. Probably something like non citizens of the many small states not allowed though certain areas. Not exactly primitive people living in huts when there a mail system and a package system going. Will say in places though it was caravans carrying it. There were or had been lots of more primitive tribes as well. But it was a mix of primitive to fairly modern for the time. Was patchy going from civilized to primitive in many areas.
@@milferdjones2573 Interesting I had not looked into the then operating system but knew some type of records existed.
@@ablewindsor1459sounds fascinating. My journey has been n slow...life
Totally fascinating how far back this heritage is tracked - great story! Also agree with the commentary that today’s education boards AND legislators are doing everything possible to suppress these resources…
What a wonderful story and what bright determined women. Made me cry also.
MY GOD - THIS IS REMARKABLE - What a sacred treasure ❤
What a wonderful finding out! Happy for you and may God continue to bless your family!
Mr. Blackwell may be one of our distant relatives also. Our family has been in what is now known as Lancaster county, formerly part of Northumberland county. Our family dates from 1655 with our ancestor Yaconohawkin Nickaneceny. We are part of the group of black/native indentured/free persons that are never mentioned in history books.
That was done by design. If the majority of so-called black Americans knew their ancestors were born free, then enslaved on their own ancestral in America, there would be a real revolution to get the land back. African-American is a big misnomer. We are American Indians socially reclassified by the government as colored persons, negros, mulatto, blacks, and now African Americans.
How wonderful to truly Know where you came from. Blessing
Thank you for this!
I love this. History is so amazingly interesting.
I'm a white 67 year old woman and know very little of my ancestry.
I only know what my grandmother told me. She said her grandfather brought his family to America from Germany prior to the war as he didn't want his children to be in it.
I know even less about my Father's family as he died when I was an infant. My Mother went to stay with her parents for support. Thus, contact with my fathers family was no more.
I've felt adrift my entire life.
So important to tell this beautiful history. What a gift.
Gives me goosebumps! So happy for you.
😊I’m so excited to hear more stories of our Black African Americans. Amazing!
Wow. Got chills allover. Beautiful history. No wonder u are as a reporter bringing truth
Thank you so much for sharing this with us. I think this piece should be shown or repeated in some other way as often as possible. Our history is our history some of it is difficult some of it is miraculous and some of it just is. Learning about our past connects us to each other and Lord knows we need to feel more connected to each other than most of us do. Again, thank you.
Amazing legacy, wonderful people providing this info for so many who would never know the truth. I love to hear the stories genealogy tells!
Your story brought me to tears, as a 60 something black man eyes. This story could be a movie to help motivate those of us who need another push . To rise above are situation in life that are not fair ; but helping us as a people. To understand as a person, that life is not fair but we can overcome this harsh world.
This story gave me chills as I listened. Incredible!❤
That's amazing! Great story. I wish I could trace my family lineage. 😢
I love this sooo much!! Bless them.
Love when u get to see the emotional side of these professionals
Thank you for sharing this great story ...... we need to hear and see this ... Thank you for sharing your vulnerability. Share folks ... our country needs to hear all this ...
I'm loving your history ! How great for you and your family to know this !
Great story. I'm sorry for all of the suffering your family was put through. Thank God for the strong women. Thank God for truth and justice, and may that be the way forward.
Such a marvelous revelation and beautiful story of a proud, rich & free heritage!
This is AMAZING!! I'm so happy for anyone who learns their history & lineage.
This show has earned an award for this segment ❤❤❤❤❤❤